Conor Cruise O'Brien
Conor Cruise O'Brien was an influential Irish figure known for his multifaceted career as a diplomat, politician, biographer, historian, and literary critic. Born on November 3, 1917, in Dublin, he was educated at Trinity College and began his professional journey in the Irish Civil Service in 1942. O'Brien held notable positions, including vice chancellor of the University of Ghana and member of the Irish Senate, and served with the United Nations during the 1960s. His literary contributions are extensive and include works such as “Parnell and His Party” and “The Great Melody,” alongside plays like “King Herod Explains.” He also edited prominent publications, including The Observer and contributed to The Atlantic Monthly. O'Brien's diverse output reflects a commitment to exploring complex themes related to nationalism, politics, and the human condition. His legacy is characterized by a blend of intellectual rigor and passionate engagement in public discourse, marking him as a significant voice in 20th-century literature and politics.
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Conor Cruise O'Brien
Politician
- Born: November 3, 1917
- Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
- Died: December 18, 2008
- Place of death: Howth, near Dublin, Ireland
Biography
Conor Cruise O’Brien was born on November 3, 1917, in Dublin, Ireland, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was married twice and had five children. O’Brien has had a distinguished and sometimes controversial career as a diplomat, politician, biographer, historian, and literary critic.
He began his professional life in the Irish Civil Service in 1942. O’Brien worked with the United Nations in the 1960’s and held several diplomatic and university posts in both Africa and Ireland in the 1970’s. Among other positions, he was vice chancellor of the University of Ghana from 1962 until 1965, held the Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities at New York University from 1965 until 1969, and was a member of the Irish Senate from 1977 until 1979. He also was editor in chief of The Observer from 1979 until 1981 and a contributing editor of The Atlantic Monthly beginning in 1986.
O’Brien’s first literary works reflected his early and multiple careers: Parnell and His Party: 1880-1890, To Katanga and Back: A U. N. Case, The United Nations: Sacred Drama, and States of Ireland. Throughout his career, however, he also has produced works of history, biography, and literary criticism in books such as Writers and Politics, Albert Camus of Europe and Africa, The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785-1800, and The Great Melody: A Thematic Biography of Edmund Burke. Some of his many other books include The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism, Passion and Cunning: Essays on Nationalism, Terrorism, and Revolution, The Press and the World, and Religion and Politics.
In his long and prolific career, he has written the plays King Herod Explains and Murderous Angels: A Political Tragedy and Comedy in Black and White, and he published an autobiographical volume, Memoir: My Life and Themes. In addition, he has contributed essays and reviews on a broad range of subjects to the leading journals in both England and America, including New Statesman and The New York Review of Books, and many of these essays have been collected in later volumes. In breadth and depth, O’Brien’s literary, academic, journalistic, and political careers are unique in twentieth century letters and in many ways hark back to an earlier age, like the English Renaissance, when the roles of intellectual and man of letters and that of diplomat and politician could be more easily combined. O’Brien has brought intelligence and passion to all of his roles and left a substantial record of his thought in a great number of areas of contemporary life.