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William Roscoe Thayer

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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"WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER (18J9-), American writer, was born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 16 1859. He studied at St. Mark's Academy, Concord, N.H., travelled with a private tutor in Europe, and graduated from Harvard in 1881, in the class with Theodore Roosevelt. For several years he was assistant editor of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, then returned to Harvard, receiving the degree of A.M. in 1886. When the Harvard Graduates' Magazine was established in 1892 he was appointed editor, serving until 1915. In 1903, at the International Historical Congress at Rome, he represented both Harvard University and the American Historical Association, and in 1906 was their representative at the Italian Historical Congress in Milan. He was a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers from 1913 to 1919. In 1902 he was made Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy, and in 1917 Knight of the Order of Saints Maurizio and Lazaro. In 1918 he was elected president of the American Historical Association. He was best known for his works on Italian history, especially The Dawn of Italian Independence 1814 to 1840, 2 vols. (1893); A Short History of Venice (1905), and The Life and Times of Cavour, 2 vols. (1911). His other works include Italica (1908); The Life and Letters of John Hay, 2 vols. (1915); Letters of John Holmes (1917); Theodore Roosevelt - An Intimate Biography (1918); Democracy: Discipline: Peace (1919, lectures at Brown University); Volleys From a Non-Combatant (1919); and The Art of Biography (1920, lectures at the university of Virginia).