Ignatius Donnelly (also spelled Ignatius Donelly) (November 3, 1831 - January 1, 1901) was an American congressman who is noted primarily for his theories on the history of Atlantis and Shakespearean authorship.

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He moved to Minnesota in 1857 and was Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota from 1859-1863. He was Republican Congressman from Minnesota in the 38th, 39th and 40th Congresses (1863-1868), and state Senator from 1874-1878.

He advocated extending the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau to provide education to the freedmen, so that they could protect themselves once the bureau was withdrawn.

He was nominated for Vice-President of the United States by the People's Party in 1892.

He died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Works

His books include:

• Atlantis: The Antediluvian World (1882), in which he attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from its high-neolithic culture.
• Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Gravel (1883), in which he proposed that a cometary impact occurred in prehistoric times and destroyed a high civilization.
• Caeser's Column (1890), a science fiction novel set in 1988 about a worker revolt against a global oligarchy.
• The Shakespeare Myth (1887)
• Essay on the Sonnets of Shakespeare
• The Great Cryptogram: Francis Bacon's Cipher in Shakespeare's Plays, in which he maintained he had discovered codes in the works of Shakespeare which indicated that their true author was Francis Bacon.
• Golden Bottle or the Story of Ephraim Benezet of Kansas
• The American people's money (Hyperion Press, 1976, ISBN 0883552159)

References

• “The Political Career of Ignatius Donnelly.” by John D. Hicks , in Mississippi Valley Historical Review 8 (June-September 1921): 80-132
• Ignatius Donnelly: The Portrait of a Politician by Martin Ridge (Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 1912)

External links

• Donnelly entry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Bio
• Bio
• Personal history