Cyril Clemens
Cyril Clemens was a notable figure in American literary circles, primarily recognized for his efforts in promoting the works and legacy of his famous third cousin, Mark Twain. Born in 1902 in St. Louis, Missouri, he was the son of a prominent physician and was well-connected through family ties and wealth. After completing his education in American literature, Clemens dedicated much of his life to the promotion of Twain, establishing the International Mark Twain Society, which he led without formal governance or membership fees. His role as a self-appointed ambassador for Twain took him across Europe, where he lectured on the author and met significant figures, including Winston Churchill and Pope Pius XII.
Clemens authored several works related to Twain, including the anecdotal biography "My Cousin, Mark Twain," and was involved in legal disputes with Twain's literary estate over unpublished materials. Despite these challenges, he accumulated an extensive collection of Twain-related manuscripts and letters, which he ultimately donated to historical institutions after his death in 1999. His life and contributions have left a lasting impact on the preservation and understanding of Mark Twain's literary legacy.
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Cyril Clemens
Writer
- Born: 1902
- Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
- Died: 1999
Biography
Cyril Coniston Clemens shared a common ancestor with Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, who was his third cousin, twice removed. Cyril Clemens was born in 1902 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of the prominent physicianJames Ross Clemens, a professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University and later dean of Creighton University’s medical school. His mother, Katharine, was the daughter of John L. Boland, the wealthy founder of Boland’s Book and Stationery Company. When he was about seven years old, Clemens’s parents took him to meet his famous relation, Twain, at the author’s home in Redding, Connecticut.
Clemens attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., for three years. While he was there, he claimed to have become a friend of former president William Howard Taft. In 1928, he completed his education at Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied American literature. He later studied at Stanford University in California and Cambridge University in England.
Clemens attended gatherings in his parents’ home at which acquaintances were invited to enjoy refreshments and read original papers on literary topics. These informal meetings increased Clemens’s interest in his connection to Twain. An invitation to lecture on Twain at a St. Louis civic club launched Clemens on a career of promoting Twain that would carry him through the rest of his life.
Living on a substantial independent income, Clemens established and directed the Mark Twain Society to suit his own interests. In 1925, he changed the name of this private organization to the International Mark Twain Society and made its headquarters in Kirkwood, Missouri, near St. Louis. Clemens served as president of this organization that had no rules, dues, or a formal governing board.
In 1930, Clemens traveled to Europe with his mother to lecture on Twain. Along the way, he met with Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, and other literary notables. As a self-appointed traveling ambassador for Twain, he lectured at the Sorbonne in Paris and before French, German, and Italian Rotary clubs. He and his mother also had an audience with Pope Pius XII. In a private meeting with Benito Mussolini, Clemens offered the Italian dictator the first honorary presidency of the International Mark Twain Society, and Mussolini accepted. Three years later Clemens visited President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House and awarded him the Mark Twain Medal.
Clemens’s International Mark Twain Society became a paper roster of international leaders, shahs, kings, premiers, and prime ministers. Anyone whose name could be found in Who’s Who was a candidate for membership, and many famous people accepted Clemens’s invitations. Some of them corresponded frequently with Clemens. Clemens lectured, wrote pamphlets, and interviewed people who had known Twain. When an old acquaintance of Twain’s, Jim Gillis, published his memoirs, Gold Rush Days with Mark Twain (1930), Clemens wrote the book’s introduction. Clemens also collected Twain’s manuscripts and letters and considered himself the foremost authority on his famous relation. In 1932, he published Mark Twain, the Letter Writer, a collection of Twain’s correspondence that contains the only known texts of some of Twain’s letters.
In 1933, Clemens married Nan Shallcross, a descendant of George Washington’s adopted daughter, Nellie Custis. The couple made their home in Kirkwood, Missouri. Three years later, Clemens established the Mark Twain Quarterly, a publication that later evolved into the Mark Twain Journal, which would eventually become a respected scholarly journal. Throughout the 1930’s, Clemens published a succession of small books on Twain. He did not need any income from his book sales and usually acted as his own publisher, issuing his books under the imprint of the International Mark Twain Society. His best-known book, My Cousin, Mark Twain (1939), is an anecdotal biography.
Clemens came to be regarded with suspicion by the official literary executors of the Twain estate. He engaged in numerous legal skirmishes with the estate and Harper and Brothers, the publishing house that had exclusive rights to all previously unpublished Twain material, including Twain’s letters. In 1951, Harper and Brothers sued Clemens to prevent his further publication of Twain’s letters. The lawsuit was settled out of court, with Harper and Brothers paying Clemens $1,250 not to print more previously unpublished material. Clemens agreed to the settlement, which also allowed him to retain possession of the original letters and manuscripts that he owned.
Throughout his lifetime, Clemens amassed a valuable collection of Twain material. Upon his death in 1999, these materials were given to the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis and the Mark Twain Memorial in Hartford, Connecticut.