Louis Kronenberger (December 9, 1904 – April 30, 1980) was an American literary critic (longest with Time, 1938-1961), novelist, and biographer who wrote extensively on drama and the 18th century.

Background

Kronenberger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Louis Kronenberger Sr., a merchant, and Mabel Newwitter. Kronenberger attended, but did not graduate from, the University of Cincinnati from 1921 to 1924.

Career

Writer

He moved to New York in 1924 and began his career at the New York Times. In 1926, he became an editor at Boni & Liveright and in 1933, at Alfred A. Knopf. In 1938, he became drama critic for Time, where he continued to write until 1961. In 1940, William Saroyan listed Kronenberger among the associate editors at Time in the play, Love's Old Sweet Song. Starting in 1942, he worked under Whittaker Chambers, who became editor for the "Back of the Book" (1942-1944). During this period Time was, according to Chambers, "consistently able and sometimes brilliant, because of a small group of men" that included Kronenberger, T. S. Matthews, James Agee, Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Cantwell, Winthrop Sargeant, John K. Jessup, and Calvin Fixx. In 1940, he also served as a critic for PM and worked there until 1948.

Academic

Kronenberger was a visiting professor at several universities, including City College of New York, Columbia, Harvard, Berkeley. In 1951, he founded a Department of Theater Arts at Brandeis. He was associated with numerous organizations for promoting the arts: Yaddo, Lincoln Center Library-Museum, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Personal and death

Kronenberger married Emily L. Plaut in 1940; they had two children : Liza Wanklyn and John Kronenberger He died on April 30, 1980.

Legacy

"Kronenberger's praise was a near guarantee of box-office success." A collection of Louis Kronenberger's papers is held by Princeton University.

Works

In his later years, Kronenberger wrote biographies, including one of John Wilkes and another of Oscar Wilde. Books: Editing: Books edited with others: Plays written: Plays translated, adapted: Plays edited: Plays edited with others: