Walter Van Rensselaer Berry (July 29, 1859 – October 12, 1927^ Geoffrey Wolff (1976). Black Sun: the brief transit and violent eclipse of Harry Crosby. Random House.) was an American lawyer, diplomat, Francophile, and friend of several great writers. He was also an American

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player active in the late 19th century.

Biography

Berry was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, a descendant of the Van Rensselaer family of New York. After attending St. Mark's School and Harvard, he took a law degree 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 ...

, practicing law 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 ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

, where he pursued a career in international law and diplomacy. After serving as a judge at the International Tribunal of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

from 1908 to 1911, he settled in Paris for the remainder of his life and became a strong advocate of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, tirelessly promoting its cause 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 territori ...

when

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out in 1914; he served as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris from 1916 to 1923. After the war he vigorously opposed both

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. A close friend of

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

and Edith Wharton, who called him "the love of my life," he met Marcel Proust in the summer of 1916, beginning "a friendship that was to be one of the most rewarding of Proust's final years." He was a cousin of

Harry Crosby Harry Crosby (June 4, 1898 – December 10, 1929) was an American heir, World War I veteran, ''bon vivant'', poet, and publisher who for some epitomized the Lost Generation in American literature. He was the son of one of the richest banking fam ...

, leaving him in his will "my entire library except such items as my good friend Edith Wharton may care to choose."

Tennis

Berry reached the semifinals of the U.S. National Championships in 1885 and the finals of the doubles in

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's '' Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price at ...

. His doubles partner was his cousin, Alexander Van Rensselaer.

References

External links

Walter Berry Papers, 1885-1927
at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Special Collections Research Center * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Walter Van Rensselaer 1859 births 1927 deaths American people of World War I St. Mark's School (Massachusetts) alumni Harvard University alumni Columbia Law School alumni American male tennis players