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Vincent Archibald Patrick Cronin
FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...
(24 May 1924 – 25 January 2011) was a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer, best known for his biographies of
Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
,
Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
and
Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
,
Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
, and
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
, as well as for his books on the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
. Cronin was born in
Tredegar Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the In ...
,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...
, to Scottish doctor and novelist,
A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...
, and May Gibson, but moved to London at the age of two. He was educated at
Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...
,
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 highe ...
, the Sorbonne, and
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, from which he graduated with honours in 1947, earning a degree in Literae Humaniores. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, he served as a lieutenant in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
.


Family

In 1949, he married Chantal de Rolland, and they had five children. The Cronins were long-time residents of London,
Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...
, and Dragey, in
Avranches Avranches (; nrf, Avraunches) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''. History By the end of the Roman period ...
,
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, where they lived at the Manoir de Brion. He died at his home in Marbella on 25 January 2011.


Awards

Cronin was a recipient of the Richard Hillary Award, the W.H. Heinemann Award (1955), and the
Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...
Award (1958). He also contributed to the ''
Revue des Deux Mondes The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829. According to its website, "it is today the place for debates a ...
'', was the first General Editor of the ''Companion Guides'' series, and was on the Council of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...
.


Works

*''The Golden Honeycomb: A Sicilian Quest'' (1954) *''The Wise Man from the West:
Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the , a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. ...
and his Mission to China'' (1955) *''The Last Migration'' (1957) (on the Falqani tribe of South Persia) *" T. S. Eliot as a Translator." ''T. S. Eliot: A Symposium for His Seventieth Birthday.'' Ed. Neville Braybrooke, 129–137 (1958) *''A Pearl to
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
: The Life of Roberto de Nobili'' (1959) *''The Letter After Z'' (1960) (novel) *Translator, ''L'Amour Profane'' by Alfred Kern (1961) (novel) *''A Calendar of Saints'' (1963) *''The Companion Guide to Paris'' (1963 - first edition) *''
Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
'' (1964) *Translator, ''The Christian Centuries: A New History of the Catholic Church, Volume One: The First Six Hundred Years'' by Jean Danielou and Henri Marrou (1964) *''Four Women in Pursuit of an Ideal'' (1965) (about Caroline, duchess de Berry,
Marie D'Agoult Marie Cathérine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult (née de Flavigny; 31 December 18055 March 1876), was a Franco-German romantic author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern. Life Marie was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, with th ...
, Eve Hanska and
Marie Bashkirtseff Marie Bashkirtseff (born Mariya Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva, russian: Мария Константиновна Башки́рцева; 1858–1884) was a Ukrainian artist from the Russian Empire who worked in Paris, France. She died aged 25. Li ...
; also published as ''The Romantic Way'', 1966) *Editor, ''The Sunday Times Travel and Holiday Guide'' (1966) (edited with Elizabeth Nicholas and Leonard Russell) *''The Florentine Renaissance'' (1967) *''
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
Portrayed'' (1968) *"The Classical Ideal in Florence." ''Essays by Divers Hands,'' Volume XXXV: 23–39 (1969) *Editor, ''The Companion Guide to the
West Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland ...
of Scotland'' by W.H. Murray (1969) *''The Flowering of the Renaissance'' (1969) *Editor, ''The Companion Guide to the North Island of New Zealand'' by Errol Brathwaite (1970) *''
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
'' (1971), (also published as ''Napoleon Bonaparte: An Intimate Biography'', 1972, ) *''The Horizon Concise History of Italy'' (1972) (also published as ''A Concise History of Italy'', 1973, ) *''Louis and Antoinette'' (1974) *Translator, ''Towards a New Democracy'' by
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...
(1977) *''Catherine, Empress of All the Russias'' (1978) *Editor, ''Essays by Divers Hands,'' Volume XL (1979) *Editor, ''The Companion Guide to Florence'' by Eve Borsook (1979) *''The View from Planet Earth: Man Looks at the
Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...
'' (1981) *''Paris on the Eve, 1900-1914'' (1989) *''The Renaissance'' (1992) *''Paris: City of Light, 1919-1939'' (1994) *''Chile Rediscovered'' (2009) *''
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
'' (2010)


References


External links


Author TrackerText of ''The Golden Honeycomb''Academy of Achievement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Vincent 1924 births 2011 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford British architectural historians British Army personnel of World War II British art historians British bibliographers British biographers British editors British expatriates in France British people of Irish descent British people of Scottish descent British Roman Catholics British travel writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature French–English translators Harvard University alumni People educated at Ampleforth College Writers from London Roman Catholic writers University of Paris alumni People from Tredegar Historians of the Napoleonic Wars 20th-century translators Historians of the Renaissance 20th-century English male writers British Army officers