C. L. Sulzberger | |
|---|---|
 Sulzberger in 1968 | |
| Born | Cyrus Leo Sulzberger II (1912-10-27)October 27, 1912 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | September 20, 1993(1993-09-20) (aged 80) Paris, France |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Spouse | Marina Tatiana Ladas |
| Children | 2 |
| Family | Cyrus Leopold Sulzberger (grandfather) Arthur Hays Sulzberger (uncle) Adrian Michael Berry (son-in-law) |
Cyrus Leo Sulzberger II (October 27, 1912 – September 20, 1993) was an American journalist, diarist, and non-fiction writer. He was a member of the family that ownedThe New York Times and he was that newspaper's leadforeign correspondent during the 1940s and 1950s.
Sulzberger was born in New York City on October 27, 1912 to Leopold Sulzberger (1885–1926) and Beatrice A Josephi (1890-?). He was the grandson ofCyrus Leopold Sulzberger and the nephew ofArthur Hays Sulzberger, who was publisher ofThe New York Times from 1935 to 1961.[1][2] He graduatedmagna cum laude fromHarvard University in 1934. Cy, as he was commonly called, joined the family paper in 1939 and was soon covering stories oversea as Europe edged towardWorld War II. Among the reporters who worked for him during the war wereDrew Middleton andJames Reston. He served as a foreign affairs correspondent for 40 years and wrote two dozen books in his lifetime.[2] His skills as a raconteur were legendary as were his friendships with high and mighty or just plain interesting people. Because of the circles he traveled in, he sometimes carried messages from one foreign leader to another; for U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy he conveyed a note to Soviet premierNikita Khrushchev in 1961. Of all the leaders he befriended, it is said that he was closest to PresidentCharles de Gaulle of France.
In a 1977 article forRolling Stone, journalistCarl Bernstein included Sulzberger in a group of columnists and commentators whoseCentral Intelligence Agency relationships Bernstein characterized as going "far beyond those normally maintained between reporters and their sources." He cited CIA files as referring to Sulzberger as what the agency called "known assets." Bernstein quoted unnamed CIA officials as saying Sulzberger at one time published a briefing paper the CIA provided him almost verbatim under his byline. Bernstein then quoted Sulzberger as calling that allegation "a lot of baloney" and insisting that while the agency might have considered him "an asset," in the sense of his willingness to answer questions about his travels to (fictitious nations) "Slobovia" or "Ruritania," he never took formal assignments from the agency nor would "get caught near the spook business."[3] The Times also denied that Sulzberger had ever been a paid CIA agent.
Sulzberger received aPulitzer Prize Special Citation in 1951 for his "exclusive interview" with imprisonedArchbishop of ZagrebAloysius Stepinac.[4]
In 1942 Sulzberger married Marina Tatiana Ladas, aGreek who was often his travel companion and ensured that they had an active and elegant social life in Paris. She died in 1976 and he died at their Paris home on September 20, 1993.[5] They had two children: David Alexis Sulzberger and Marina Beatrice Sulzberger.[2] In 1967, Marina Beatrice Sulzberger marriedAdrian Michael Berry,[6] who later became 4th Viscount Camrose, thereby linking two newspaper dynasties. The Camrose family had once ownedThe Daily Telegraph and retained an interest in that paper until it was taken over byConrad Black in 1986.
But Cyrus Leo Sulzberger, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1934, decided to start his career elsewhere. He worked as a general assignment ...
