Edward L. Surtz, SJ (1909–1973) was a professor at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

and, at the time of his death, rector of the Jesuit house at the university.

Life

Surtz was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, on July 5, 1909. After graduating B.A. from John Carrol University in 1931, Surtz joined the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and went on to study at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

, graduating M.A. in 1934. "The Religious Aspect of the Poetry of Gerald Manley Hopkins" was his master thesis. He was ordained as a priest in 1942, and obtained a doctorate in English from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1948. In 1954 he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in his honour was published as the November 1971 issue of ''

Moreana ''Moreana'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research about Thomas More and his milieu and writings, as well as relevant broader questions of 16th-century history, literature and culture. It is published by Edinburgh Univers ...

'', edited by

Germain Marc'hadour Germain Marc'hadour (16 April 1921 – 22 February 2022) was a French Catholic priest and a professor of English at the Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers. He was an internationally recognized authority on the life and work of Saint Si ...

. He died on January 18, 1973, as the result of a cycling accident in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Books

*''The Praise of Pleasure: Philosophy, Education and Communism in More's Utopia'' (Harvard University Press, 1957). *''The Praise of Wisdom: A Commentary on the Religious and Moral Problems and Backgrounds of St. Thomas More's Utopia'' (Loyola University Press, 1957). * Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More, Volume 4: ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

''. Edited by Edward Surtz S.J. and J. H. Hexter. (Yale University Press, 1965). *''The Works and Days of John Fisher'' (Harvard University Press, 1967).

Commemoration

A Surtz Prize is awarded at Loyola each year to "a graduating senior who has excelled as a student and scholar of English literature".Surtz Prize
Consulted 23 April 2014.

References

External links

Edward L. Surtz, SJ, Papers
Loyola University. Consulted 23 April 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Surtz, Edward 1909 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American Jesuits Loyola University Chicago faculty Harvard University alumni John Carroll University alumni Xavier University alumni