Paul Murray Kendall (March 1, 1911 – November 21, 1973) was an American academic and historian, who taught for over 30 years at

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

and then, after his retirement, at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Biography

Kendall was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He graduated from Frankford High School in 1928. He studied at the

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

, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1932, and master's in 1933. In 1937, while studying for a

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

, he became an instructor in English at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1939, and continued as professor at Ohio University, and was one of the first academics named as Distinguished Professor at Ohio University in 1959. In 1939 Kendall married Carol Seeger, one of his former students. Carol Kendall was an author in her own right.

Career

Kendall's teaching was primarily concerned with

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 ideas ...

writing and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. He was granted

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

in 1947, and was appointed Distinguished Professor of English in 1959, one of the first three academics at Ohio University to receive this honor. In 1950 Kendall was awarded a Marburgh Prize from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

for a three-act play, ''The Ant Village''. He published both light verse and scholarly articles. In 1952 he was awarded a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Fellowship which assisted him in completing ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

'', which was published in 1955, and raises anew the question whether or not that monarch was an usurper. It is for that work that he is best known. This work was a scholarly defence of the controversial monarch. It relied heavily on primary sources and made a significant contribution to the arguments for a favourable view of Richard. The work was critically very well received and was a runner-up for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in 1956. In 1957 ''Warwick the Kingmaker'' and ''History of Land Warfare'' were released. In 1963 ''The Yorkist Age'' was released. In 1970 Kendall retired from Ohio University to become head of the Shakespeare Institute at the

. In 1971 his work, ''

King Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

'' was published, the film by Henri Helman about Louis being clearly part of a rehabilitation movement driven, among others, by Kendall. In 1979 his novel, ''My Brother Chilperic'', was published posthumously. Paul Kendall died on November 21, 1973, aged 62. Kendall was survived by his wife and two daughters, Gillian Murray Kendall, who teaches Renaissance subjects and Shakespeare at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, and Caroline Kendall Orszak, who recently retired from a career in publishing in the UK, and lives in Western Massachusetts.

Books

* ''

'' (1955) * ''Warwick the Kingmaker'' (1957) * ''The Story of Land Warfare'' (1957) * ''The Yorkist Age: Daily Life During the Wars of the Roses '' (1962) * ''The Art of Biography'' (1965) * ''Louis XI: The Universal Spider '' (1971) * ''My Brother Chilperic'' (1979)

Awards

* 1950 Marburgh Prize (Johns Hopkins University) for ''The Ant Village'' * 1956

runner-up for ''

'' * 1957-58 and 1961-62

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

* 1970 Honorary L.H.D. (Doctor of Humane Letters) by Ohio University.

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Ricardian Bulletin, Magazine of the Richard III Society

Paul Murray Kendall and the Anniversary of Richard the Third by Albert Compton Reeves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendall, Paul Murray 1911 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Historians from Pennsylvania Historians of the British Isles Ohio University faculty University of Kansas faculty University of Virginia alumni Writers from Philadelphia American male non-fiction writers