Henry Harrisse (May 28, 1829 – May 13, 1910) was a writer, lawyer, art critic, and American historian who authored books on the discovery of

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and geographic representations of the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

Biography

Henry Harrisse was born Henry Herrisse in Paris on May 28, 1829. His father was Abraham Herrisse, a furrier, probably from Russia or Prague, and his mother was Nanine Marcus of Paris. At the age of eighteen, he moved to America with his family and adopted American nationality, where he studied at the University of South Carolina. He began his academic career at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

, where he taught writing, philosophy, and law, though he was later released from his position due to his support of

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

. In following years, he worked as a lawyer in Chicago and New York, before beginning his writing career. According to his biographer

Henri Cordier Henri Cordier (8 August 184916 March 1925) was a French linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, editor and Orientalist. He was President of the Société de Géographie ( French, "Geographical Society") in Paris.Hippolyte Taine Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (, 21 April 1828 – 5 March 1893) was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence on French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practition ...

and Renan, and the analysis of the metaphysical works of Descartes. Later in his life, he moved back to Paris and turned his studies towards the origins of the modern

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, a topic to which he was highly devoted. This led to his exploration of records of the discovery of the Americas, and to his amassing of a substantial body of critical and historical works on this subject. Harrisse was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1893.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref>

Bibliography

The works of Henry Harisse published in English, Spanish, and French: *''Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima'' (1866) * ''Notes on Columbus'' (1866) * ''D. Fernando Colon'' (1871) * ''Notes sur la Nouvelle France'' (1872) * ''Jean et Sébastien Cabot'' (1882) * ''Les Corte-Reals'' (1883) *''Christophe Colomb : son origine, sa vie, ses voyages, sa famille et ses descendants'' (1884) * ''Discovery of North America'' (1892)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrisse, Henry American historians 1829 births 1910 deaths University of South Carolina alumni French emigrants to the United States Members of the American Antiquarian Society University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References