Nicholas Boyle
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Boyle FBA is the Schröder Professor of German
at the University of Cambridge
and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge
. He has written widely on German literature, intellectual history and religion and is known particularly for his award-winning extensive biography of Goethe (of which two of a projected three volumes have been published). Boyle became a fellow of the British Academy
in 2000.
Boyle's biography of Goethe currently runs to two volumes and he is writing the third. George Steiner
has called him a 'critic of vivacious perspicacity' and compares the scope of his work to "Lord Bullock
's double portraits of Hitler and Stalin, Richard Holmes
's Coleridge
, David Cairns
's Berlioz, Michael Holroyd
's Shaw
, Richardson
's Picasso", whilst The New York Times Book Review describes his biography as a 'remarkable achievement', adding that 'there is nothing comparable to this study in any language'. The biography has been translated into German by Holger
Fliessbach. The Goethe Institut awarded Boyle their Goethe Medal
in 2000. The second volume was shortlisted for the British Academy
Book Prize in 2001.
Schröder Professor of German
The Schröder Professorship of German is the senior professorship in the study of the German language at the University of Cambridge, and was founded in 1909 by a donation of £20,000 from John Henry Schröder, of J. H...
at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
. He has written widely on German literature, intellectual history and religion and is known particularly for his award-winning extensive biography of Goethe (of which two of a projected three volumes have been published). Boyle became a fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
in 2000.
Boyle's biography of Goethe currently runs to two volumes and he is writing the third. George Steiner
George Steiner
Francis George Steiner, FBA , is an influential European-born American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, translator, and educator. He has written extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the impact of the Holocaust...
has called him a 'critic of vivacious perspicacity' and compares the scope of his work to "Lord Bullock
Alan Bullock
Alan Louis Charles Bullock, Baron Bullock , was a British historian, who wrote an influential biography of Adolf Hitler and many other works.-Early life and career:...
's double portraits of Hitler and Stalin, Richard Holmes
Richard Holmes (biographer)
Richard Holmes, OBE, FRSL, FBA is a British author and academic best known for his biographical studies of major figures of British and French Romanticism.-Biography:...
's Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
, David Cairns
David Cairns (writer)
David Cairns is a British journalist, non-fiction writer and musician. He is a leading authority on the life of Berlioz.-Biography:...
's Berlioz, Michael Holroyd
Michael Holroyd
Sir Michael De Courcy Fraser Holroyd, FRHS, FRSL is an English biographer.-Life:Holroyd was born in London and educated at Eton College, though he has often claimed Maidenhead Public Library as his alma mater....
's Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, Richardson
John Richardson (art historian)
John Richardson is a British art historian and Picasso biographer.-Life and work:John Patrick Richardson was born as the elder son of Sir Wodehouse Richardson, D.S.O., K.C.B., Quarter-Master General in the Boer War, and founder of London and the British Empire's Army & Navy Stores...
's Picasso", whilst The New York Times Book Review describes his biography as a 'remarkable achievement', adding that 'there is nothing comparable to this study in any language'. The biography has been translated into German by Holger
Fliessbach. The Goethe Institut awarded Boyle their Goethe Medal
Goethe Medal
The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe Institute honoring non-Germans for meritorious contributions in the spirit of the Institute. It is an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany....
in 2000. The second volume was shortlisted for the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
Book Prize in 2001.
External links
- Boyle's Profile at the University of Cambridge Department of German and Dutch
- 'More than just an old Romantic' Review of Goethe: The Poet and the Age Vol II by George SteinerGeorge SteinerFrancis George Steiner, FBA , is an influential European-born American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, translator, and educator. He has written extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the impact of the Holocaust...
, The Guardian,January 30, 2000. - Review of Goethe: The Poet and the Age Vol II by R. Stephenson, Modern Language Review 97 pp. 484–487.