Richard Ellmann
Encyclopedia
Richard David Ellmann was a prominent American literary critic and biographer of the Irish
writers James Joyce
, Oscar Wilde
, and William Butler Yeats
. Ellmann's James Joyce
(1959), for which he won the National Book Award
in 1960, is one of the most acclaimed literary biographies of the 20th century and the 1982 revised edition of the work was similarly recognised with the award of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
. A liberal humanist, Ellmann's academic work generally focused on the major modernist writers of the twentieth century.
, the second of the three sons (there were no daughters) of James Isaac Ellmann, lawyer, a Jewish Romania
n immigrant, and his wife, Jeanette Barsook, an immigrant from Kiev
. He served in the United States Navy
during World War II
. He studied at Yale University
, receiving his B.A. (1939), his M.A. (1941) and his PhD. (1947) for which he won the John Addison Porter
Prize. He would later return to teach at Yale, and there with Charles Feidelson, Jr., he edited the extraordinarily important anthology, The Modern Tradition. He earlier taught at Northwestern, and at the University of Oxford
, before serving (for a considerable stipend) as Emory University
's Robert W. Woodruff Professor from 1980 till his death. In 1947 he was awarded a B.Litt degree (an earlier form of the M.Litt
) from the University of Dublin
(Trinity College
), where he was resident while researching his biography of Yeats.
, a revealing account of the life of one of the 20th century's most influential literary figures. Anthony Burgess
called James Joyce "the greatest literary biography of the century." Edna O'Brien
, the Irish novelist, remarked that "H. G. Wells said that Finnegans Wake was an immense riddle, and people find it too difficult to read. I have yet to meet anyone who has read and digested the whole of it—except perhaps my friend Richard Ellmann." Ellmann quotes extensively from Finnegans Wake, as epigraphs in James Joyce.
winning (1989) biography Oscar Wilde is still the standard life. Capturing the warmhearted and generous spirit of the legendary wit, he examines Wilde's ascent to literary prominence and his public downfall. Ellmann posthumously won a National (USA) Book Critics Circle Award in 1988 and a Pulitzer Prize
in 1989 for the book. The book was the basis for the 1997 film Wilde
, directed by Brian Gilbert.
It is considered to be the definitive work on the subject. Ray Monk
, a philosopher and biographer, described Ellmann's Oscar Wilde as a "rich, fascinating biography that succeeds in understanding another person".
Ellmann used his knowledge of the Irish
milieu to bring together four literary luminaries in Four Dubliners: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett, a collection of essays first delivered at the Library of Congress.
He was Goldsmiths' professor of English literature at Oxford University, 1970–1984, then Professor Emeritus, and a fellow at New College, Oxford
, 1970-1987.
Ellmann died in Oxford
, aged 69. His wife
, Mary (c. 1921 - 1989), whom he married in 1949, was an essayist. The couple had three children: Stephen (b. 1951), Maud (b. 1954), and Lucy (b. 1956), the first two being academics and the third a novelist and teacher
of writing
. Maud, perhaps the most eminent, is the Randy L. & Melvin R. Berlin Professor of the Development of the Novel in English in the English
Department
at the University of Chicago
.
Many of his collected papers, artifacts, and ephemera were acquired by the University of Tulsa
's McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Other manuscripts are housed in the Northwestern University
's Library special collections department.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
writers James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, and William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
. Ellmann's James Joyce
James Joyce (biography)
James Joyce by Richard Ellmann was published in 1959 . It is widely accepted as a masterpiece of literary biography. Anthony Burgess was so impressed with the biographer's work that he claimed it to be "the greatest literary biography of the century"...
(1959), for which he won the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
in 1960, is one of the most acclaimed literary biographies of the 20th century and the 1982 revised edition of the work was similarly recognised with the award of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
. A liberal humanist, Ellmann's academic work generally focused on the major modernist writers of the twentieth century.
Life
Ellmann was born at Highland Park, MichiganHighland Park, Michigan
- Geography :According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 16,746 people, 6,199 households, and 3,521 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,622.9 per square mile . There were 7,249...
