Biography by Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Weighted controversy

29 April 1874 
14 July 1936 
Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London on 29 April 1874; his is a wealthy Anglican family of confession. His father Edward Chesterton is a Realtor who works in partnership with his brother; his mother Marie-Louise Grosjean, is the daughter of a Swiss Calvinist and Scottish woman lay preacher: the maternal grandmother to tell the little nephew Gilbert to the magical world of fairy tales, in which the future writer will remain very attached. Chesterton manifested at an early age a strong spirit of independence: student at the Slade School of Art, first became known as an art critic and as a critic, then begins to write polemical articles in which, with brilliant style and full of humour, attack everything that is estimated to be a mistake of modern times. Academic failure at the age of twenty, accomplices, the estrangement from friends of the school term and the emergence of so many questions about life, is suffering from a severe form of depression and a crisis of faith, so much scepticism from approaching spiritualism. Overcome this serious crisis, even with the help of readings-particularly the book of job-takes place in him a rebirth. In 1895 Chesterton began working for the London Publisher Redway and t. Fisher Unwin. Many of his works are published in various newspapers. In 1900 he wrote his first collection of poetry, The Wild Knight ", to be followed by articles of literary criticism on the Speaker and on the Daily News. In 1901 he married Frances Blogg. In 1909 he moved with his wife in Beaconsfield where he lived until his death. After the outbreak of World War I Chesterton founded with the writer Hilaire Belloc "distributist League", with the aim of helping the development of small property and small industry by Division and redistribution of large landowning property. Chesterton and Belloc were very good friends, so much so that George Bernard Shaw would have coined the term Chesterbelloc for their literary partnership and friendship. In 1922 Chesterton converts to Catholicism-final act of a slow religious crisis, initiated fifteen years earlier-thanks to the friendship of father John O'Connor (Irish priest that will inspire the character of Father Brown) and Hilaire Belloc. He was baptized by Father Vincent McNabb, Dominican friar, himself a fervent distributist and Irish as father O'Connor. In 1934, after receiving several honorary degrees from the universities of Edinburgh, Dublin and at Notre Dame, he was awarded the title of Knight of the order of St Gregory the great. In his activity as a writer Chesterton opposed to rationalism and the exaltation of Sciences common sense and faith, and opposes the aridity of industrial civilization and the capitalist social ideal of the middle ages. These beliefs led him to condemn the position of England at the time of the war of the Boers and oppose imperialism of Kipling, but also to side violently in 1914 against the Lutheran Germany. The large number of works he wrote novels to address various genres, from stories, from poetry to biographies (including one about Charles Dickens), to the plays. Lover of Paradox and controversy, the rich production of Chesterton are part polemical works as "Heretics" (1905), "orthodoxy" (1908), "what goes wrong in the world" (1910); a work of historical and volumtamente tendentious mold are "the crimes of England" (1915); among the Catholic essays include "Saint Francis of Assisi (1923)," the man we call Christ "(1927), Saint Thomas Aquinas (1933). Her novels bear witness a lively imagination, paradoxical and sometimes extravagant: "the Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904)," the man who was Thursday (1908), "the adventures of a man" (1912). Famous is the rich series of novels whose protagonist Father Brown. About 190 centimeters to over 130 kg, Chesterton in thirty years wrote almost a hundred books and a calculable hardly number articles, participating in numerous disputes with other great writers, including h. g. Wells and George Bernard Shaw. Loved the Italy, where he went several times; here soon found an audience fond of, thanks in part to the first translations of his works as "the adventures of a man alive" and the series of Father Brown. To run it in Italy was the journalist and critic Emilio Cecchi, who published some articles about Chesterton in the magazine "La Ronda", translating it and interviewing him. Some English articles were also published in "cover page" and was reviewed by Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI. In one of his trips to Italy Chesterton had also interviewed Benito Mussolini. Among the various influences that Chesterton had we remember as "The Eternal Man" contributed to the conversion of C. S. Lewis to Christianity; "The Napoleon of Notting Hill" inspired Michael Collins to lead the Irish to victory against English rule; an essay appeared on the Illustrated London News inspired Mohandas Gandhi to lead the movement that would put an end to British colonial rule in India. Jorge Luis Borges was able to say about Chesterton: "literature is one of the forms of happiness; Perhaps no writer gave me so many happy hours like Chesterton. " Gilbert Keith Chesterton died on June 14, 1936. After the funeral, held in Westminster Cathedral and was officiated by monsignor Ronald Knox-who also converted to Catholicism and mystery writer-Chesterton's body was buried in the Catholic cemetery of Beaconsfield, where it still rests.

Article contributed by the team of collaborators.