Cloudesley Brereton (1863–1937) was a British educationalist and writer with a particular interest in the teaching of modern languages. He was also a literary translator from French.

Life

Brereton was born on 21 November 1863. He studied at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

and the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

.Anne Clendinning, ''Demons of Domesticity: Women and the English Gas Industry, 1889–1939'' (Routledge, 2017), electronic edition (unpaginated
preview available on Google Books
After teaching at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

for a short period he became inspector of modern-language teaching for the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

. In 1904, he married a widow, Maud Adeline Horobin (née Ford), with whom he had two sons. From 1906 to 1931, he was a member of the progressive association The Rainbow Circle, where he propounded educational reforms. Taking an interest in the academic training of language teachers, he worked for closer intellectual exchange with both Germany and France. In 1927 he was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by the

University of Lille The University of Lille (, abbreviated as ULille, UDL or univ-lille) is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the merger of three universities ...

. Brereton died in Briningham,

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, on 11 July 1937, aged 73.

Publications

Apart from his contributions to educational journals and to the 14th edition of the ''

Encyclopaedia Britannica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

'' (1929–1930), Brereton wrote poetry and non-fiction books, and translated French works into English.

Books

* ''Studies in Foreign Education'' (1913) * ''Who is Responsible?'' (1914) * ''The Norfolk Recruit's Farewell: A Ballad'' (1917) * ''Mystica et Lyrica'' (1919) * ''Modern Language Teaching in Day and Evening Schools'' (1930) * ''France: A Handbook for Beginners in French'' (1936)

Translations

In 1905 he translated

Gabriel Tarde Jean-Gabriel (de) Tarde (; ; 12 March 1843 – 13 May 1904) was a French sociologist, criminologist and social psychologist who conceived sociology as based on small psychological interactions among individuals (much as if it were chemist ...

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel, ''Fragment d'histoire future'' (1904) as ''Underground Man''. With Fred Rothwell he translated

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

's ''

Laughter Laughter is a pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, usually audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal stimuli. Laug ...

''. First published in 1911, their translation went through several editions to 2005. Brereson and R. Ashley Audra, with the assistance of W. Horsfall Carter, translated Bergson's ''The Two Sources of Morality and Religion'' (1935).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brereton, Cloudesley 1863 births 1937 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge University of Paris alumni 20th-century British educators 20th-century British writers French–English translators 19th-century British educators British educational theorists British expatriates in France