Viereck, Peter, 1916-2006

Peter Viereck (1916-2006) was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and a professor of history at Mount Holyoke College.

From the guide to the Peter Viereck Manuscripts, 1963-1965, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

Peter Viereck is an accomplished American poet, historian, and scholar. His verse features a unique gift for rhyme, lyricism, and an almost metaphysical infatuation with ideas. His combination of traditional forms with intellectual experimentation compose a singular and rewarding body of work.

From the description of Peter Viereck letter to Louis Untermeyer and papers, 1942-1951. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 51733126

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Peter Viereck (1916-2006) was a seminal figure in American conservative thought as well as an award-winning poet and historian who won Guggenheim Fellowships in both poetry and history. Viereck wrote prolifically on politics and intellectual history, and published over a dozen collections of poetry, most recently Door: Poems (2005). In 1949 Viereck won the Pulitzer Prize for his first book of poems, Terror and Decorum. Often credited with launching and naming the modern conservative intellectual movement in the late 1940s, Viereck later criticized its direction and deplored Senator Joseph McCarthy for betraying authentic conservative values. He was professor of Russian and European history at Mount Holyoke College for nearly fifty years

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Peter Viereck's father, George Sylvester Viereck (1884-1962), played a prominent role in the literary and cultural scene of early twentieth-century America, inspiring and serving as the first secretary of the Poetry Society of America. As a free-lance writer for publications including The Saturday Evening Post, George Sylvester Viereck interviewed many leading figures, including Albert Einstein and Adolph Hitler, and was a friend of Sigmund Freud. During World War II, the elder Viereck's standing was destroyed by his support for Nazi Germany as a paid propagandist. He was arrested and jailed for five years as an unregistered agent of Germany, although espionage charges against him were ultimately dropped. During his imprisonment, his younger son died in U.S. military service at Anzio, Italy, deepening George Sylvester Viereck's rift with his elder son Peter, who served as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst during the war. Peter Viereck had already diagnosed the evils of Nazi Germany in his book Metapolitics: From the Romantics to Hitler, begun at Harvard in 1936 and first published three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

From the guide to the Peter Viereck papers, 1815-2006, (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library, )