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William Montgomery McGovern
William Montgomery McGovern (1897-1964) was an American adventurer, political scientist, University professor, anthropologist and journalist.
By age 30, he had explored the Amazon...view moreWilliam Montgomery McGovern (1897-1964) was an American adventurer, political scientist, University professor, anthropologist and journalist.
By age 30, he had explored the Amazon and braved uncharted regions of the Himalayas, survived revolution in Mexico, studied at Oxford and the Sorbonne and become a Buddhist priest in a Japanese monastery. He became a beloved lecturer, war correspondent and military strategist.
Born in Manhattan, New York, on September 28, 1897, his formative years were spent in Asia. He graduated with the degree of soro, or Doctor of Divinity, from the Buddhist monastery of Nishi Honganji in Kyoto, Japan at age 20 before going on to study at the Sorbonne and University of Berlin. He received his D.Phil. from Christ Church, Oxford in 1922, working his way through school by teaching Chinese at the University of London.
Shortly after graduation he began his first great expedition, to the remote mountain kingdom of Tibet, and another expedition to Peru and the Amazon followed a few years later.
In 1937, McGovern was named Far East correspondent by the Chicago Times. During WWII he served with the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1941-1945. At Guadalcanal, he operated behind enemy lines, using his knowledge of Japanese, and in the closing days of the war served in the European Theatre, crossing the Rhine with General Patton.
At age 30, McGovern became assistant curator of the anthropology department at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. He was then appointed a professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, a position he would hold for the rest of his life.
Between his time as a war correspondent during the Sino-Japanese War and the entry of the U.S. into WWII, McGovern lectured on government at Harvard University. During the post-War years, McGovern lectured on military intelligence and strategy at the Naval, Air and Army War Colleges.
He died in Evanston on December 12, 1964, aged 67.view less
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