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Willam James Durant

Also Known As: "Will", "William James Durand"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: North Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States
Death: November 07, 1981 (96)
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
Place of Burial: Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
Immediate Family:

Son of Joseph Durand and Maria Durand
Husband of Ariel Durant
Father of Ethel Benvenuta and Louis Durant
Brother of Joseph Durand, Jr.; François Xavier Durand and Marie Eleonore Durand

Occupation: historian, Pulitzer Prize in literature
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Will Durant

William James "Will" Durant (November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant, and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy (1926), described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy".

He conceived of philosophy as total perspective or seeing things sub specie totius (a phrase inspired by Spinoza's sub specie aeternitatis. He sought to unify and humanize the great body of historical knowledge, which had grown voluminous and become fragmented into esoteric specialties, and to vitalize it for contemporary application.

The Durants were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1968 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

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Will Durant's Timeline

1885
November 5, 1885
North Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States
1913
1913
1981
November 7, 1981
Age 96
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
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Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California