Will Durant

Will Durant was born in North Adams, Massachusetts to French-Canadian parents. Durant originally planned to follow his mother’s wishes for him to become a priest, but he left the seminary in 1911 and became a journalist and a teacher instead. In 1917, Durant wrote his first book, Philosophy and the Social Program. That same year, he received his doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University and became an instructor there. Durant went on to write many more books on philosophy and history, and would become best known for his 11-volume The Story of Civilization, written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant.