William Thomas Walsh

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William Thomas Walsh (11 September 1891 – 22 January 1949), was an American historian, educator, poet[1] and biographer; he was also an accomplished violinist.

Biography

Walsh was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of William Thomas and Elizabeth Josephine (née Bligh). His educational background included a B.A. from Yale University (1913) and an honorary Litt.D. from Fordham University. In 1914, he married Helen Gerard Sherwood, and they had six children.

Initially a journalist during World War I, he entered the teaching career firstly at Hartford Public High School, then at Roxbury School. In 1933, he was appointed professor of English literature at the College of the Sacred Heart in Lower Manhattan. He was also the noted biographer of Spanish personalities. He wrote Isabella of Spain which was a real success, translated into French, Spanish.[lower-alpha 1] The same year he published a life of Philip II which was translated into Spanish, as was his other work Characters of the Inquisition (1940).

Walsh condidered writing a biography of Alexander VI for a time,[2] but this idea did not last. He dedicated a study to the pedagogical work in the Granadan Schools of Ave Maria by Father Andrés Manjón and published Lyric Poems (1939), representing the author’s selection from the poetic output of twenty-five years.

With Life of Teresa of Avila (1942) Walsh specialized in religious subjects. His book was a great success; it was one of the best, if not the best, lives of Teresa of Ávila in English. A short story, Out of the Whirlwind, also addresses a Catholic theme, as does his play on the Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne. He also published several verse plays. Shortly before his death (1949) he published a work on St Peter the Apostle (1948) and a play, Citizens of Heaven (1948).

Walsh's works were translated into several languages. The most successful was Our Lady of Fatima (1947; 12th edition in 7 years). The events of Fatima had then gradually fell into indifference. Walsh's book awakened public attention. Following the story told with a spirit of faith of which he did not blush, he added an epilogue recounting his interview with a surviving witness, Sister Maria Lúcia, at the convent of Saint Dorothy in Vilar. Walsh was convinced that a response to the Virgin's call for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, by the pope and bishops united, could have unsuspected consequences.

Walsh was awarded the Cross of a Commander of the Order of Alfonso X for his three monumental Spanish biographies, particularly Saint Teresa of Avila.[lower-alpha 2] He also received the Laetare Medal by the University of Notre Dame in 1941[lower-alpha 3] and the Catholic Literary Award in 1944.[lower-alpha 4]

William Thomas Walsh died in White Plains, New York at the age of fifty seven. After his death, his private library, some 1,644 volumes, was donated as a gift to Georgetown University.

Works

Biographies

  • Isabella of Spain (1930)[5][lower-alpha 5]
  • Philip II (1937)[8][9]
  • Saint Teresa of Ávila (1943)
  • Saint Peter, the Apostle (1948)

Theater

  • Silver Shekels (1929; unpublished blank-verse Passion Play)
  • Thirty Pieces of Silver (a play in verse)
  • The Carmelites of Compiègne (a play in verse)

Miscellania

  • The Mirage of the Many (1910)
  • Lyric Poems (1939)
  • Characters of the Inquisition (1940)[10]
  • Babies, not Bullets! (1940; booklet)
  • La actual situación de España (booklet, 1944)
  • El casa crucial de España (booklet, 1946)
  • Our Lady of Fátima (Doubleday, 1947)

Novels

  • Out of the Whirlwind (1935)

Short Stories

Articles

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ↑ In 1937, Isabella of Spain appeared in reduced format under the title Isabella the Crusader.
  2. ↑ In conferring the award, the Spanish Ambassador, Juan Francisco de Cárdenas, remarked that for the first time the recipient of the honor was a American writer.[3]
  3. ↑ The Laetare Medal has been awarded annually since 1883 by the Academic Council of the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, as a recognition of merit and an incentive to greater achievement. The name of the recipient is announced on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent. In announcing the selection of Thomas Walsh, Hugh O'Donnell, president of the University, said: “Like John Gilmary Shea, recipient of the first Laetare Medal in 1883, Dr. William Thomas Walsh has distinguished himself as an author, chiefly in the field of history. His genius for making the past live again has always been controlled by a scholarly devotion to truth.”[4]
  4. ↑ This award was created in 1941 and given annually for the most outstanding book published by a member of the Gallery of Living Catholic Authors. The award was usually made on the last Sunday in October, the Feast of Christ the King, and takes the form of an honorary scroll bearing the name of the author and the date of the award. Further details may be obtained from the Gallery of Living Catholic Authors, Webster Groves, Missouri.
  5. ↑ In the Dublin Review, Cecil Roth accused Walsh of resurrecting the blood libel in his book Isabella of Spain.[6] For instance, according to Roth, Walsh uncritically accepted the Spanish Inquisition's version of the La Guardia case. Walsh's reply[7] disputed the accusation.

Citations

  1. ↑ Bernard, Ronald L. (1939). "The Trend in Modern Catholic Poetry," The Catholic World, Vol. CXLIX, pp. 430–35.
  2. ↑ Talbot, Francis X. (1940). "General Biography," America, Vol. LXIV, No. 8, p. iv.
  3. ↑ Hoehn, Matthew (1948). Catholic Authors: Contemporary Biographical Sketches. Newark, N. J.: St. Mary's Abbey, p. 770.
  4. ↑ The Catholic World, Vol. CLIII, No. 914 (1941), p. 234.
  5. ↑ Mecham, J. Lloyd (1932). "Review of Isabella of Spain, The Last Crusader," The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. XII, No. 3, pp. 342–46.
  6. ↑ Roth, Cecil (1932). "Jews, Conversos and the Blood-Accusation in Fifteenth-Century Spain," The Dublin Review, Vol. CXCI, No. 382, pp. 219–31.
  7. ↑ Walsh, W. T. (1932). "Reply to Dr. Cecil Roth," The Dublin Review, Vol. CXCI, No. 382, pp. 232–52.
  8. ↑ "Philip II by William Thomas Walsh," Dominicana, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 (1938), pp. 138–40.
  9. ↑ Guthrie, Chester L. (1939). "Review of Philip II," The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. XIX, No. 3, pp. 332–33.
  10. ↑ Braunstein, Baruch (1942). "Review of Characters of the Inquisition," The Journal of Religion, Vol. XXII, No. 1, pp. 105–107.
  11. ↑ Hamilton, Benedict (1931). "These Catholic Masterpieces," America, Vol. XLVI, No. 3, pp. 68–69.

References

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