Background

Thayer was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 16, 1859. He was the son of Frederick William and Maria (Phelps) Thayer. He was descended on both sides from a straight English and New England ancestry; his paternal ancestor, Thomas Thayer, was an early settler of Braintree, Massachussets Frederick William Thayer, a prosperous shipping merchant, had business connections in England and there became so much interested in the work of the Liverpool banker-historian of Italy, William Roscoe, that he gave his name to his own son. Thus from earliest childhood the thoughts of the boy were turned toward the history of the country which next to his own was to be the ruling interest of his mature life.

Education

He attended St. Paul's school at Concord, N. H. , for three years, and was then taken to Europe, where he remained two and a half years, most of the time under the care of an exceptionally gifted private tutor. Entering Harvard College in 1877, he was graduated in due course. He then returned to Harvard, receiving the degree of A. M. in 1886.

Career

A change in the family fortunes had made it necessary for him to seek gainful occupation. From the very beginning of his conscious life he had shown more than ordinary capacity for writing in both prose and verse, and he at once accepted a very humble position as "space writer" for the Boston Sunday Budget. This experience led to an engagement on the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, where he served an apprenticeship of four years, writing literary, musical, and dramatic criticism and editorials upon all subjects except politics.

In 1887 in Europe he settled in Cambridge and accepted an appointment as instructor in English at Harvard (1888 - 89), hoping that by performing the "chore-work" of theme correcting "I might eventually have an opportunity of testing my ability in a more congenial course". In this hope he was disappointed. The appointment was not renewed, and alluring offers from other places did not attract him.

His devotion to the University continued unabated. He was chosen as editor of the new Harvard Graduates' Magazine and continued in that capacity for twenty-three years (1892 - 1915). He was twice elected to the board of overseers (1913-19 and 1920 - 23). The Harvard Union owed its origin to him, and it was largely through his persistent advocacy that it was founded and began its beneficent service.

Thayer's interest in Italian history began early to center about the period of the Risorgimento, the struggle for unity and independence. The first fruit of this interest was The Dawn of Italian Independence (2 vols. , 1893), a survey of the preparatory stages. For the central figure of his work he chose Cavour as the chief constructive agent about whom he might group the other elements, both radical and reactionary, that contributed to the final result. With his ardent love of liberty and hatred of tyranny there could be no question of "impartiality" in his treatment of the subject, yet he was equally far from blind admiration of his hero. His two volumes, The Life and Times of Cavour, published in 1911, at once placed him in the front rank of biographical historians.

In 1905 he had published A Short History of Venice. Work on the Cavour was interrupted for four years by a serious nervous disorder which he faced with unflinching courage and overcame at last by persistent occupation within the limits of his strength. Upon its completion he turned with renewed energy to a new field of study in preparation for The Life and Letters of John Hay (2 vols. , 1915). Four years later he published Theodore Roosevelt; an Intimate Biography (1919), and in 1920, The Art of Biography.

Meanwhile, his affection for Italy had developed in him an equal detestation of Bismarckian Germany. The events of 1914 roused him to intense hostility and he gave himself wholeheartedly to the task of stirring American opinion to the point of war. His pamphlets, Germany vs. Civilization (1916) and The Collapse of Superman (1918), and his letters to men of political importance indicate his point of view during this period.

He died in Cambridge, at the age of sixty-four, survived by his wife and one daughter.

Achievements

• He is remembered as an author and editor who wrote about Italian history.

Works

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  • Democracy: Discipline: Peace

    ( About the Book A political ideology is a set of ethical...)

  • Throne-Makers (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Throne-Makers My thanks are due to the prop...)

  • Italica: Studies in Italian Life and Letters (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Italica: Studies in Italian Life and Letters...)

  • John Hay

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Theodore Roosevelt
  • George Washington: By William Roscoe Thayer - Illustrated

Membership

The appreciation of the Italian government was shown by his nomination to membership in the Order of the Crown of Italy and in the Order of Saints Maurizio & Lazzaro with the title of Commendatore, the highest civic honor in the gift of that country. In 1918-19 he was president of the American Historical Association.

Connections

His marriage, November 24, 1893, to Elizabeth Hastings Ware of Cambridge, member of a notable family of scholars and divines, strengthened Thayer's purpose to go on with the historical study and writing for which he had long been steadily preparing.

Father:

Frederick William Thayer

Mother:

Maria (Phelps) Thayer

Spouse:

Elizabeth Hastings Ware