Alonzo Michael Morphy (November 23, 1798 – November 22, 1856) was a lawyer serving as Attorney General of Louisiana from 1828 to 1830, and a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from August 31, 1839 to March 19, 1846.''Celebration of the Centenary of the Supreme Court of Louisiana'' (March 1, 1913), in John Wymond, Henry Plauché Dart, eds., ''The Louisiana Historical Quarterly'' (1922), p. 117.

Biography

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Morphy held Spanish nationality and was of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

ancestry. Morphy moved to Louisiana, and read law under

Edward Livingston Edward Livingston (May 28, 1764May 23, 1836) was an American jurist and statesman. He was an influential figure in the drafting of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, a civil code based largely on the Napoleonic Code. Livingston represented both ...

. He served in the state legislature, and was also Attorney General of Louisiana. Morphy married Louise Thérèse Félicité Thelcide Le Carpentier, the musically talented daughter of a prominent French Creole family. His home was an atmosphere of genteel civility and culture where

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

and music were the typical highlights of a Sunday home gathering.Bill Wall,
Paul Morphy
His son,

Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was c ...

, is considered one of the greatest chess players of all time.

External links

Former Home of Louisiana Supreme Court Judge Alonzo Morphy & His Son, World-Famous Chess Champion, Paul Morphy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morphy, Alonzo 1798 births 1856 deaths American chess players American people of Irish descent American people of Portuguese descent American people of Spanish descent Louisiana Attorneys General Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court Members of the Louisiana State Legislature Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Lawyers from New Orleans 19th-century chess players 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers