Cate, Curtis 1924-2006 (Curtis Wilson Cate)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born May 22, 1924, in Paris, France; died of melanoma, November 16, 2006, in Paris, France. Author. Also highly regarded as a historian and literary critic, Cate was best known for his biographies of famous European writers and philosophers. Born to American parents living in Paris, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II before going to college. Cate then earned a B.A. in history from Harvard University in 1947, an M.A. in Russian from the École des Langues Orientales in 1949, and a master's in philosophy, politics, and economics from Magdalen College at Oxford in 1952. Despite impressive credentials, he did not enter academia; instead he joined the Atlantic Monthly staff. He was the magazine's European editor from 1958 until 1965, when he left to become a full-time writer. Contributing to magazines and newspapers, he did not release a book until 1970's Antoine de Saint-Éxupery: His Life and Times, which won the Grand Prix Litteraire from l'Aero-Club de France. This successful biography was later followed by George Sand (1975), André Malraux: A Biography (1997), and Friedrich Nietzsche (2005). In addition to his biographies, Cate also penned such nonfiction works as Ides of August: The Berlin Wall Crisis—1961 (1978) and The War of the Two Emperors: The Duel between Napoleon and Alexander—Russia, 1812 (1985).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, November 22, 2006, p. C12.

Times (London, England), December 7, 2006, p. 78.