Ivan Morris

Who was Ivan Morris?

Ivan Ira Esme Morris was a British author and teacher in the field of Japanese Studies.

Ivan Morris was born in London, of mixed American and Swedish parentage, to Ira Victor Morris and Edita Morris. He studied at Gordonstoun, before graduating from Phillips Academy. He began his study of Japanese language and culture at Harvard University, where he received a BA. He received a doctorate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He wrote widely on modern and ancient Japan and translated numerous classical and modern literary works. Ivan Morris was one of the first interpreters sent into Hiroshima after the explosion of the bomb.

Dr Morris served on the faculty of Columbia University from 1960 to 1973 and was chairman of Columbia's Department of East Asian languages and Cultures from 1966 to 1969. In 1966 he was elected a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. He was one of the founders of Amnesty International USA and was the first chair of its Board of Directors from 1973 to 1976. He was a friend of Yukio Mishima; he wrote The Nobility of Failure partially to place the circumstances surrounding Mishima's death in historical context. The book is dedicated to Mishima's memory.