Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss

Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss
Bornc. 1807
Trois-Rivières, Lower Canada
Died(1887-09-02)2 September 1887
Teddington, United Kingdom
Resting placeTeddington Cemetery
Pen nameAn Old Bohemian[1]
Notable worksThe Old Ledger (1865)

Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss (c. 1807 – 2 September 1887) was a Canadian-born British writer, active in a wide range of literary and professional pursuits. He was known in London literary circles as the "Old Bohemian" and was a founding member of the Savage Club.

Early life and education

Gustave Louis Maurice Strauss was born in Trois-Rivières, Lower Canada, around 1807.[2] Although a British subject, he claimed Italian, French, German, and Sarmatian ancestry.[3][note 1] In 1812 he moved with his family to Europe, settling in Linden, near Hanover, by about 1816.[6]

After the death of his father, he was sent to study at the Klosterschule in Magdeburg.[3] Strauss later studied at the University of Berlin, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree, and at the Montpellier School of Medicine in France.[2]

Political activity and military service

Strauss visited England in 1832, accompanying Legros, a wealthy man from Marseille, on an industrial tour.[2] Returning to Germany in 1833, he took part in liberal political demonstrations, including the student uprising in Frankfurt am Main on 3 April 1833. Following the suppression of the revolt, he escaped to France. The Prussian government confiscated his property, returned it to him only in 1840.[6]

Later in 1833, Strauss joined the French Army in Algiers as an assistant surgeon, initially attached to the French Foreign Legion. He left the Legion in 1834 and, after several years' service, returned to France. While there, he contributed to the Republican National and other journals.[7] In 1839 he was expelled for alleged involvement in a revolutionary plot.[6]

Career in Britain

After his banishment from France, Strauss settled in London, initially working as secretary and assistant to a homeopathic physician.[7] In England, Strauss variously worked as an author, linguist, chemist, politician, cook, journalist, tutor, dramatist, and surgeon.[2] Strauss published a range of works, including fiction, theatre, language textbooks, historical and biographical studies, culinary books, and translations.[5] He became known in literary and artistic circles as the "Old Bohemian"[8] and the "Poisoner's Friend,"[9] and was one of the founders of the Savage Club in 1857.[10]

In 1865 he published the novel The Old Ledger, which The Athenaeum criticised as "vulgar, profane, and indelicate." Strauss sued the publication for libel in the Kingston Assizes; the case was settled by mutual consent. After The Athenaeum repeated its criticism in April 1866, Strauss brought a second suit. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn supported the defendants' position, and the jury ruled in their favour.[6]

His autobiography, The Reminiscences of an Old Bohemian, was published in two volumes in 1882. It was described by Arthur Conan Doyle as "splendidly written" and "an interesting gossippy book,"[11] and by George Augustus Sala as "a diverting autobiography in which fiction is liberally mingled with fact."[12]

Strauss contributed to numerous London periodicals, including The Chemist and Druggist,[13] Tinsleys' Magazine,[9] Punchinello, The Lancet, the Morning Advertiser, and The Grocer, of which he was the first editor.[4][14] He notably covered the Austro-Prussian War as a correspondent and was present at the Battle of Sadowa.[8] According to publisher William Tinsley, Strauss frequently acted as a ghostwriter for other authors.[10] Strauss also wrote for the stage, and his farce A Model Uncle was successfully produced at Drury Lane Theatre in 1868 by Frederick Chatterton.[2][15]

Later life and death

Strauss faced financial difficulties later in life. Gladstone arranged for him to receive a civil list pension, though he remained in modest circumstances. In 1879 he entered the Charterhouse almshouse, later receiving an outpension from its governors.[2]

He died unmarried in Teddington, England, on 2 September 1887.[6]

Selected publications

  • The German Reader. London: J. Weale. 1852.
  • A Grammar of the German Language. London: J. Weale. 1852.
  • A Grammar of the French Language. London: J. Weale. 1853.
  • Moslem and Frank. London: J. Weale. 1854.
  • Mahometism: An Historical Sketch (2nd ed.). Cambridge: J. Weale. 1858.
  • England's Workshops. London: Groombridge & Sons. 1864. With C. W. Quin, John C. Brough, Thomas Archer, and W. J. Prowse.
  • The Old Ledger: A Novel. Vol. 1–3. London: Tinsley Brothers. 1865.
  • Men Who Have Made the German Empire. Vol. 1–2. London: Tinsley Brothers. 1875.
  • The Reminiscences of an Old Bohemian. Vol. 1–2. London: Tinsley Brothers. 1882.
  • Stories by an Old Bohemian. London. 1883.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Philosophy in the Kitchen: General Hints on Foods and Drinks. London: Ward & Downey. 1885.
  • Dishes and Drinks. London: Ward & Downey. 1887.
  • The Emperor William. London: Ward & Downey. 1888.

Notes

  1. ^ Although The Jewish Encyclopedia contains an entry on Strauss,[4] there is no documented connection between him and the Jewish community.[5] Indeed, Strauss recounts in his autobiography that he was "duly confirmed in the true Protestant faith of [his] forefathers" at the age of fifteen by Dr. Dennhardt of the Holy Ghost Church in Magdeburg.[3]

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Carlyle, Edward Irving (1898). "Strauss, Gustave Louis Maurice". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 39.

  1. ^ Cushing, William (c. 1885). Initials and Pseudonyms: A Dictionary of Literary Disguises. New York: T. Y. Crowell & Co. p. 109.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "G. L. M. Strauss ("The Old Bohemian")". The Athenaeum. Vol. 2, no. 3125. 17 September 1887. p. 374.
  3. ^ a b c Strauss, G. L. M. (1895). The Reminiscences of an Old Bohemian (new ed.). London: Tinsley Brothers. pp. 1, 28–30.
  4. ^ a b  Jacobs, Joseph; Lipkind, Goodman (1905). "Strauss, Gustave Louis Maurice". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 567.
  5. ^ a b Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred, eds. (2007). "Strauss, Gustave Louis Maurice". Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 19 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4. Gale CX2587519270.
  6. ^ a b c d e  Carlyle, Edward Irving (1898). "Strauss, Gustave Louis Maurice". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 39.
  7. ^ a b "The Late Dr. G. L. M. Strauss". The Illustrated London News. Vol. 91, no. 2526. London. 17 September 1887. pp. 341–342.
  8. ^ a b "Obituary". The Times. No. 32177. London. 14 September 1887. p. 3.
  9. ^ a b Downey, Edmund (1905). Twenty Years Ago: A Book of Anecdote Illustrating Literary Life in London. London: Hurst & Blackett. pp. 97–98.
  10. ^ a b Watson, Aaron (1907). The Savage Club: A Medley of History, Anecdote, and Reminiscene. London: T. Fisher Unwin. pp. 18–29, 31, 87–92.
  11. ^ Lellenberg, Jon; Stashower, Daniel; Foley, Charles, eds. (2007). Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters. London: HarperPress. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-00-724759-2.
  12. ^ Sala, George Augustus (1896). The Life and Adventures of George Augustus Sala. London, Paris & Melbourne: Cassell & Company. pp. 123, 223.
  13. ^ "Deaths". The Chemist and Druggist. London. 24 September 1887. p. 386.
  14. ^ Carlyle, Edward Irving; Stephan, Megan A. (2004). "Strauss, Gustave Louis Maurice". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26654. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  15. ^ Mullin, Donald. Victorian Plays: A Record of Significant Productions on the London Stage, 1837–1901. Bibliographies and Indexes in the Performing Arts. Vol. 4. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 249.
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