Charles Montague English journalist, author of novels and essays Date of Birth: 01.01.1867 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Charles (Edward) Montague

Charles Edward Montague was an English journalist and author of novels and essays. He was born on January 1, 1867, in London, as the son of an Irish Catholic priest who had left the church to marry. Montague attended the independent City of London School for Boys, located on the banks of the River Thames, and Balliol College, Oxford.

In 1890, he was recruited by British journalist and politician Charles Prestwich Scott to join the staff of the British national newspaper, the "Manchester Guardian," which is now part of the "Guardian Media Group." Montague became a leading critic and writer, and when Scott served as a Member of Parliament from 1895 to 1906, Montague acted as the invited editor of the "Manchester Guardian" to fulfill the editorial duties.

In 1898, Montague married Madeline, the daughter of Charles Scott. They had a son named Evelyn Aubrey Montague, who was an Olympic athlete and journalist portrayed in the 1981 film "Chariots of Fire" by Nicholas Farrell.

Montague initially opposed the First World War, but in 1914, at the age of 47, he made the decision to enlist in military service, hoping to help resolve the global conflict as soon as possible. He dyed his gray hair black to conceal his true age and be accepted into the army without any hesitation. British journalist Henry Woodd Nevinson later wrote about this: "Montague is the only person I know whose gray hair turned black overnight because of courage."

Edward started as a Grenadier sergeant and rose to the rank of lieutenant and later captain in intelligence in 1915. During the war, he transferred to the army escort, responsible for the lives of VIPs on the battlefield. Montague accompanied Herbert George Wells and Bernard Shaw, among others.

After the end of the First World War, Montague began writing about its peculiarities, maintaining a consistent anti-war sentiment. His work "Disenchantment" published in 1922 became the first in a series of prosaic works where the author criticized the ways in which the war was conducted. Charles became the leading writer who played a major role in the birth and development of literary works about the First World War.

He returned to the "Manchester Guardian" but felt that his position in the newspaper had significantly diminished over the years of his absence. Eventually, he left the newspaper in 1925 and in his final years, he focused on his career as a professional writer.

Charles Edward Montague passed away on May 28, 1928, at the age of 61.