, the second of the three sons (there were no daughters) of James Isaac Ellmann, lawyer, a Jewish Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n immigrant, and his wife, Jeanette Barsook, an immigrant from Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. He served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He studied at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, receiving his B.A. (1939), his M.A. (1941) and his PhD. (1947) for which he won the John Addison Porter
John Addison Porter
John Addison Porter was an American Professor of Chemistry. He was born in Catskill, New York and died in New Haven, Connecticut...
Prize. He would later return to teach at Yale, and there with Charles Feidelson, Jr., he edited the extraordinarily important anthology, The Modern Tradition. He earlier taught at Northwestern, and at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, before serving (for a considerable stipend) as Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
's Robert W. Woodruff Professor from 1980 till his death. In 1947 he was awarded a B.Litt degree (an earlier form of the M.Litt
Master of Letters
The Master of Letters is a postgraduate degree.- United Kingdom :The MLitt is a postgraduate degree awarded by a select few British and Irish universities, predominantly within the ancient English and Scottish universities.- England :Within the English University system MLitts are not universally...
) from the University of Dublin
University of Dublin
The University of Dublin , corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin , located in Dublin, Ireland, was effectively founded when in 1592 Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter for Trinity College, Dublin, as "the mother of a university" – this date making it...
(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...
), where he was resident while researching his biography of Yeats.
Yeats
In Yeats: The Man and the Masks, Ellmann drew on conversations with George Yeats along with thousands of pages of unpublished manuscripts to write a critical examination of the poet's life.Joyce
Ellmann is perhaps most well known for his literary biography of James JoyceJames Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, a revealing account of the life of one of the 20th century's most influential literary figures. Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
called James Joyce "the greatest literary biography of the century." Edna O'Brien
Edna O'Brien
Edna O'Brien is an Irish novelist and short story writer whose works often revolve around the inner feelings of women, and their problems in relating to men and to society as a whole.-Life and career:...
, the Irish novelist, remarked that "H. G. Wells said that Finnegans Wake was an immense riddle, and people find it too difficult to read. I have yet to meet anyone who has read and digested the whole of it—except perhaps my friend Richard Ellmann." Ellmann quotes extensively from Finnegans Wake, as epigraphs in James Joyce.
Wilde
His Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning (1989) biography Oscar Wilde is still the standard life. Capturing the warmhearted and generous spirit of the legendary wit, he examines Wilde's ascent to literary prominence and his public downfall. Ellmann posthumously won a National (USA) Book Critics Circle Award in 1988 and a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in 1989 for the book. The book was the basis for the 1997 film Wilde
Wilde (film)
Wilde is a 1997 British biographical film directed by Brian Gilbert with Stephen Fry in the title role. The screenplay by Julian Mitchell is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 biography of Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann.-Plot:...
, directed by Brian Gilbert.
It is considered to be the definitive work on the subject. Ray Monk
Ray Monk
Ray Monk is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton, where he has taught since 1992.He won the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the 1991 Duff Cooper Prize for Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius. His interests lie in the philosophy of mathematics, the history of...
, a philosopher and biographer, described Ellmann's Oscar Wilde as a "rich, fascinating biography that succeeds in understanding another person".
Ellmann used his knowledge of the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
milieu to bring together four literary luminaries in Four Dubliners: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett, a collection of essays first delivered at the Library of Congress.
He was Goldsmiths' professor of English literature at Oxford University, 1970–1984, then Professor Emeritus, and a fellow at New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, 1970-1987.
Ellmann died in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, aged 69. His wife
Wife
A wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
, Mary (c. 1921 - 1989), whom he married in 1949, was an essayist. The couple had three children: Stephen (b. 1951), Maud (b. 1954), and Lucy (b. 1956), the first two being academics and the third a novelist and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
of writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
. Maud, perhaps the most eminent, is the Randy L. & Melvin R. Berlin Professor of the Development of the Novel in English in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Department
Department
A department is a part of a larger organization with a specific responsibility. For the division of organizations into departments, see departmentalization.In particular:...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
Many of his collected papers, artifacts, and ephemera were acquired by the University of Tulsa
University of Tulsa
The University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
's McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Other manuscripts are housed in the Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
's Library special collections department.