Michael Novak facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michael Novak
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Novak in 2004 at the Washington Foreign Press Center
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| Born |
Michael John Novak Jr.
September 9, 1933 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Died | February 17, 2017 (aged 83) Washington, D.C., U.S.
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| Title | US Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1981–1982) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
Karen Laub-Novak
(m. 1963; died 2009) |
| Awards | Templeton Prize (1994) |
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Notable work
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The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982) |
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| Influences | |
| Influenced | Alfredo Cristiani |
Michael John Novak Jr. (September 9, 1933 – February 17, 2017) was an American Catholic thinker, writer, and diplomat. He wrote many books about culture, philosophy, and religion. Novak is best known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982).
In 1993, he received an honorary doctorate for his belief in freedom. In 1994, he won the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which came with a large cash award. He wrote articles and books about capitalism, religion, and how countries become more democratic.
Novak worked as a United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1981 and 1982. He also led the U.S. team to a big meeting called the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1986. He was a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a research group. Novak said he was a lifelong Democrat but supported many Republican politicians.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Michael Novak was born on September 9, 1933, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His family was of Slovak-American background. He married Karen Laub-Novak, who was an artist. She passed away in 2009. They had three children: Richard, Tanya, and Jana, and four grandchildren.
Novak earned a high-level degree in philosophy and English from Stonehill College in 1956. He then studied theology in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, getting another degree in 1958. In 1966, he earned a master's degree in history and philosophy of religion from Harvard University. He had planned to get a doctorate at Harvard. However, he felt the philosophy department focused too much on one type of philosophy and not enough on religion. So, he left after his master's degree to become a writer.
Early Writings and Views
Novak worked as a reporter for the National Catholic Reporter during the Second Vatican Council in Rome. This was an important meeting for the Catholic Church. His reporting led to his second book, The Open Church, which described the council's events. Some church leaders did not like his writings at the time.
First Books and Novels
Early in his career, Novak wrote two novels: The Tiber Was Silver (1961) and Naked I Leave (1970). He thought the small payment he received for his first novel was "a fortune."
Ideas on Culture and Society
Novak wrote a book called Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics. In it, he suggested that white ethnic groups were different from other white Americans. He believed they had their own culture that others tried to make them forget. He supported the idea that different groups could live separately but equally. He thought that African Americans and white ethnic groups should work together because they faced similar challenges.
Teaching and Later Career
Novak's friendship with a theologian named Robert McAfee Brown led him to teach at Stanford University. He was the first Catholic to teach in their humanities program. He taught at Stanford from 1965 to 1968, during a time of student protests. During this period, he wrote A Time to Build (1967). In 1968, he joined a protest against the Vietnam War by refusing to pay certain taxes.
After Stanford, Novak became a dean at a new school called State University of New York at Old Westbury. Here, he wrote The Experience of Nothingness (1970). This book warned that trying to create a perfect society could make people feel lost.
Later, Novak worked at the Rockefeller Foundation and then became a professor at Syracuse University. In 1978, he joined the American Enterprise Institute, a research organization, where he stayed for many years. He wrote often for magazines like First Things and National Review. In 1994, he signed a document called Evangelicals and Catholics Together, which promoted cooperation between these two Christian groups.
In 2007, he supported Republican Mitt Romney for president. In 2012, he wrote an article about why a free economy is important. Novak also helped start the Institute on Religion and Democracy and was a founding member of the board for Ave Maria University.
Michael Novak passed away on February 17, 2017, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 83.
See also
In Spanish: Michael Novak para niños
- American philosophy
- Democratic capitalism
- List of American philosophers
