Login
Login

Avro Manhattan

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox writer

| honorific_prefix = Baron

| honorific_suffix = K.T.

| birth_name = Teofilo Lucifero Gardini

| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|4|6|}}

| birth_place = Milan, Italy

| death_date = {{death date and age|1990|11|27|1914|4|6}}

| resting_place = Shotley Bridge, County Durham, England

| occupation = Writer, historian, poet and artist

| alma_mater = The Sorbonne and the London School of Economics

| subject = The Roman Catholic Church, Economics, War, Genocide, History, Role of the Roman Catholic Church in European Imperialism, the Vietnam War, and the Persecution of Buddhists (and other religious groups) in Vietnam

| notableworks = The Vatican in World Politics

}}

Baron Avro Manhattan (April 6, 1914 – November 27, 1990){{cite web|title=Baron and friend of Picasso spent years living in modest South Shields terraced house|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11116434/Baron-and-friend-of-Picasso-spent-years-living-in-modest-South-Shields-terraced-house.html|work=The Telegraph|accessdate=September 23, 2014}} was an Italian writer, historian, poet and artist. A born aristocrat who wrote about various political topics throughout his career, Manhattan is perhaps best remembered as the author of several works discussing the Vatican's role in world politics and global affairs. Manhattan attended both the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics.

Life and career

Born in Milan, Italy, on April 6, 1914, to American and Swiss/Dutch parents of Jewish extraction, Manhattan was originally known asTeofilo Lucifero Gardini in his early days in Italy.{{Cite web |url=http://www.shieldsgazette.com/lifestyle/nostalgia/the-baron-and-south-shields-1-8099851 |title=The Baron and South Shields |website=shieldsgazette.com |access-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912022423/http://www.shieldsgazette.com/lifestyle/nostalgia/the-baron-and-south-shields-1-8099851 |archive-date=September 12, 2018 |url-status=dead}} Before his exile, Manhattan was known to spend his summers at the home of the artist, Paolo Troubetzkoy, in Verbania.

Manhattan, himself a painter, exhibited a number of his works at local Italian museums. The last of these exhibitions was at the Museo del Paesaggio, in Verbania, where two of his paintings remain to this day.{{Cite web|url=https://www.shieldsgazette.com/lifestyle/nostalgia/filmmaker-s-breakthrough-in-piecing-together-south-shields-baron-s-story-1-8174165|title=Filmmaker's breakthrough in piecing together South Shields Baron's story|website=shieldsgazette.com|access-date=May 17, 2022}}

Manhattan was exiled to England from Italy during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.{{Cite news|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/25th-february-1944/22/towards-the-new-italy-by-t-l-gardini-with-a|title=Towards the New Italy. By T. L. Gardini, with a " 25 Feb 1944 " The Spectator Archive|work=The Spectator Archive|access-date=June 27, 2018}} During World War II, he operated a radio station called "Radio Freedom" broadcasting to nations occupied by the Axis Powers. Manhattan officially changed residence to the United Kingdom in 1945 for "political reasons," but not until 1953 did Manhattan legally change his name, relinquishing the names "Teofilo Angelo Mario Gardini" and "Teophile Lucifer Gardini."{{Cite news|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40063/page/122/data.pdf|title=Notice is hereby given...|date=January 1, 1954|work=The London Gazette|access-date=June 22, 2018}} At the time, he lived in Wimbledon, London.

File:This is a photograph of the Bandstand, South Marine Park, South Shields, August 1950. (10291198694).jpg

In 1961, Manhattan met his future wife, Anne Manhattan née Cunningham Brown,{{Cite web|url=https://www.southtynesidehistory.co.uk/archive/people/people-0/623411-anne-manhattan|title=Anne Manhattan – South Tyneside Libraries|website=southtynesidehistory.co.uk|access-date=June 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623010617/https://www.southtynesidehistory.co.uk/archive/people/people-0/623411-anne-manhattan|archive-date=June 23, 2018|url-status=dead}} in London, and two years later, they moved into a house on Henry Nelson Street in South Shields, North East England.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/baron-avro-manhattans-south-shields-7813534|title=Baron Avro Manhattan's South Shields past revealed from auction sale|last=Henderson|first=Tony|date=September 22, 2014|work=nechronicle|access-date=June 22, 2018}}

He is buried with his wife at Shotley Bridge in Benfieldside Cemetery, Consett, County Durham, England.{{Cite news |url=https://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/dead-baron-was-pal-of-picasso-and-hg-wells-1-1286383 |title=Dead baron was pal of Picasso and HG Wells |access-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622005256/https://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/dead-baron-was-pal-of-picasso-and-hg-wells-1-1286383 |archive-date=June 22, 2018 |url-status=dead}} Their gravestone reads:

