William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) was an English

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

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 ...

.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction''. New York: Routledge, 2010. (pp. 205–210) .John Kinnaird, "Stapledon,(William) Olaf" in Curtis C. Smith, '' Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers''. Chicago, St. James, 1986. (pp. 693–6). In 2014, he was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Life

Stapledon was born in Seacombe,

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

, on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, the only son of William Clibbett Stapledon and Emmeline Miller. The first six years of his life were spent with his parents at

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

, Egypt. He was educated at Abbotsholme School in Derbyshire and Balliol College, Oxford, where he acquired a BA degree in

Modern History The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

(Second Class) in 1909, promoted to an MA degree in 1913. After a brief stint as a teacher at Manchester Grammar School he worked in shipping offices in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

from 1910 to 1912. From 1912 to 1915 Stapledon worked with the Liverpool branch of the Workers' Educational Association. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served as a conscientious objector. Stapledon became an ambulance driver with the Friends' Ambulance Unit in France and Belgium from July 1915 to January 1919; he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery.Vincent Geoghegan,"Olaf Stapledon: Religious but not a Christian" in ''Socialism and religion : roads to common wealth''.London: Routledge, 2011. (pp. 85–108). His wartime experiences influenced his pacifist beliefs and advocacy of a World Government. On 16 July 1919 he married Agnes Zena Miller (1894–1984), an Australian cousin. They had first met in 1903, and later maintained a correspondence throughout the war. They had a daughter, Mary Sydney Stapledon (1920–2008), and a son, John David Stapledon (1923–2014). In 1920 they moved to West Kirby. Stapledon was awarded a PhD degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from the University of Liverpool in 1925 and used his doctoral thesis as the basis for his first published prose book, ''A Modern Theory of Ethics'' (1929). However, he soon turned to fiction in the hope of presenting his ideas to a wider public. The relative success of '' Last and First Men'' (1930) prompted him to become a full-time writer. He wrote a sequel, '' Last Men in London'', and followed it up with many more books of both fiction and philosophy. Stapledon was a member of the Aristotelean Society. As a pacifist Stapledon was involved in a number of peace-advocacy organisations, such as the Peace Pledge Union. In August 1939 he addressed a meeting of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. For the duration of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Stapledon abandoned his pacifism and supported the war effort. In 1940 the Stapledon family built and moved into a new house on Simon's Field, in Caldy, in Wirral. During the war Stapledon became a public advocate of J.B. Priestley and Richard Acland's left-wing Common Wealth Party, as well as the British internationalist group Federal Union. He supported implementing the recommendations of the

Beveridge Report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' ( Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Lib ...

and spoke at the first public meeting of the Left Book Club's "Readers' and Writers' Group". Other organizations which Stapledon was involved with include the H.G. Wells Society, League of Nations Union, the 1941 Committee, the Progressive League and the British Interplanetary Society. Some commentators have called Stapledon a Marxist, although Stapledon distanced himself from the label stating that "I am not a Marxist, but I have learned much from Marxists, and I am not anti-Marxist", though he did refer to himself as a socialist. He held membership of the Merseyside branch of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

. After 1945 Stapledon travelled widely on lecture tours. Arthur C. Clarke, as Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, invited him to give a talk on the social and biological aspects of space exploration. He also travelled internationally, visiting the Netherlands,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and France, and in 1948 he spoke at the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland. He attended the Conference for World Peace held in New York City in 1949, the only Briton to be granted a visa to do so. In 1950 he became involved with the anti-apartheid movement. After a week of lectures in Paris, he cancelled a projected trip to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and returned to his home in Caldy, where he died very suddenly of a heart attack. Stapledon was cremated at Landican Crematorium. His widow and their children scattered his ashes on the sandy cliffs overlooking the Dee Estuary, a favourite spot of his that features in more than one of his books. Stapledon Wood, on the south-east side of Caldy Hill, is named after him.

Works

Stapledon's fiction often presents the strivings of some intelligence that is beaten down by an indifferent universe and its inhabitants who, through no fault of their own, fail to comprehend its lofty yearnings. It is filled with protagonists who are tormented by the conflict between their "higher" and "lower" impulses. Stapledon's writings directly influenced Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, Stanisław Lem,

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

, John Gloag,

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

, C. S. Lewis, Vernor Vinge, John Maynard Smith and indirectly influenced many others, contributing many ideas to the world of science fiction. Clarke wrote: Ideas such as a "supermind" composed of many individual consciousnesses forms a recurring theme in his work. '' Star Maker'' contains the first known description of what are now called Dyson spheres. Freeman Dyson credits the novel with giving him the idea, even stating in an interview that "Stapledon sphere" would be a more appropriate name. '' Last and First Men'' features early descriptions of

