Robertson Davies facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Robertson Davies CC OOnt FRSL FRSC
Davies in 1982
Born	(1913-08-28)28 August 1913 Thamesville, Ontario, Canada
Died	2 December 1995(1995-12-02) (aged 82) Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Journalist, playwright, professor, critic, novelist
Nationality	Canadian
Alma mater	Queen's University (did not graduate) Balliol College, Oxford
Genre	Novels, plays, essays and reviews
Notable works	The Deptford Trilogy, The Cornish Trilogy, The Salterton Trilogy
Spouse	Brenda Ethel Davies (m. 1940, 1917–2013)
Children	3

William Robertson Davies (born August 28, 1913 – died December 2, 1995) was a famous Canadian writer. He wrote many novels, plays, and articles. He was known as a "man of letters," which means he was a very smart and respected writer. Davies also helped start Massey College at the University of Toronto, where students go to study after their first degree.

Who Was Robertson Davies?

His Early Life and Education

Robertson Davies was born in Thamesville, Ontario, Canada. He was the third son of William Rupert Davies and Florence Sheppard McKay. Growing up, he was always surrounded by books. His father was a newspaper owner and a member of the Canadian Senate. Both of his parents loved to read, and Davies followed their example. He read everything he could find.

As a child, Davies also loved acting in plays. This started his lifelong interest in drama and theatre. He spent his younger years in Renfrew, Ontario. Later, he used this town as a setting in one of his novels, calling it "Blairlogie."

Davies went to Upper Canada College in Toronto from 1926 to 1932. After that, he studied at Queen's University in Kingston from 1932 to 1935. He wrote for the student newspaper there.

He then moved to England to study at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1938, he earned a special degree. The next year, he published a book called Shakespeare's Boy Actors. He also started acting in plays near London. In 1940, he worked for the Old Vic Repertory Company. That same year, he married Brenda Mathews, an Australian woman he met at Oxford.

Becoming a Writer and Editor

In 1940, Davies and his wife moved back to Canada. He became a literary editor at Saturday Night magazine. Two years later, he became the editor of the Peterborough Examiner newspaper in Peterborough. His time in Peterborough gave him many ideas for his future plays and novels.

Davies and his family owned several media companies, including newspapers and radio stations. While he was editor of the Examiner (from 1942 to 1955), Davies wrote 18 books. He also created several of his own plays and wrote articles for different magazines.

In 1947, he wrote a book about acting called Shakespeare for Young Players. He then wrote a one-act play, Eros at Breakfast, which was named the best Canadian play of 1948. He wrote more plays, like Fortune, My Foe (1949) and At My Heart's Core (1950).

Davies also wrote funny essays for the Examiner using the pen name Samuel Marchbanks. Some of these essays were put into books like The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947) and The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949).

During the 1950s, Davies helped start the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. This festival is a big event for theatre in Canada.

Even though he loved drama, Davies became most famous for his novels. His first three novels are known as The Salterton Trilogy. They are Tempest-Tost (1951), Leaven of Malice (1954), and A Mixture of Frailties (1958). These books explored what it was like to live a cultural life in Canada and work at a small-town newspaper.

Teaching and Later Works

Exterior of Massey College in Toronto. Davies was its first Master.

In 1960, Davies started teaching literature at the University of Toronto. He taught there until 1981. In 1961, he published a collection of essays called A Voice From the Attic. He also won an award for his writing.

In 1963, he became the first Master of Massey College, a new college for graduate students at the University of Toronto. While he was Master, he started a tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas. These stories were later published in a book called High Spirits (1982).

Davies was very interested in a type of psychology called Jungian psychology. This interest influenced his novel Fifth Business (1970). This book used his own experiences, his love for myths and magic, and his knowledge of small towns.

He wrote two more novels that continued the story: The Manticore (1972) and World of Wonders (1975). Together, these three books are known as The Deptford Trilogy. The Manticore won the Governor General's Literary Award.

After he retired from teaching, Davies continued to write. His seventh novel, The Rebel Angels (1981), was a funny look at life in a university. This was followed by What's Bred in the Bone (1985), which was nominated for the Booker Prize. The Lyre of Orpheus (1988) completed what is known as The Cornish Trilogy.

He wrote two more novels, Murther and Walking Spirits (1991) and The Cunning Man (1994). He was working on a third novel for another trilogy when he passed away. Davies also wrote the story for an opera called The Golden Ass.

Robertson Davies was a very important writer in Canada. The Times newspaper wrote that his novels "combined deep seriousness and psychological inquiry with fantasy and exuberant mirth." He was good friends with other famous writers like John Kenneth Galbraith and John Irving. He also supported Salman Rushdie when he faced threats because of his novel The Satanic Verses.

Personal Life

Robertson Davies was married to Brenda Ethel Davies in 1940. They had three daughters. He passed away in 1995, leaving behind his wife, daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Davies never learned to drive, so his wife Brenda often drove him to places.

Awards and Recognition

• Won the Dominion Drama Festival Award for best Canadian play in 1948 for Eros at Breakfast.
• Won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour in 1955 for Leaven of Malice.
• Won the Lorne Pierce Medal for his literary achievements in 1961.
• Won the Governor-General's Literary Award in 1972 for The Manticore.
• Was nominated for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1986 for What's Bred in the Bone.
• Received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Oxford in 1991.
• Was the first Canadian to become an Honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
• Was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, which is a very high honor in Canada.
• A park in Toronto was named after him in 2007.

Works

Novels

• The Salterton Trilogy
  • Tempest-Tost (1951)
  • Leaven of Malice (1954)
  • A Mixture of Frailties (1958)
• The Deptford Trilogy
  • Fifth Business (1970)
  • The Manticore (1972)
  • World of Wonders (1975)
• The Cornish Trilogy
  • The Rebel Angels (1981)
  • What's Bred in the Bone (1985)
  • The Lyre of Orpheus (1988)
• The "Toronto Trilogy" (incomplete)
  • Murther and Walking Spirits (1991)
  • The Cunning Man (1994)

Essays

Funny Essays

• The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)
• The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949)
• Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack (1967)
• The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (1985) (all three Marchbanks books together)

Literary Essays

• Shakespeare's Boy Actors (1939)
• Shakespeare for Young Players: A Junior Course (1942)
• A Voice From the Attic (1960)
• The Merry Heart (1996)

Plays

• Overlaid (1948)
• Eros at Breakfast (1948)
• Fortune My Foe (1949)
• At My Heart's Core (1950)
• Hunting Stuart (1955)
• A Jig for the Gypsy (1955)

Short Story Collection

• High Spirits (1982)

Opera Stories (Libretti)

• The Golden Ass (1999)

See also

In Spanish: Robertson Davies para niños