Casement, Sir Roger

Casement, Sir Roger

▪ British politician
in full  Sir Roger David Casement  
born Sept. 1, 1864, Kingstown [now Dún Laoghaire], County Dublin, Ire.
died Aug. 3, 1916, London, Eng.

      distinguished British public servant who was executed for treason and became one of the principal Irish martyrs in the revolt against British rule in Ireland.

      Casement was a British consul in Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique; 1895–98), Angola (1898–1900), Congo Free State (1901–04), and Brazil (1906–11). He gained international fame for revealing atrocious cruelty in the exploitation of native labour by white traders in the Congo and the Putumayo River region, Peru; his Congo report (published 1904) led to a major reorganization of Belgian rule in the Congo (1908), and his Putumayo report (1912) earned him a knighthood.

      Ill health forced Casement to retire to Ireland in 1912. Although he came from an Ulster Protestant family, he had always sympathized with the predominantly Roman Catholic Irish nationalists. Late in 1913 he helped form the Irish National Volunteers, and in July 1914 he traveled to New York City to seek American aid for that anti-British force. After World War I broke out in August, Casement hoped that Germany might assist the Irish independence movement as a blow against Great Britain. On arriving in Berlin in November 1914, he found that the German government was unwilling to risk an expedition to Ireland and that most Irish prisoners of war would refuse to join a brigade that he intended to recruit for service against England.

      Later, Casement failed to obtain the loan of German army officers to lead the Irish rising planned for Easter 1916. In a vain effort to prevent the revolt, he sailed for Ireland on April 12 in a German submarine. Put ashore near Tralee, County Kerry, he was arrested on April 24 and taken to London, where, on June 29, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. An appeal was dismissed, and he was hanged at Pentonville Prison despite attempts by influential Englishmen to secure a reprieve in view of his past services to the British government. During this time, diaries reputedly written by Casement and containing detailed descriptions of homosexual practices were circulated privately among British officials. After years of dispute over their authenticity, the diaries were made available to scholars by the British home secretary in July 1959. It was generally considered that the passages in question were in Casement's handwriting.

      In 1965 Casement's remains were returned to Ireland and, after a state funeral, reinterred in Dublin.

Additional Reading
Brian Inglis, Roger Casement (1973); B.L. Reid, The Lives of Roger Casement (1976); Roger Sawyer, Casement, the Flawed Hero (1984).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Casement, Sir Roger — (1864 1916)    Born in Dublin the son of a Protestant father and Catholic mother, Casement served for many years as a distinguished diplomat. His criticism of how the native workers were treated forced the Belgian government to overhaul its… …   British and Irish poets

  • Casement,Sir Roger David — Case·ment (kāsʹmənt), Sir Roger David. 1864 1916. British diplomat who sought German assistance in the Irish nationalist cause during World War I and was executed for treason. * * * …   Universalium

  • Casement, Sir Roger — (1864–1916)    Before his 1916 execution for treason and the British government’s subsequent effort to smear his reputation by releasing diaries that graphically detailed his alleged homosexuality, Casement was an Irish born British diplomat and… …   Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914

  • Casement, Sir Roger (David) — born Sept. 1, 1864, Kingstown, County Dublin, Ire. died Aug. 3, 1916, London, Eng. British civil servant and Irish rebel. As British consul in Africa (1895–1904) and Brazil (1906–11), he became famous for his reports revealing white traders cruel …   Universalium

  • Casement, Sir Roger (David) — (1 sep. 1864, Kingstown, cond. de Dublín, Irlanda–3 ago. 1916, Londres, Inglaterra). Funcionario público británico y rebelde irlandés. Como cónsul británico en África (1895–1904) y Brasil (1906–11), se hizo célebre por sus informes que revelaban… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Sir Roger Casement — Roger Casement Roger Casement Roger Casement (né le 1er septembre 1864 et mort le 3 août 1916) était un diplomate britannique de profession et un poète, un nationaliste et révolutionnaire irlandais. Il est connu pour son engagement contre… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Roger Casement — Sir Roger Casement Sir Roger David Casement CMG (irisch: Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn, * 1. September 1864 in Sandycove, Vereinigtes Königreich; † 3. August 1916 in London) war ein britischer Diplomat, der entscheidend an der Aufklärung der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Roger Casement — Sir Roger Casement (né le 1er septembre 1864 et mort le 3 août 1916) était un diplomate britannique de profession et un poète, un nationaliste et révolutionnaire irlandais. Il est connu pour son engagement contre les abus du système colonial …   Wikipédia en Français

  • sir — /serr/, n. 1. a respectful or formal term of address used to a man: No, sir. 2. (cap.) the distinctive title of a knight or baronet: Sir Walter Scott. 3. (cap.) a title of respect for some notable personage of ancient times: Sir Pandarus of Troy …   Universalium

  • sir — (Voz inglesa.) ► sustantivo masculino Tratamiento honorífico empleado por los británicos. * * * sir (ingl.; pronunc. [ser]) m. *Tratamiento de respeto usado en Inglaterra delante de un nombre de hombre o para dirigirse a la persona de que se… …   Enciclopedia Universal

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”