A. J. Cronin

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A.J. Cronin

Born July 19, 1896
Cardross, Scotland
Died January 6, 1981
Montreux, Switzerland
Occupation M.D., Writer

Archibald Joseph Cronin (July 19, 1896–January 6, 1981) was a Scottish novelist, dramatist, and non-fiction writer who was one of the most renowned storytellers of the twentieth century. His best-known works are The Citadel and The Keys of the Kingdom, both of which were made into Oscar-nominated films. The Dr. Finlay character originated in Cronin's 1935 novella, Country Doctor, which led to further stories that were collected in Adventures of a Black Bag. These provided the basis for the long-running BBC television and radio series entitled Dr. Finlay's Casebook.

Born in Cardross, Dunbartonshire (now in Argyll and Bute) and raised in Yorkhill, Glasgow, Cronin was the only child of a Protestant mother, Jessie Montgomerie Cronin, and a Catholic father, Patrick Cronin, and would later write of young men from similarly mixed backgrounds. Cronin was a precocious student at Dumbarton Academy and won many writing competitions. Due to his exceptional abilities, he was awarded a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Glasgow. It was there that he met his future wife, Agnes Mary Gibson, who was also a medical student. Cronin graduated with highest honours in 1919, being awarded an M.B. and a Ch.B.. He went on to earn additional degrees, including a Diploma in Public Health (1923) and his MRCP (1924). In 1925, he was awarded an M.D. from the University of Glasgow for his dissertation, entitled "The History of Aneurysm."

Cronin served as a Royal Navy surgeon during World War I, like the medical hero of his novel Shannon's Way. After the war, he trained in various hospitals before taking up his first practice in Tredegar, a mining town in South Wales. In 1924, he was appointed Medical Inspector of Mines for Great Britain. He drew on his experiences researching the occupational hazards of the mining industry for his later novels The Citadel, set in Wales, and The Stars Look Down, set in Northumberland. He subsequently moved to London and had a thriving practice on Harley Street. While on holiday in the Scottish Highlands, Cronin wrote his lengthy first novel, Hatter's Castle, in the brief span of three months. It was quickly accepted by Gollancz, the only publishing house to which the manuscript had been submitted. The novel was a great success, launching his career as a prolific author, and he never returned to practicing medicine.

Many of Cronin's books were bestsellers which were translated into numerous languages. His strengths included his narrative skill and his powers of acute observation and graphic description. Although noted for its deep social conscience, his work is filled with colorful characters and witty dialogue. Some of his stories draw on his medical career, dramatically mixing realism, romance, and social criticism. In addition to stressing the need for tolerance, Cronin's works examine moral conflicts between the individual and society as his idealistic heroes pursue justice for the common man. The Citadel incited the establishment of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom by exposing the inequity and incompetence of medical practice at the time. Not only were the author's pioneering ideas instrumental in the creation of the NHS, but the popularity of his novels played a substantial role in the Labour Party's landslide 1945 victory.[1]

In the late 1930s Cronin moved to the United States with his wife and three sons, living in Greenwich, Connecticut before eventually settling in New Canaan. He also had homes on the French Riviera and in Bermuda, and he summered in Blue Hill, Maine. From an early age, he was an avid golfer, and he loved fishing as well. Ultimately, he returned to Europe, residing in Lucerne and Montreux, Switzerland for the last twenty-five years of his life and continuing to write into his eighties. He died on January 6, 1981, in Montreux.

Contents

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Selected periodical publications

  • "The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met: The Doctor of Lennox," Reader's Digest, 35 (September 1939): 26-30.
  • "Turning Point of My Career," Reader's Digest, 38 (May 1941): 53-57.
  • "Diogenes in Maine," Reader's Digest, 39 (August 1941): 11-13.
  • "Reward of Mercy," Reader's Digest, 39 (September 1941): 25-37.
  • "How I Came to Write a Novel of a Priest," Life, 11 (20 October 1941): 64-66.
  • "Drama in Everyday Life," Reader's Digest, 42 (March 1943): 83-86.
  • "Candles in Vienna," Reader's Digest, 48 (June 1946): 1-3.
  • "Star of Hope Still Rises," Reader's Digest, 53 (December 1948): 1-3.
  • "Johnny Brown Stays Here," Reader's Digest, 54 (January 1949): 9-12.
  • "Two Gentlemen of Verona," Reader's Digest, 54 (February 1949): 1-5.
  • "Greater Gift," Reader's Digest, 54 (March 1949): 88-91.
  • "Irish Rose," Reader's Digest, 56 (January 1950): 21-24.
  • "Monsieur le Maire," Reader's Digest, 58 (January 1951): 52-56.
  • "Best Investment I Ever Made," Reader's Digest, 58 (March 1951): 25-28.
  • "Quo Vadis?," Reader's Digest, 59 (December 1951): 41-44.
  • "Tombstone for Nora Malone," Reader's Digest, 60 (January 1952): 99-101.
  • "When You Dread Failure," Reader's Digest, 60 (February 1952): 21-24.
  • "What I Learned at La Grande Chartreuse," Reader's Digest, 62 (February 1953): 73-77.
  • "Grace of Gratitude," Reader's Digest, 62 (March 1953): 67-70.
  • "Thousand and One Lives," Reader's Digest, 64 (January 1954): 8-11.
  • "How to Stop Worrying," Reader's Digest, 64 (May 1954): 47-50.
  • "Don't Be Sorry for Yourself!," Reader's Digest, 66 (February 1955): 97-100.
  • "Unless You Deny Yourself," Reader's Digest, 68 (January 1956): 54-56.
  • "Resurrection of Joao Jacinto," Reader's Digest, 89 (November 1966): 153-157.[2]

[edit] Film adaptations

[edit] Selected television credits

[edit] Selected radio credits

[edit] References

  1. ^ R. Samuel, "North and South," London Review of Books 17.12 (22 June 1995): 3-6.
  2. ^ Dictionary of Literary Biography

[edit] External links


A.J. Cronin
WORKS
Novels
Hatter's Castle • Three Loves • Grand Canary • The Stars Look Down • The Citadel • The Keys of the Kingdom • The Green Years • Shannon's Way • The Spanish Gardener • The Valorous Years • Beyond This Place • A Thing of Beauty/Crusader's Tomb • The Northern Light • The Native Doctor/An Apple in Eden • The Judas Tree • A Song of Sixpence • A Pocketful of Rye • The Minstrel Boy/Desmonde • Lady with Carnations • Gracie Lindsay
Selected Short Stories & Story Collections
"Kaleidoscope in 'K'" • Country Doctor (novella) • "Vigil in the Night" • Adventures of a Black Bag • The Innkeeper's Wife • Further Adventures of a Black Bag • Doctor Finlay of Tannochbrae
Play
Jupiter Laughs
Autobiography
Adventures in Two Worlds
UK/US Film & Television Adaptations
Once to Every Woman • Grand Canary • The Citadel (film) • Vigil in the Night • The Stars Look Down • Shining Victory • Hatter's Castle • The Keys of the Kingdom • The Green Years • The Spanish Gardener • Web of Evidence • Dr. Finlay's Casebook • The Citadel (television)
Persondata
NAME Cronin, A. J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Archibald Joseph Cronin
SHORT DESCRIPTION M.D., Writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 19, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Cardross, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 1981
PLACE OF DEATH Montreux, Switzerland
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Cronin"
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