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

and terraforming. '' Sirius'' describes a dog whose intelligence is increased to the level of a human being's. Stapledon's work also refers to then-contemporary intellectual fashions (e.g. the belief in extrasensory perception). ''Last and First Men'', a "future history" of 18 successive species of humanity, and ''Star Maker'', an outline history of the Universe, were highly acclaimed by figures as diverse as Jorge Luis Borges, J. B. Priestley,

, Algernon Blackwood, Hugh Walpole, Arnold Bennett, Virginia Woolf (Stapledon maintained a correspondence with Woolf) and

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. Benford,Gregory, "Foreword" in ''Last and First Men''. London, Millennium, 1999. pp. ix–xi. In contrast, Stapledon's philosophy repelled C. S. Lewis, whose '' Cosmic Trilogy'' was written partly in response to what Lewis saw as amorality, although Lewis admired Stapledon's inventiveness and described him as "a corking good writer". In fact Stapledon was an agnostic who was hostile to religious institutions, but not to religious yearnings, a fact that set him at odds with

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

in their correspondence. Together with his philosophy lectureship at the University of Liverpool, which now houses the Olaf Stapledon archive, Stapledon lectured in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

, industrial history and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. He wrote many non-fiction books on political and ethical subjects, in which he advocated the growth of "spiritual values", which he defined as those values expressive of a yearning for greater awareness of the self in a larger context ("personality-in-community"). Stapledon himself named his spiritual values as intelligence, love and creative action. His philosophy was strongly influenced by Spinoza. Stapledon is considered one of the forerunners of the contemporary transhumanist movement.

Film rights

Film producer and director George Pal bought the rights to '' Odd John'' and in 1966 '' Castle of Frankenstein'' magazine reported that David McCallum would play the title role. In 2017 a multimedia adaptation of '' Last and First Men'' by Oscar-nominated Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson was released, featuring narration by Tilda Swinton and a live score performed by the BBC Philharmonic. In 2019, Justin McDonald and Kate Hodgson wrote, produced, and starred in a short film adaptation of Stapledon's "A Modern Magician." Directed by Mark Heller, the film also featured the voice of Brian Cox. It was the first-ever live-action adaptation of any of Stapledon's literary works.

Bibliography

Fiction

*'' Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future'' (1930) () *'' Last Men in London'' (1932) () *'' Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest'' (1935) () *'' Star Maker'' (1937) () First Edition cover by Bip Pares *'' Darkness and the Light'' (1942) () *'' Old Man in New World'' (short story, 1944) *'' Sirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord'' (1944) () *'' Death into Life'' (1946) *'' The Flames: A Fantasy'' (1947) *''A Man Divided'' (1950) () *'' Four Encounters'' (1976) () *'' Nebula Maker'' (drafts of ''Star Maker'', 1976) () * ''East is West'' (posthumous, 1979)

Non-fiction

*''A Modern Theory of Ethics: A study of the Relations of Ethics and Psychology'' (1929) *''Waking World'' (1934) *'' Saints and Revolutionaries'' (1939) *''New Hope for Britain'' (1939) *''Philosophy and Living'', 2 volumes (1939) *''Beyond the "Isms"'' (1942) *''Seven Pillars of Peace'' (1944) *''Youth and Tomorrow'' (1946) *''Interplanetary Man?'' (1948) *''The Opening of the Eyes'' (ed. Agnes Z. Stapledon, 1954)

Poetry

*''Latter-Day Psalms'' (1914)

Collections

*'' Worlds of Wonder: Three Tales of Fantasy'' (1949) *''To the End of Time: the Best of Olaf Stapledon'' (ed. Basil Davenport, 1953) () *''Far Future Calling: Uncollected Science Fiction and Fantasies of Olaf Stapledon'' (ed. Sam Moskowitz 1979 ) *''An Olaf Stapledon Reader'' (ed. , 1997)

References

External links

*
Olaf Stapledon Archive
at the University of Liverpool SF Hub
Works at Project Gutenberg Australia
*
Olaf Stapledon
at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame * (including 1 "from old catalog" as William Olaf)
Digitized works by Olaf Stapledon
at Toronto Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Stapledon, Olaf 1886 births 1950 deaths 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English philosophers 20th-century English poets 20th-century English short story writers Academics of the University of Liverpool Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Liverpool English agnostics English anti-war activists English conscientious objectors English ethicists English male novelists English male poets English male short story writers English short story writers English pacifists English science fiction writers English socialists Lost Generation writers People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit People educated at Abbotsholme School People from Wallasey Philosophers of history British philosophers of mind British philosophy writers Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees British transhumanists 20th-century English male writers Teachers at Manchester Grammar School Members of the Fabian Society