Carlos M. N. Eire is the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and Religious Studies at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

. He is a historian of

late medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

and

early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histor ...

Education

Eire received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Theology in 1973 from

Loyola University, Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesake is Saint Ign ...

. He obtained his doctoral degree from

in 1979.

Career

Before joining the Yale faculty in 1996, Eire taught at St. John's University in Minnesota and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, and spent two years at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

. He is the author of ''War Against the Idols'' (Cambridge, 1986), ''From Madrid to Purgatory'' (Cambridge, 1995), ''A Very Brief History of Eternity'' (Princeton, 2009), and ''Reformations: Early Modern Europe 1450-1700'' (Yale, 2016), for which he received the R.R. Hawkins Award for best book and the American Publishers Awards for Professional & Scholarly Excellence of 2017. He is also co-author of ''Jews, Christians, Muslims: An Introduction to Monotheistic Religions'' (Prentice Hall, 1997). His memoir of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

, '' Waiting for Snow in Havana'' (Free Press, 2003), won the U.S.

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five U.S. annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by U.S. citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists ...

"National Book Awards – 2003"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
(With acceptance speech by Eire and introduction by nonfiction panelist Jonathan Kirsch.) and has been translated into many languages. A second memoir, ''

Learning to Die in Miami Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of l ...

'' (November 2010) focuses on the early years of his exile in the United States.

Personal life

Carlos Eire was born in Havana, Cuba, on 23 November 1950. His mother was Maria Azucena Eiré González and his father was Antonio Nieto Cortadellas - a prominent judge before

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

's revolution. He also has two brothers, Tony (blood relative), and Ernesto (step-brother); the latter was disliked by all in the family, but the father. Eire (age 11) and his brother Tony fled to the United States in 1962, becoming another statistic of the 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children airlifted by

Operation Peter Pan Operation Peter Pan (or Operación Pedro Pan) was a clandestine exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors ages 6 to 18 to the United States over a two-year span from 1960 to 1962. They were sent after parents feared that Fidel Castro and ...

. His mother would eventually join him a few years later, but never his father. Eire married his wife, Jane Vanderlyn Ulrich, in January 1984. They have three children, John-Carlos (b. 1988), Evelyn Grace (b. 1990), and Bruno Rowan (b. 1994).

Bibliography

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References

External links

Focus 580; Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of A Cuban Boy
” 2004-05-04, WILL Illinois Public Media,

American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The AAPB is a national effort to digital ...