Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr.

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, co ...

."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers''. London: St. James Press, 1998; (pp. 482–484).

Life and work

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

Irish parents William Ward (c. 1850–1932), a clerk, and Margaret Mary (née Furey; c. 1850–1901), Arthur Ward initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time. He worked as a poet, songwriter and comedy sketch writer for

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

performers before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing fiction. Like his contemporaries

Algernon Blackwood Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary crit ...

and

Arthur Machen Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His ...

, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...

. Rohmer also claimed ties to the

Rosicrucians Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His doctor and family friend Dr R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organisations. His first published work was issued in 1903, when the short story "The Mysterious Mummy" was sold to ''

Pearson's Weekly ''Pearson's Weekly'' was a British weekly periodical founded in London in 1890 by Arthur Pearson, who had previously worked on '' Tit-Bits'' for George Newnes. The first issue was well advertised and sold a quarter of a million copies. The paper' ...

''. Rohmer's main literary influences seem to have been

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

and

M. P. Shiel Matthew Phipps Shiell (21 July 1865 – 17 February 1947), known as M. P. Shiel, was a British writer. His legal surname remained "Shiell" though he adopted the shorter version as a ''de facto'' pen name. He is remembered mainly for supernatura ...

. He gradually transitioned from writing for music hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox. He published his first book ''Pause!'' anonymously in 1910. In 1934, Sax Rohmer moved into a newly refurbished house, Little Gatton in Gatton Road, Reigate, Surrey, where he lived until 1946. He died after succumbing to

Asian flu Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

in 1959.

The Fu Manchu series

After penning ''Little Tich'' in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the music hall entertainer of the same name) he wrote the first Fu Manchu novel, '' The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu'', first published in a serialisation from October 1912 to June 1913. It was an immediate success, with its story of

Denis Nayland Smith Denis Nayland Smith is a character who was introduced in the series of novels Dr. Fu Manchu by the English author Sax Rohmer. He is a rival to the villain Dr. Fu Manchu. History The character of Denis Nayland Smith was created in 1912 by Sax Ro ...

and Dr. Petrie facing the supposed worldwide conspiracy of the "

Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racial color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a psychocultural menace from the Eastern world ...

". The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw (an

occult detective Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of the main genre with those of supernatural, fantasy and/or horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective who investigates murder and other common crimes ...

), and the Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and financially successful authors of the 1920s and 1930s. The first three Fu Manchu books were published in the four years between 1913 and 1917; but it was not until 1931 (some 14 years after the third book in the series) that Rohmer returned to the series with ''Daughter of Fu Manchu''. The reason for the long interval was that Rohmer wanted to be rid of the series after ''The Si-Fan Mysteries''. The first three books had been successfully filmed by

Stoll Stoll is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Barbara J. Stoll, American pediatrician and professor * Cal Stoll, American football coach * Caspar Stoll, entomologist * Clifford Stoll, American astronomer * David Stoll, American a ...

in the twenties as a pair of serials. Rohmer's first effort at reviving the Fu Manchu property was ultimately reworked as ''The Emperor of America''. The original intent had been for the head of the organisation to be Fu Manchu's daughter. He kept Head Centre as a female criminal mastermind to combat Drake Roscoe, but was very unhappy with the book both as it started and in its finished form. He would later return to Drake Roscoe and his female supervillain for the Sumuru series. In the meantime, he tried again to focus his energies on what was first titled ''Fu Manchu's Daughter'' for ''Collier's'' in 1930, but with an older (now knighted) Denis Nayland Smith as the protagonist once more. The results were infinitely better and jump-started the series in the process. In the 28 years from 1931 to 1959, Rohmer added a further 10 books to the Fu Manchu series, meaning the series totals 13 books in all (not counting the posthumous short story collection ''The Wrath of Fu Manchu and Other Stories''). The Fu Manchu series was criticised by the Chinese government and Chinese communities in the U.S. for what was perceived as negative ethnic stereotyping. Sociologist

Virginia Berridge Virginia Berridge, (born 1946) is a British academic historian and public health expert. Berridge has a first degree and a PhD in history, both from the University of London, and is a Professor of History and Director of the Centre for Hist ...

has stated that Rohmer created a false image of London's Chinese community as crime-ridden, further claiming that the

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through ...

Chinese were one of the most law-abiding of London's ethnic minorities. Critic Jack Adrian has written: "Rohmer's own

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

was careless and casual, a mere symptom of his times". Colin Watson commented: "So vehement and repetitive were Sax Rohmer's references to Asiatic plotting against 'white' civilisation that they cannot be explained simply as the frills of melodramatic narration."

