Stanley Loomis (21 December 1922 – 19 December 1972) was the author of four books on
French history: ''Du Barry'' (1959), ''Paris in the Terror'' (1964), ''A Crime of Passion'' (1967), and ''The Fatal Friendship'' (1972). His books have been published in eight languages and reprinted numerous times.
Biography
Stanley Pennock Loomis was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1922, the eldest of three sons of an industrial chemist and businessman, Chauncey C. Loomis, and his wife Elizabeth (née McLanahan). He grew up in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and attended the Lenox School in Lenox, Massachusetts.
He studied English at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, but his studies were interrupted by the war. He was trained in Japanese interpretation and served as a translator and intelligence officer in the Pacific. He was in Japan at the time of the
Japanese surrender
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...
in 1945.
According to his obituary in the ''New York Times'', his “interest in French literature began when he was a soldier in World War II. Between air raids on Okinawa, he read the 18th-century memoirs of the Duc de St. Simon.”
He returned to Columbia after the war and completed his B.A. in 1948. and obtained an additional M.A. in English. After graduating, he spent three years in France. Before settling into a writing career, he pursued a number of interests, including “working for a publisher, studying international trade in Arizona, even buying and selling a few paintings in Europe.”
A biographical note in the ''
Saturday Review'' states: “He pursued his study of eighteenth-century France in much the same way his sophisticated figures lived their expensive lives: as a highly refined form of entertainment.” This “entertainment” became his life’s work. He wrote his first book, a biography of
Madame du Barry, mistress of
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
, after returning to the United States. It was published by
Lippincott in 1959.
He married Virginia Lindsley Gignoux in 1960 and they had a son, Craig Putnam Loomis, in 1961. In 1965, he and his family began to spend the winter months in Paris. They lived first on the Quai Anatole France and later on the rue d’Anjou. He also spent time at the Chateau de Missery in Burgundy, a property belonging to a cousin.
In addition to his books, he wrote occasional articles and book reviews and offered tours to visiting American friends of some of the less-well-known corners of Paris and France.
He died in the
American Hospital of Paris
The American Hospital of Paris (''Hôpital américain de Paris''), founded in 1906, is a private, not-for-profit hospital that is certified under the French healthcare system. Located in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the western suburbs of Paris, Franc ...
on December 19, 1972, after being hit by a car on the Place de la Concorde, just two days before what would have been his 50th birthday. Memorial services were held at the
American Cathedral in Paris and in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His family returned to the United States after his death.
Books
''Du Barry'' (1959): a story “told with brilliance and an admirable sense for comedy. Her later years are, fittingly enough, related in a more mellow, nostalgic key…Entertained at first, then moved, the reader, after the admirable final paragraph, is left pensive. Few books are published of which this could be said.”
''Paris in the Terror'' (1964): “Stanley Loomis describes massacres, conspiracies and confrontations with eloquence and power. He is fascinating in his remarks about the plight of the impoverished rural nobility, 'pedigreed peasants,' about the homicidal mania of Marat and his followers, about the
clash of personalities A personality clash occurs when two (or more) people find themselves in conflict not over a particular issue or incident, but due to a fundamental incompatibility in their personalities, their approaches to things, or their style of life.
A person ...
in the shadow of the guillotine. And he regularly drops wise, cynical or provocative remarks."
''A Crime of Passion'' (1967): “As a historian, Mr. Loomis has reconstructed for us an impeccable period piece and he has been artful, depositing his poisoned knowledge sparingly here and there, in bringing his story to a flood: the technique of 'The Turn of the Screw.'”
''The Fatal Friendship'' (1972): “The hallmark of his writing, in this as in his previous book on Paris during the Terror, is fairness. He never stretches a fact to suit a thesis. He never chooses among conflicting interpretations the one that will best advance his narrative … These qualities of measure and restraint contribute to the persuasiveness of his account.”
References
External links
University of California, Berkeley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loomis, Stanley
1922 births
1972 deaths
People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Historians of France
20th-century American historians
20th-century American male writers
Pedestrian road incident deaths
American expatriates in France