Louis Kronenberger
Louis Kronenberger (1955) Photo by Carl Van Vechten
Louis Kronenberger (1955)
Photo by Carl Van Vechten
BornDecember 9, 1904
United States
DiedApril 30, 1980(1980-04-30) (aged 75)
United States
OccupationNovelist, critic
GenreJournalism, biographer
Time, where Kronenberger worked (1938–1961)

Louis Kronenberger (December 9, 1904 – April 30, 1980) was an American literary critic (longest with Time, 1938-1961), novelist, and biographer who wrote extensively on drama and the 18th century.[1]

Background

Kronenberger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Louis Kronenberger Sr., a merchant, and Mabel Newwitter. Kronenberger attended, but did not graduate from, the University of Cincinnati from 1921 to 1924.[1]

Career

Writer

He moved to New York in 1924 and began his career at the New York Times.[1] In 1926, he became an editor at Boni & Liveright and in 1933, at Alfred A. Knopf.[1]

In 1938, he became drama critic for Time, where he continued to write until 1961.[1] In 1940, William Saroyan listed Kronenberger among the associate editors at Time in the play, Love's Old Sweet Song.[2] Starting in 1942, he worked under Whittaker Chambers, who became editor for the "Back of the Book" (1942-1944).[3] During this period Time was, according to Chambers, "consistently able and sometimes brilliant, because of a small group of men" that included Kronenberger, T. S. Matthews, James Agee, Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Cantwell, Winthrop Sargeant, John K. Jessup, and Calvin Fixx.[4]

In 1940, he also served as a critic for PM and worked there until 1948.[1]

Academic

Kronenberger was a visiting professor at several universities, including City College of New York, Columbia, Harvard, Berkeley.[1] In 1951, he founded a Department of Theater Arts at Brandeis.[1]

He was associated with numerous organizations for promoting the arts: Yaddo, Lincoln Center Library-Museum, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[5]

Personal and death

Kronenberger married Emily L. Plaut in 1940; they had two children : Liza Wanklyn and John Kronenberger [1]

He died on April 30, 1980.[1]

Legacy

"Kronenberger's praise was a near guarantee of box-office success."[5]

A collection of Louis Kronenberger's papers is held by Princeton University.[1]

Works

John Wilkes by Richard Houston (1769), about whom Kronenberger wrote in 1974

In his later years, Kronenberger wrote biographies, including one of John Wilkes and another of Oscar Wilde.[1][5]

Books:

Editing:

Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony (1882), about whom Kronenberger wrote in 1976

Books edited with others:

Plays written:

Plays translated, adapted:

Plays edited:

Plays edited with others:

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Louis Kronenberger Papers". Princeton University. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  2. ^ Saroyan, William (1940). Love's Old Sweet Song: A Play in Three Acts. Samuel French. p. 72. Retrieved 15 July 2017..
  3. ^ Tanenhaus, Sam (1997). Whittaker Chambers: A Biography. New York: Random House. pp. 170–171 (Kronenberger), 173 (Back of the Book editor). ISBN 9780307789266. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  4. ^ Chambers, Whittaker (1952). Witness. New York: Random House. p. 478. ISBN 9780394452333. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b c Funston, Judith E. (1999). Kronenberger, Louis. American National Biography.

External links

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