Other work

Rohmer became a friend of escapologist

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American Escapology, escape artist, Magic (illusion), magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his Escapology, escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to ...

, who wrote to him in praise of Rohmer's ''The Romance of Sorcery''. Rohmer based his mystery-solving magician character Bazarada on Houdini. ''The Orchard of Tears'' is an odd book in the context of Sax Rohmer's other work. There are no Oriental villains or exotic locations; rather, there are gentle rabbits and lambs in pastoral settings and a great deal of philosophical musing. As much as he enjoyed Fu Manchu—and the notoriety and income the character provided—Rohmer had other interests and a markedly serious side. The departure from his expected subject matter is plainly signalled by the book's dedication: "To the slaves of the pomegranate, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, who drink at the fountain of life, this chalice is offered as a loving-cup". In ''The Quest of the Sacred Slipper'' (1919) terror comes to Britain when a self-centered archaeologist unearths one of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

's holiest

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s—the sacred slipper of the

prophet Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

. Until it is returned to its rightful people, the implacable Hassan of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

vows his reign of death and destruction shall not cease. Behind these inhuman outrages is a secret group of fanatics. Not even the best men of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

seem able to apprehend them. ''Tales of Chinatown'' (1922) is a collection of 10 short stories published in hardcover by Cassell in 1922 and Doubleday, Page and Company in 1922. All of the stories first appeared in magazine format. This collection includes a story that is considered to be one of his best and also has been anthologised many times; "Tcheriapin". The story "The Hand of the Mandarin Quong" was rewritten for this book; first published as "Hand of the White Sheikh", Rohmer changed the setting to a Chinatown background and published it as "The Mystery of the Shriveled Hand"; the title was then changed again for this collection. Rohmer also wrote several novels of

supernatural horror Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

, including '' Brood of the Witch-Queen'', described by Adrian as "Rohmer's masterpiece". Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a 1946–1949

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

radio series that led to a series of 1950s novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu,

Sumuru Sumuru is a female supervillain created by Sax Rohmer, author of the Fu Manchu series of novels. She first appeared in a 1945-1946 BBC radio serial, which was rewritten as a novel in 1950. Four more novels were published between 1951 and 1956. T ...

. The Sumuru series consists of five books. Two films featuring the character played by Shirley Eaton were also produced by

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...

as was a 2003 German film ''

''. Rohmer also wrote numerous short stories; "The Master of Hollow Grange" (1920) is a homage to

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

' story "Lost Hearts", featuring a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly am ...

who preys on children. Rohmer's work was banned in Nazi Germany, causing Rohmer to complain that he could not understand such censorship, stating "my stories are not inimical to Nazi ideals". After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Rohmer and his wife moved to New York, only returning to London shortly before his death. He died in 1959 at the age of 76, due to an outbreak of "

". His wife, Rose Elizabeth (Knox) Ward (1886–1979), published her own mystery novel, ''Bianca in Black'', in 1958 under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. She and Cay Van Ash (1918–1994), her husband's former assistant, wrote a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

of the author, ''Master of Villainy: A Biography of Sax Rohmer'', published in 1972.Cay Van Ash and Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. ''Master of Villainy: A Biography of Sax Rohmer'', London: Tom Stacey, 1972

Works

For Rohmer's bibliography, see his full list of work. Related works: *''Bianca in Black'' by Elizabeth Sax Rohmer, 1958 *''Master of Villainy: A Biography of Sax Rohmer'' by Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash with Robert Briney, 1972 *''Ten Years Beyond Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Matches Wits with the Diabolical Dr. Fu Manchu'' by Cay Van Ash, 1984. Authorised by the literary estates of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sax Rohmer. *''The Fires of Fu Manchu'' by Cay Van Ash, 1987. Authorised by the Sax Rohmer literary estate. *''The Terror of Fu Manchu'' by William Patrick Maynard, 2009. Authorised by the Rohmer estate. *''The Destiny of Fu Manchu'' by William Patrick Maynard, 2012. Authorised by the Rohmer estate. *''The Triumph of Fu Manchu'' by William Patrick Maynard (announced). Authorised by the Rohmer estate. A note on texts: U.S. editions of the Sumuru books (Gold Medal/Fawcett paperbacks) have texts which were frequently corrupted.

References

External links