# Andre Morize

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**Andre Morize** (September 18, 1883 – October 3, 1957)[1][2] was a professor of French literature at [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) from 1918 to 1951. He is well known for his involvement and activism during [World War I](/source/World_War_I) and [World War II](/source/World_War_II).

## Early life

Morize was born on September 18, 1883, at [Le Fleix, France](/source/Le_Fleix).[3] In 1900, at the age of 16 he graduated with a Bachelier-ès-lettres from the [University of France](/source/University_of_France), and won the *Prix d’honneur* in the *Councours General of the Lycées*.[3] He continued his studies at the University of France and earned Licencié-ès-lettres (1906) and Agrégé-des-lettres (1907).While at the University of Paris, he worked under [Joseph Bédier](/source/Joseph_B%C3%A9dier) and [Gustave Lanson](/source/Gustave_Lanson), specializing in modern and eighteenth-century French literature and culture.[3]

After graduating, Morize was a professor of French literature at University of [Montauban](/source/Montauban) from 1907 to 1910. He then worked at the [University of Bordeaux](/source/University_of_Bordeaux) for the next three years. Before joining the French Army at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he was an associate professor of French literature at [Johns Hopkins University](/source/Johns_Hopkins_University) from 1913 to 1914.

## Involvement in World War I

When [World War I](/source/World_War_I) began, Morize entered the [French Army](/source/French_Army_in_World_War_I). He became a lieutenant (1917) and then a captain (1917/18).

On August 2, 1914, Morize was mobilized. He was wounded twice while in the field.[4] He served in the [Mulhouse campaign](/source/Battle_of_Mulhouse) (August 1913); in the battles of Vosges, [Arras](/source/Battle_of_Arras_(1914)), and Vermelles (December 1914); in the battles of Loos, Notre Dame de Lorette, Neuville-Saint-Vaast, Souchez (January–May 1916); at the Belgian Front (May 1916); in the [battle of the Somme](/source/Battle_of_the_Somme) (July 1916–January 1917); and at the Alsace front (April 1917), before he was sent to the United States as part of a military training program.

During the final years of the war, the French Army sent Morize to [Harvard College](/source/Harvard_College) as a military liaison, where he worked with their university-wide war efforts in keeping undergraduates fit and ready in case they were drafted. In his position as lecturer on Military Science and Tactics, Morize trained students on [trench warfare](/source/Trench_warfare) and [machine gun combat](/source/Machine_gun#Maxim_and_World_War_I) at [Fresh Pond](/source/Fresh_Pond_(Cambridge,_Massachusetts)) in [Cambridge, MA](/source/Cambridge,_Massachusetts), and was involved in campus events about the war.[5] Because of his service, Morize was decorated with the *[Croix de Guerre](/source/Croix_de_Guerre)*.

## Professor at Harvard

As Morize prepared to return to France at the end of World War I, Harvard president [A. Lawrence Lowell](/source/A._Lawrence_Lowell) invited him to stay on as a professor of French literature and culture.[6] He earned a [Litt.D.](/source/Doctor_of_Letters) from [Middlebury College](/source/Middlebury_College) in 1925, where he also served as the director of the [French summer school](/source/Middlebury_College_Language_Schools).[7] While directing the summer school, he became a full professor in 1925, and eventually he became chair of the Department of History and Literature.[8]

He married professional musician[9] and Boston socialite [Ruth Muzzy Conniston](/source/Ruth_Muzzy_Conniston_Morize) on June 27, 1929.[10] Their marriage ended in a well-documented divorce after Morize's retirement in 1952.

## Involvement in World War II

On a vacation in France after directing the 1939 French summer school at Middlebury College, Morize found himself suddenly caught up in the second World War.[11] With no way of returning to the United States to begin his classes, Morize offered his help to the [French government](/source/French_Third_Republic).[11] He served in the French Ministry of Information until France was overrun by the [German army](/source/German_Army_(1935%E2%80%931945)) and the [Vichy government](/source/Vichy_France) was installed.[12] As a member of the French Bureau of North American Propaganda, Morize translated articles, periodicals, and speeches by French statesmen in order to keep the United States apprised of the war effort.[13]

A day before the [Germans reached Paris](/source/Battle_of_France), Morize escaped with three trunks full of French government documents. He kept about a day ahead of the tide of the German army as he made his way to [Lisbon](/source/Lisbon), [Portugal](/source/Portugal), to catch a [clipper](/source/Clipper) back to the United States.[13] He successfully escaped Europe and returned to Harvard on October 7, 1940.[14]

