G. W. RUSSELL

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 18, 20 July 1935, Page 11

G. W. RUSSELL

DUAL ROLES IN IRELAND

DEATH REPORTED

G. W. Russell, the Irish patriot, poet, | and painter, whose death is reported by cable from London, was that rare thing, a man of letters who had also an immense ability in organisation and administration. As "A-E," he became one of the two central figures about whom the Irish literary revival was based, the other being W. B. Yeats. As G. W. Russell, editor of the "Irish Homestead," he was instrumental in obtaihing the reorganisation of the Irish dairy industry. The late Mr. Russell was born at Lurgan, Armagh, in April, IBG7, and educated at Rathmines School. After seven year's in the offices of a commercial firm, he joined the Irish Agricultural Organisation. At the same time he began to write under the initials "A-E" poems which made an impression by their beauty of form and their mysticism. He also showed, marked talent as a painter. Combined with these gifts Mr. Russell also had wit and practical common sense, which he applied to improving the economic condition of the Irish people. It was said that he was one of the very few Irishmen in the critical years just before the outbreak of the war who dared to mix i their politics with humour. In 1905 he became editor of the "Irish Homestead," and with great zeal and a sound knowledge of Irish agricultural conditions he applied himself to the task of trying to cultivate a co-operative movement for the benefit of peasants and farmers. TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS. For many years Mr. Russell worked hard to iniprove economic conditions, showing a striking capacity for handling figures and for business. His aim was to divert, into practical channels some of the energy expended by the Irish people on politics. He thus presented the unusual combination of a poet and painter with an editor who was a clear-headed authority on the current prices of butter, eggs, and pork. He was a member of the Irish Convention in 1917, but resigned 'in February, 1918. In 1923 he was appointed editor of the "Irish Statesman." Trinity College, Dublin, conferred, on him in March, 1929, the honorary degree of D.Litt. . I When the resurgent national spirit was made manifest in Irish literature about the turn of the century "A-E" and Yeats were the leaders. Yeats worked to a standard of artistry which was approaching perfection and Bussell, with his deep conviction of the divine origin and destiny of man, produced prose writings which were coloured by pantheism. His verse was as mystic as that of Blake, but not so lacking in humanity,; His personal influence upon the Irish writers of that day and later has been recorded by many writers, among them George Moore and St. John Ervine. His immense vitality, keen interest in all fields of human knowledge, and naturally philosophic mind were what one would expert of « man wtjo was at once a mystic and the founder of modern Irish agricultural organisation. His books include essays written in collaboration with Yeats, W. Larminie, and Eglinton, the famous "Homeward: Songs by the Way," mystical tales, various philosophic works , such as "The Candles of Vision" and "The Interpreters," which was a symposium in the Platonic fashion, a three-act play on the theme of Deidre and such different works as "Copetion and Nationality" and "The Rural Community."