William Addams Reitwiesner
William Addams Reitwiesner | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1954 |
| Died | November 12, 2010 (aged 56) |
| Parent(s) | George Walter Reitwiesner Homé Stephens McAllister |
William Addams Reitwiesner (March 8, 1954 – November 12, 2010) was a genealogist who traced the ancestry of United States political figures, European royalty and celebrities.[1]
Biography
Reitwiesner was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland on 8 March 1954 and grew up in Aberdeen, Maryland and Silver Spring. His grandfather was a board member of the National Genealogical Society and from the age of five, Reitwiesner would explore his grandfather's library.
After graduating from Montgomery Blair High School in 1972, Reitwiesner joined the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service (CRS) as a cart pusher. He spent the rest of his working life in menial jobs at the Library of Congress so that he could devote his time pursuing his interest in genealogy. Although much of his work was self-published on the internet, he acquired a reputation for meticulousness and accuracy[1] and many genealogists cited him in their publications.
He died of cancer in Washington DC on November 12, 2010.
Works and publications
Genealogies that he published include:[2]
- The American Ancestors and Relatives of Lady Diana Frances Spencer. Silver Spring, MD: Author, 1981.
- The Ancestry of Catherine Middleton: Who Will Marry Prince William of Wales 29 April 2011. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.
- The Lesbian Ancestors of Prince Rainier of Monaco, Dr. Otto von Habsburg, Brooke Shields, and the Marquis de Sade. Washington, DC: Author, 1995.
Online
- Ancestries of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and other U.S. political figures.
- Descendants of Bonnie Prince Charlie
- The Ancestry of Camilla Parker Bowles, now The Duchess of Cornwall.
- The Ancestry of Mary Donaldson, now The Crown Princess of Denmark
- Ancestries of David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and other prominent European figures.
He prefaced his genealogy of Barack Obama with the text "The following material on the immediate ancestry of Barack Obama should not be considered either exhaustive or authoritative, but rather as a first draft." Most of his Internet publications carry similar disclaimers.
Publications where his assistance or publications have been acknowledged include:
- Williamson's work on the ancestry of Diana, Princess of Wales[3]
References
- ^ a b Timothy R Smith (11 December 2010). "A Local Life: William Addams Reitwiesner, 56; genealogist of presidents, kings and thousands of commoners". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
- ^ "WARGS (William Addams Reitwiesner Genealogical Services) Homepage". Retrieved 2011-02-03.
- ^ David Williamson (1981). "The ancestry of Lady Diana Spencer". The Genealogists Magazine. 20 (6). Society of Genealogists: 192–197.