Saint Leibowitz is a character in the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

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A Canticle for Leibowitz ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' is a post-apocalyptic social science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr., first published in 1959. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating n ...

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Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman ''Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman'' (1997) is a science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr. It is a follow-up to Miller's 1959 book ''A Canticle for Leibowitz''. Miller wrote the majority of the novel before his death i ...

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Walter M. Miller, Jr. Walter Michael Miller Jr. (January 23, 1923 – January 9, 1996) was an American science fiction writer. His fix-up novel, ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959), the only novel published in his lifetime, won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Pr ...

Background

Isaac Edward Leibowitz is married to a woman named Emily. He lives during a nuclear war in the

United States 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 ...

, referred to as “the Flame Deluge.” Leibowitz is a technician and drafts a blueprint for a transistorized control system. The blueprint is replicated centuries later by Brother Francis Gerard of Utah, a monk. Leibowitz is a hero to the monks. A statue of Leibowitz stands in the monastery which is named after him in his honor. The monks refer to him as ''Beatus'' ('Blessed') Leibowitz prior to the canticle ceremony, and he is called 'Saint Leibowitz' after it (Brians 2007, 3).

Plot

After the death of his wife Emily, readers can infer that Leibowitz takes vows to become a priest, and that he establishes a religious community dedicated to preserving history for generations to come. They smuggle books for preservation and act as "memorizers" who remember the books in case the books are destroyed. This religious community feels it important, and indeed, its calling, to preserve scientific documents, from blueprints to texts, so that humankind in the future will be able to educate itself about their heritage. The world is going through a simplification. All knowledge, especially written words, is deemed evil. He is considered a martyr, caught and strangled while smuggling books. The mob destroys documents and books hidden in kegs so only a few books and documents remain. Saint Isaac Edward Leibowitz is a pioneer

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

. He is revered, especially by the monks. Centuries after his death, other monks continue the work of preserving written documents. Saint Leibowitz's foresight prevents future generations from being deprived of their heritage, but ...

Usage in other publications

* In James A. Michener's novel ''

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

'', the last words by Colonel Randy Claggett (commander of Apollo 18) before the lunar module ''Luna'' crashes: "Blessed Saint Leibowitz, keep 'em dreamin' down there". * In Wasteland 2 video game, there is a religious engineer at Leve L'Upe mine, with this name, a reference to Saint Leibowitz of ''A Canticle for Leibowitz''.

References

Miller, Walter M., Jr. 1959. ''A Canticle for Leibowitz.'' New York: Bantam Books.

External sources

Brians, Paul. Study guide for Walter M. Miller, Jr.: a canticle for Leibowitz (1959). https://web.archive.org/web/20080325034410/http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html (accessed March 14, 2008). Characters in written science fiction Literary characters introduced in 1959 Characters in American novels of the 20th century Fictional Christian saints Catholicism in fiction Historical preservationists {{novel-char-stub