{{Blockquote|text=To The Beloved Memory of BARON AVRO MANHATTAN, K.T. P.H.d. Knight Commander of the Crown of Savoy, Grand Cross of the Order of Mercedes, Knight Commander of Justice...Malta, Commander Grand Cross of Bethlehem, Writer and historian, Poet and Artist. Departed This Life Nov. 27th 1990, Deeply Mourned and Sadly Missed By His Beloved Wife Anne, Friends and Readership – Worldwide. Also His Dear Wife BARONESS ANNE MANHATTAN Died 18th Jan, 2008 Aged 86 Years.|sign=|source=}}His friends included H. G. Wells, Pablo Picasso, George Bernard Shaw, scientist Marie Stopes and the Rev. Ian Paisley.Patrick Marrinan (1973). Paisley. Man of Wrath (Tralee, Anvil), p. 229

Works

The following is a list of Avro Manhattan's most notable books, ordered chronologically:

  • The Rumbling of the Apocalypse (1934)
  • [https://archive.org/download/combinepdf_201811/combinepdf.pdf Towards the New Italy] (Preface by H. G. Wells, 1943)
  • [https://archive.org/download/MN5008ucmf_1/MN5008ucmf_1.pdf Latin America and the Vatican] (1946)
  • [https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.101596/2015.101596.The-Catholic-Church-Against-The-Twentieth-Century.pdf The Catholic Church Against the Twentieth Century] (1947; 2nd ed. 1950)
  • The Vatican in Asia (1948)
  • Religion in Russia (1949)
  • [https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.88510/2015.88510.The-Vatican-In-World-Politics.pdf The Vatican in World Politics] (1949)
  • [https://archive.org/download/CatholicImperialismAndWorldFreedomAvroManhattan_201901/Catholic%20Imperialism%20and%20World%20Freedom%2C%20Avro%20Manhattan.pdf Catholic Imperialism and World Freedom] (1952; 2nd ed. 1959)
  • [https://archive.org/details/terroroveryugoslaviaavromanhattan2 Terror Over Yugoslavia: The Threat to Europe] (1953)
  • [https://ia802807.us.archive.org/5/items/THEDOLLARANDTHEVATICANAVROMANHATTAN1957/THE%20DOLLAR%20AND%20THE%20VATICAN%20AVRO%20MANHATTAN%201957.pdf The Dollar and the Vatican] (1956)
  • [http://www.reformation.org/vatican_against_the_orthodox_chu.html Vatican Imperialism in the Twentieth Century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321132346/http://www.reformation.org/vatican_against_the_orthodox_chu.html |date=March 21, 2006 }} (1965)
  • [https://archive.org/download/CATHOLICTERRORTODAY/CATHOLIC%20TERROR%20TODAY.pdf Catholic Terror Today] (1969)
  • [https://archive.org/download/IlovepdfMerged11/ilovepdf_merged%20%2811%29.pdf Religious Terror in Ireland] (1974)
  • [https://archive.org/download/catholicpowertoday2_201907/CATHOLIC%20POWER%20TODAY%202.pdf Catholic Power Today] (1967)
  • [https://archive.org/download/the-vatican-moscow-washington-alliance-avro-manhattan/the-vatican-moscow-washington-alliance-avro-manhattan.pdf The Vatican-Moscow-Washington Alliance] (1982)
  • [https://archive.org/details/VaticanBillionsFull The Vatican Billions] (1983)
  • [https://archive.org/download/AvroManhattanVietnamWhyDidWeGo/Avro-Manhattan-Vietnam-Why-Did-We-Go.pdf Vietnam... Why Did We Go? The Shocking Story of the Catholic "Church's" Role in Starting the Vietnam War] (1984)
  • [https://archive.org/download/MurderInTheVatican/murder%20in%20the%20vatican.pdf Murder in the Vatican: American, Russian, and Papal Plots] (1985)
  • [https://archive.org/download/TheVaticansHolocaustByAvroManhattan/The%20Vatican%27s%20Holocaust%20by%20Avro%20Manhattan.pdf The Vatican’s Holocaust] (1986)
  • [https://archive.org/details/THEDOLLARANDTHEVATICANAVROMANHATTAN1957 The Dollar and the Vatican] (1988)
  • Catholic Terror in Ireland (1988)

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Manhattan%2C%20Avro Avro Manhattan] at Online Books Page
  • {{WorldCat|id=lccn-n84033350|name=Avro Manhattan}}
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AITGzGiC-yU Secrets & Lies: The Life of Baron Avro Manhattan] (Documentary). 2018.

{{Chick Publications Navbox|state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manhattan, Avro}}

Category:1914 births

Category:1990 deaths

Category:Italian male writers

Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics

Category:University of Paris alumni

Category:Italian people of American descent

Category:Writers from Milan

Category:Critics of the Catholic Church

Category:Italian people of Dutch-Jewish descent

Category:Italian people of Swiss-Jewish descent

Category:Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom

Category:People from Shotley Bridge