John Todhunter was an Irish poet and playwright who wrote seven volumes of poetry, and several plays.

Life

Todhunter was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Thomas Harvey Todhunter, a Quaker merchant of English origin. He and was educated at Quaker schools in York and Mountmellick. He attended Trinity College

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 Medical School, where he studied medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

. While at Trinity, Todhunter won the Vice-Chancellor's prize for English Verse 1864, 1865 and 1866, and the Gold Medal of the Philosophical Society 1866 for an essay. He also clerked for William Stokes while studying. Todhunter received his Bachelor

Bachelor

A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...

 of Medicine in 1867, and his Doctorate of Medicine degree in 1871.

In 1870 (one year prior to his DM) he became a Professor of English Literature at Alexandra College, Dublin. Four years later, Todhunter resigned from that position, and travelled to several places in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, including Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. He married Dora L. Digby in 1879. In 1881, he finally settled in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where his home in Bedford Park

Bedford Park, London

Bedford Park is a suburban development in west London, England. It forms a conservation area that is mostly within the London Borough of Ealing, with a small part to the east within the London Borough of Hounslow. The nearest underground station is Turnham Green .-History:It can be justly described...

, Chiswick

Chiswick

Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...

 was located in a small community of writers and artists, who included W.B. Yeats. He was involved in the founding of the Irish Literary Society there.

His tragedy, The Black Cat only received one performance, on 8 December 1893 at the Opera Comique

Opera Comique

The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...

, by the Independent Theatre Society

Independent Theatre Society

The Independent Theatre Society was a by-subscription-only organisation in London from 1891 to 1897, founded by Dutch drama critic Jacob Grein to give "special performances of plays which have a literary and artistic rather than a commercial value." The society was inspired by its continental...

—a private club formed to forestall censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's Office

Lord Chamberlain's Office

The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is presently concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, the State Opening of Parliament, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the wedding of...

.

Works

• Laurella and Other Poems (1876)
• Alcestis: A Dramatic Poem (1878)
• The True Tragedy of Rienzi; Tribune of Rome (1881)
• Forest Songs & Other Poems (1881)
• The Banshee and Other Poems (1888)
• How Dreams Come True (1890)
• The Poison Flower (1891)
• The Legend of Stauffenberg (1890)
• The Irish Bardic Tales (1896)
• Sounds and Sweet Airs (1904)
• An Irish Love song

Plays

• Helena in Troas (1886)
• A Sicilian Idyll (1890)
• The Black Cat (1893)
• A Comedy of Sighs (1894)

Translation from German

• Heinrich Heine's Book of Songs (1907)

Many of Todhunter's poems are available online, and some of his works are being processed by Distributed Proofreaders

Distributed Proofreaders

Distributed Proofreaders is a web-based project that supports the development of e-texts for Project Gutenberg by allowing many people to work together in proofreading drafts of e-texts for errors.- History :...

.

Obituary

The source of this obituary

Obituary

An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...

is unknown; It is dated 27/10/16, and attributed to "Times", which likely refers to a local Australian newspaper.

The death of Dr. John Todhunter took place on Wednesday at his residence in Bedford Park.

He was born in Dublin in 1839, his father being a merchant of English origin and Quaker ancestry. He was educated at York School and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he won the Vice-Chancellor's prize for English verse three times. He took his M.D. in Dublin and practised medicine for a couple of years, but gave it up for travel, study, and literary work. He was Professor of English Literature at Alexandra-College, Dublin, from 1870 to 1874. He then made his permanent home in London, where his house became a resort for artists and men of letters. During recent years informal "symposia" were held there about once a fortnight, when friends gathered at his fireside to discuss poetry and philosophy.

Todhunter's first volume was a collection of narrative and lyrical poems entitled "Laurella" (1876). Grace, tenderness, and melody marked these poems; in later years he did much stronger work under the influence of ancient Celtic literature, to the study of which he was led by the memorable rendering of the Cuchullin legend published in 1878 by Standish O'Grady. The "Banshee" (1888) and "Three Bardic Talcs" (1896) contain the best of Todhunter's work in poetry. Three plays of his have been acted with success; one of them, The Black Cat, produced by the Independent Theatre in 1893, was a factor in the revival of the literary drama. His translation of Heine's "Buch der Lieder" is perhaps the best complete English version of a work than which none more irresistibly attracts or more cruelly eludes the art of the translator. He was also author of a few brief prose works, including a "Life of Sarsfield" and a "Study of Shelley."

At one time he was a familiar figure at the Savile Club, but for some years his delicate health and his constitutional hatred of noise and bustle kept him far from town life. He was a man of striking appearance, and the sweetness, unselfishness, and loyalty of his character gave to intimacy with him a charm and fragrance which his friends will not easily forget.

External links

• Information about the papers of Todhunter at the University of Reading