Josephson, Matthew, 1899-1978

Epithet: writer and editor

Correspondence to Lewis Mumford from Matthew Josephson and his wife, Hannah Geffen Josephson.

Writer.

Matthew Josephson (1899-1978), author of books on French literature and American economic history, was best known for his biographies of Zola, Rousseau, and Stendhal and for The Robber Barons (1934).

Matthew Josephson (1899-1978) and Hannah Geffen Josephson (1900-1976) were married in 1920 shortly after they graduated from Columbia University. After graduation Hannah took a job as a reporter for the New York "American" and Matthew was editor of "Broom" magazine from 1922-1924 and later an account representative with several stock brokerage firms. Both of the Josephsons lived in Paris from 1926-1928, working as writers.

They returned to the U.S. in 1928 where Matthew was a writer for "Transition" magazine from 1928-1930 and then as editor at "The New Republic" from 1931-1932. After 1932 he was an author and biographer. Hannah worked as editor of publications for the American Academy of Arts and Letters from 1949-1965. She also worked as an author and biographer. Together they wrote the biography "Al Smith: Hero of the Cities" in 1969.

Matthew Josephson, author of works on nineteenth-century French literature and twentieth-century American economic history, was born on February 15, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Columbia University and married Hannah Geffen in 1920. Shortly thereafter they left New York for Paris to become part of the group of American "expatriates" there.

Initially Josephson wrote poetry, published in Galimathias (1923), and reported for various "little magazines." He became associate editor of Broom (1922-24) and contributing editor of Transition (1928-29). Josephson was also a regular contributor to the New Republic, The Nation, The New Yorker, and the Saturday Evening Post .

Josephson's first biographies were Zola and His Time (1928) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1932). Deeply influenced by his neighbor Charles A. Beard, and the Depression, and with only one major exception, Stendhal: or the Pursuit of Happiness (1946), Josephson changed his focus of interest from literature to economic history when he published The Robber Barons in 1934. The Robber Barons was followed by many more full-length works in which Josephson served as a spokesman for many intellectuals of his generation who were dissatisfied with the social and political status quo.

Josephson wrote two memoirs, Life Among the Surrealists (1962) and, Infidel in the Temple (1967).

Hannah Josephson, librarian of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and an author in her own right, worked closely with her husband on various projects throughout their careers. In 1945 she and Malcolm Cowley edited Aragon, Poet of the Resistance . Matthew and Hannah Josephson collaborated on Al Smith: Hero of the Cities in 1969. They had two sons, Eric and Carl. Hannah died in 1976 and Matthew died March 15, 1978.

For additional information see: David E. Shi's biography, Matthew Josephson: Bourgeois Bohemian (1981) and Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary (1942 and 1955).