He returned to his professorial duties but remained active in the Harvard and local Boston community, advocating for relief measures for refugees.[15]

## Post-World War II

After World War II, Morize continued to advocate for France, French language, and French culture.[16] He retired from Harvard in May 1951.[17]

After retiring from Harvard, Morize decided to return to France. In France, he obtained a divorce from his wife, Ruth, on March 12, 1952.[18] However, his wife took him to court in [Suffolk County, Massachusetts](/source/Suffolk_County,_Massachusetts), seeking compensation because she claimed Morize had abandoned her by traveling to and deciding to stay in France after his retirement. The divorce became a local sensation due to Ruth's socialite status, Morize's local presence, and the legal precedence of whether a Suffolk County court could adjudicate a French divorce.[19] In the end, Morize was ordered to pay Ruth $150 a month.[20]

Morize died on October 3, 1957.[1][2][21]

## Published works

- *L’Apologie du Luxe au XVIIIe Siécle*, 1 Vol. (1909) [The Apology of Luxury in the 18th Century]
- *La Formation du Goût* (1911)
- *Le “Candide” de Voltaire* (1912)
- *Candide* (1913)
- *Correspondence Inédite de Montesquieu*, 2 vols. (1913)
- *France Été 1940* (1941), [complete transcription online](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/F/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/France/_Texts/MORFE1940/home.html)
- *Devoirs d'aujourd'hui et Devoirs de demain. Collection: «Voix de France», Éditions de la Maison française, NY.* (1942)

## References

1. ["ANDRE MORIZE, 73, OF HARVARD DIES; French Literature Professor, 1925-50, Set Up Noted School in Vermont Taught Trench Warfare Alerted to Evacuate"](https://www.nytimes.com/1957/10/05/archives/andremorize73-of-harvard-dies-french-literature-professor-192550.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. [AP](/source/Associated_Press). 5 October 1957. Page 17, column 4. Retrieved 26 May 2023. PARIS, Oct. 4 (AP)--Prof. Andre Morize, former Professor of French Literature at Harvard University, died yesterday at his home here.

1. [*Notice de personne "Morize, André (1883-1957)"*](http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12196117x) [Person notice "Morize, André (1883-1957)"] (in French). [Bibliothèque nationale de France](/source/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France). 20 July 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

1. *Harvard Alumni Bulletin*, December 12, 1918.

1. *Brockton (Mass) Times*, 18 March 1919.

1. *Harvard Crimson*, May 29, 1940.

1. *Boston Sunday Herald*, January 7, 1951.

1. *French School*, March 1940; *Middlebury College Bulletin*, March 1941; *Boston Globe*, January 15, 1950

1. *French School*, March 1940.

1. Ramski, Tamara (July 29, 2016). ["Finding Aid to theAACF -- Indiv -- Conniston, Ruth Muzzy"](https://cdm16755.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16755coll3/id/813). Lake Wales, FL: Anton Brees Carillon Library.

1. *Boston Traveler*, May 16, 1952.

1. André Morize, *France Été 1940*; *Harvard Crimson*, October 6, 1939.

1. André Morize, *France Été 1940*; *Harvard Crimson*, October 6, 1939; *Boston Herald*, January 25, 1942; *Boston Globe*, March 17, 1943; *Harvard Crimson*, May 29, 1940.

1. *Harvard Crimson*, September 26, 1940.

1. *Harvard Crimson*, October 8, 1940.

1. *Harvard Crimson*, November 13, 1940; February 28, 1941; March 18, 1941; May 2, 1941; May 20, 1941.

1. *Boston Herald*, February 1, 1942; *Boston Herald*, Mary 23, 1947; *Boston Sunday Herald*, November 16, 1947

1. *Harvard Crimson*, May 4, 1951.

1. *Boston Herald,* May 17, 1952.

1. *Boston Traveler*, May 16, 1952; *Boston Herald*, May 17, 1952; *Boston Traveler*, June 16, 1952.

1. *Boston Traveler*, June 18, 1952.

1. *Boston Traveler*, October 4, 1957.

## External links

- [Harvard University Archives, Andre Morize personal archive](https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/8212)
- [André Morize, *France Été 1940* (Éditions de la Maison Française, Inc., New York, 1941, 230pp, online in full)](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/France/_Texts/MORFE1940/home.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Andre Morize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Morize) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Morize?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.