Morison, Samuel Eliot (1887–1976)

US historian and naval officer. An expert in research and writing on naval, colonial, and exploration history, he wrote more than 25 books, including two that won Pulitzer Prizes, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus (1942) and John Paul Jones (1959).

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he received a PhD from Harvard (1913) before serving as a private during World War I. He joined the faculty at Harvard (1925–55). An active sailor himself, he displayed his intimate knowledge of the sea, ships, navigation, and other realities in his historical writings. He became the historian of US naval operations (1942) and observed naval operations firsthand (1942–45) before writing his 25-volume History of US Naval Operations in World War II (1946–62). He retired from the navy as a rear admiral (1951) and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964).