John Grierson
| John Grierson | |
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John Grierson (right) with Bolivian filmmaker Jorge Ruiz in 1955
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| Born | John Grierson 26 April 1898 Deanston, Stirling, Scotland |
| Died | 19 February 1972 (aged 73) Bath, Somerset, England |
| Occupation | Documentary maker |
John Grierson CBE (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert Flaherty's Moana.
Grierson was born in Deanston, near Doune, Scotland. His father was a schoolmaster, his mother a suffragette and ardent Labour Party activist. From an early age, both parents steeped their son in liberal politics, humanistic ideals, and Calvinist moral and religious philosophies, particularly the notion that education was essential to individual freedom and that hard and meaningful work was the way to prove oneself worthy in the sight of God.
Grierson entered the University of Glasgow in 1916, but then saw service on minesweepers in the Royal Navy during World War I. He returned to University in 1919, graduating in 1922 with a MA in English and Moral Philosophy. He spent a good part of his academic career enmeshed in impassioned political discussion and leftist political activism.
In 1923, he received a Rockefeller Research Fellowship to study in the United States at the University of Chicago, and later at Columbia and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focus was the psychology of propaganda—the impact of the press, film, and other mass media on forming public opinion. Grierson was particularly interested in the popular appeal and influence of the "yellow" (tabloid) press, and the influence and role of these journals on the education of new American citizens from abroad.
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