Ivan Morris
Born
Ivan Ira Esme Morris

(1925-11-29)29 November 1925
Kensington, London, England
Died19 July 1976(1976-07-19) (aged 50)
Bologna, Italy
Alma materHarvard University
SOAS University of London
Occupation(s)Writer, translator, editor
Spouse(s)Ayako Ogawa (divorced)[1]
Nobuko Uenishi (divorced)[2]
Parents
RelativesIra Nelson Morris (grandfather)
Nelson Morris (great-grandfather)
Victor Henry Rothschild (great-grandfather)

Ivan Ira Esme Morris (29 November 1925 – 19 July 1976) was an English writer, translator and editor in the field of Japanese studies.[3]

Biography

Ivan Morris was born in London, of mixed American and Swedish parentage to Edita Morris (née Toll) and Ira Victor Morris (son of diplomat Ira Nelson Morris and grandson of meat-packer Nelson Morris).[3] He studied at Gordonstoun, before graduating from Phillips Academy.[4] He graduated with magna cum laude at Harvard University and received a doctorate at the SOAS University of London, specializing in Oriental languages.[3] As an intelligence officer for the U.S. Navy, Morris was one of the first interpreters sent into Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb.[5][6]

Morris wrote widely on modern and ancient Japan and translated numerous classical and modern literary works. He personally knew writer Yukio Mishima and translated some of his writings.[3] Morris' book The Nobility of Failure is dedicated to Mishima's memory. His translation of The Pillow Book Sei Shonagon was probably his most significant translation from Classical Japanese, and his The World of the Shining Prince, a description of the Heian court culture at the time of The Tale of Genji, is probably his most important single scholarly work.

Morris joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1960 and was chairman of the department of East Asian languages and cultures from 1966 to 1969.[3] In 1966 he was elected a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.[7] He helped founding Amnesty International USA[3] and was the first chair of its board of directors from 1973 to 1976.

Ivan Morris died of heart failure in Bologna, Italy, on 19 July 1976.[3]

Personal life

Morris was married three times.[3] His second wife was Japanese ballet dancer Ayako Ogawa, his third wife Japanese writer Nobuko Uenishi.[8]

Selected works

As writer

  • Nationalism and the Right Wing in Japan: A Study of Postwar Trends, Oxford University Press, 1960
  • The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan, Alfred A. Knopf, 1964
  • Dictionary of Selected Forms in Classical Japanese Literature, Columbia University Press, 1966
  • The Tale of Genji Scroll, Kodansha, 1971
  • The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975

As translator

As editor

  • Modern Japanese Stories, Charles E. Tuttle, 1962
  • Thought and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics, by Masao Maruyama, Oxford University Press, 1963
  • Japan, 1931–45: Militarism, Fascism, Japanism?, Heath, 1963
  • The Pillow-Book Puzzles, Bodley Head, 1969
  • Madly Singing in the Mountains: an Appreciation and Anthology of Arthur Waley, Walker, 1970

References

  1. ↑ Ogawa, Ayako (2004). 運命に従う (Follow Fate) (in Japanese). Gentosha. ISBN 978-4344006843.
  2. ↑ "Albery, Nobuko". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Krebs, Albin (21 July 1976). "Ivan Morris of Columbia Is Dead; A Specialist in Oriental Cultures". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  4. ↑ Varley, H. Paul. "A Remembrance of Ivan Morris". The Journal of Japanese Studies. The Society for Japanese Studies. 3 (1, Winter 1977): 135–143.
  5. ↑ "Edita & Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation: The Foundation". Edita & Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Kiuchi, Toru; Hakutani, Yoshinobu, eds. (2013). Richard Wright: A Documented Chronology, 1908-1960. McFarland. p. 414. ISBN 9780786465675.
  7. ↑ Trevor-Roper, Hugh (2020). The China Journals: Ideology and Intrigue in the 1960s. Bloomsbury. p. 147.
  8. ↑ Cortazzi, Hugh (13 May 2013). Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits. Vol. 4. Routledge. ISBN 978-1136641404.
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