Baron Avro Manhattan

Baron Avro Manhattan

The last known portrait of the great writer and philosopher, Baron Avro Manhattan 1914-1991 painted in London in 1975 by Robert Chapman. Taken from "Affordable Antique Art" web site.

Poet, artist, philosopher and writer on religious, historical and allied themes, Baron Avro Manhattan was known for his forthright and uncompromising views. He was born in Milan, Italy on April 6, 1914, to wealthy American/Dutch parents. His aristocratic roots meant that he was a Knight of the House of Savoy as well as a Knight Templar and a Knight of the Order of Mercedes.

He was educated at the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics. He was jailed in Italy for refusing to serve in the Fascist dictator Mussolini's army. While imprisoned in the Alps he wrote his first book on astronomy. Once free Mr. Manhattan moved to London.

During World War II he operated a radio station called "Radio Freedom," broadcasting to occupied Europe. He also wrote political commentaries for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). For this service he was made a Knight of Malta.

Strikingly handsome in his youth, Manhattan was a member of the H.G. Wells set (and of the British Interplanetary Society), knew Bernard Shaw (whom he beat at bowls) and lived with Picasso for a while in Paris. He was a close friend of scientist Marie Stopes in the early 1950s.

By then he had made a name with his book The Vatican in World Politics (1949) which ran to fifty editions. The book was one of the best-selling books of all time. It was translated into most major languages including Chinese, Russian and most recently, Korean.

In all, he wrote some sixty books and published several during his South Shields period, including works on Vietnam and Ireland, the prophetic Terror over Yugoslavia in 1986 and The Dawn of Man, the fruit of 40 years of deliberation on evolutionary themes.

His other books include:

• The Rumbling of the Apocalypse, Airoldi, 1934;
• Towards the new Italy (Preface by H.G. Wells), Lindsay Drummond, 1943;
• Latin America and the Vatican, C.A. Watts, 1946.
• The Catholic Church Against The Twentieth Century, C.A.Watts, 1947, 2nd edition, 1950;
• The Vatican in Asia, C.A. Watts, London, 1948.
• Religion in Russia, C.A.Watts, London, 1949.
• Catholic Imperialism and World Freedom, C.A. Watts, London 1952, 2nd edition, 1959;
• Terror Over Yugoslavia, the Threat to Europe, C.A. Watts, London, 1953;
• The Dollar and the Vatican, Pioneer Press, London, 1956, 3rd edition, 1957.
• Vatican Imperialism in the 20th Century, Zondervan, Michigan, 1965.
• The Vatican Billions, Chick Pub., Los Angeles, 1983.
• Catholic Terror in Ireland, Chick Pub., Los Angeles, 1988.
• Vatican Moscow Washington Alliance, Chick Pub, 1982.
• Vietnam . . . why did we go?, Chick Pub, Los Angeles, 1984.
• The Vatican's Holocaust, Ozark Books, Springfield, MO.1986.
• Murder in the Vatican, American Russian and Papal Plots, Ozark Books, Springfield, MO. 1985.

Mr. Manhattan was a member of the Royal Society of Literature, Society of Authors, Ethical Union, P.E.N., British Interplanetary Society, etc.

Mr. Manhattan died in 1990 only months before his prophetic Terror over Yugoslavia was to unfold. This is his last photograph from November 1990:

Baron Manhattan, November 1990