Theodore Martin
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Sir Theodore Martin (1816 - 1909) was a Scottish poet, biographer, and translator.
Martin was the son of James Martin, a solicitor in Edinburgh, where Theodore was born and educated at the High School and university. He practised as a solicitor in Edinburgh 1840-45, after which he went to London and became head of the firm of Martin and Leslie, parliamentary agents. His first contribution to literature was the humorous Bon Gaultier Ballads, written along with W.E. Aytoun, which remained popular for a long time; originally contributed to a magazine, they appeared in book form in 1855.
Martin's translations include Dante's Vila Nuova, Oehlenschläger's Correggio and Aladdin, Heinrich Heine's Poems and Ballads, Friedrich Schiller's Wilhelm Tell, and Hertz's King Rene's Daughter. He also published a complete translation of Horace with a Life, and one of Catullus. He is probably best known for his Life of the Prince Consort (1874-80), the writing of which was entrusted to him by Queen Victoria, a work which won him her lifelong friendship. He also wrote Lives of Professor Aytoun and Lord Lyndhurst. In 1851 he married Helen Faucit (died 1898), a well-known actress, and authoress of studies on Shakespeare's Female Characters, whose Life he published in 1901. Martin kept up his intellectual activity into old age, published in 1905 a translation of Leopardi's poems, and Monographs (1906). He was Lord Rector of St. Andrews 1881, LL.D. of Edinburgh 1875, and K.C.B. 1880.
| Academic Offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne |
Rector of the University of St Andrews 1880 - 1883 |
Succeeded by Donald James Mackay, 11th Lord Reay |
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This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
