Librarians can do anything!
Saint Lawrence the Librarian (? - 258 AD). St Lawrence had responsibility for the archives and records of the early Church. When the Emperor Valerian ordered him to present all the treasures of the church within two days, St Lawrence gathered up all the poor people he could find and presented them claiming ‘these are the treasures of the church’. As punishment he was roasted alive on a grill on the site of the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Allegedly he was so brave that he was able to tell his executioners ‘turn me over, I am done on this side’
Casanova (1725-1798) was not only a great lover. At the climax (!) of his career in 1785, the famous womanizer began 13 years as librarian for the Count von Waldstein in the chateau of Dux in Bohemia.
Pope Pius XI (1857-1939) was a librarian before he became Pope. He served 19 years as a member of the College of Doctors of the Ambrosian Library in Milan, and then became chief librarian. In 1911 he was asked to reorganize and update the Vatican Library and four years later became prefect of the Vatican Library. From 1922 until his death in 1939, the former librarian served as pope.
Mao Tse-Tung (1893-1976) worked as an assistant to the chief librarian of the University of Peking. Overlooked for advancement, he decided to get ahead in another field and eventually became chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.
J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972) was a Library of Congress messenger and cataloger in his first job. His information gathering skills (perfected while working the library) would have proved very helpful in his later role as Head of the FBI.
Source: Shhhhhhhhhh
1 comment:
Very interesting... would never have guessed.
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