Great people often walk on paths laid down by their sires
TODAY is Father’s Day, celebrated on the third Sunday of every June in Malaysia, which colmmemorates the great sacrifices good fathers make to ensure their families live comfortably. By parenting their kids well, fathers can lay the foundation of what could possibly become a great person of history.
As it turns out, many historical figures had fathers or indeed were fathers who performed their roles to a tee. Here are some of their stories.
Sir Thomas More
While infamous in England as the political figure who ran afoul of the many-wived King Henry VIII, Sir Thomas More is less known for his progressive views when it came to matters of parenting.
A deeply religious Catholic, he proved a dutiful husband during his first marriage, tutoring his wife in music and literature because he believed she deserved a better education. They would have three daughters and one son together before her premature death in 1511.
He remarried soon after, taking under his wing a daughter from his new wife’s previous marriage.
Despite his busy political career, he took the time to write letters to his children, encouraging them to write back often.
Unusual for the time period, he was determined to ensure his daughters would have the same level of education as his son.
His eldest daughter Margaret grew to be particularly well-versed in Latin and he was very openly proud of her.
More’s attitude towards female education rubbed off on fellow elites, with many following his example afterwards by providing their daughters with tutors.
His love for his daughters was probably mutual, as they dutifully went to retrieve his head and body post-execution to give their father a proper burial.
Abraham Lincoln
It is not an uncommon phenomenon for a parent who was abused as a child to be abusive to their own children.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th American president, made it a point not to pass on such trauma, resolving to be a good father instead.
In his childhood, he was raised by his loving mother Nancy, who unfortunately passed away when he was nine, leaving him to his father Thomas.
Thomas despised Abraham’s love for education, calling Abraham “lazy” and beating him when he found the boy with a book. Unsurprisingly, the son did not attend his father’s funeral.
After marrying his wife Mary, Abraham had four sons and was described by her as being “the most tender and loving husband and father in the world.”
Firm in his beliefs, he was equally gentle with his children and supportive of whatever they showed interest in.
Even after being elected president, he always made time for his sons, even when dealing with the US Civil War.
He was reportedly inconsolable when his third son William passed away from typhoid at the age of 11, locking himself away to weep alone after the funeral.
Despite this personal loss, Abraham never gave up on his family or on his country, ultimately succeeding at ending slavery at the cost of his life.
Chiune Sugihara
Sometimes, the best way to be a good father is simply to lead by example.
During World War II, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany were formal allies, but Japanese ambassador consul general in Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara, cared little about alliances.
Disturbed by the genocidal Nazi persecution of Europe’s Jews, he began issuing visas illegally, giving people a way to flee Nazi-occupied Europe, despite official Japanese policy not allowing this.
Chiune’s family, including his eldest son Hiroki, supported him.
Even as the consulate closed and Chiune was recalled to Japan, he still issued visas non-stop, reportedly throwing signed slips of paper out the window of his departing train to desperate refugees, apologising when he could not help any further.
Chiune saved about 4,000 lives.
For his abuse of diplomatic power, he was disgraced back in Japan and he struggled to find work.
Until his death, Chiune never spoke publicly about his deeds, with only his family and the people he had saved knowing of his kindness.
Hiroki, who witnessed his father’s deeds in-person, spent a huge part of his life bringing to light Chiune’s quiet heroism.
Nicholas Romanov
While his inability to properly lead a country such as Russia at a time of crisis is often unquestioned, it is just as accepted the last Russian emperor did at least genuinely care for his family.
Through his marriage with Princess Alix of Hesse, he had four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, and one son, the crown prince Alexei.
In contrast to his poor statesmanship, he was an involved father and husband, personally spending time with his children and being an unusually loyal, monogamous monarch.
He often took his family out on trips on their private yacht and played tennis, his favourite sport, with his daughters.
During his childhood, Nicholas had been poorly prepared for the challenges of political life and thus, he tried to spare Alexei that fate by preparing him early on.
The poor boy suffered from haemophilia however, a medical condition which Nicholas was desperate to cure.
This, in turn, caused Nicholas to turn to the infamous Grigori Rasputin, a hermit who supposedly could heal Alexei’s symptoms.
Rasputin’s negative influence on government, combined with Nicholas’s genuine political and military incompetence, would ultimately lead to the Russian Revolution, which put an end to Romanov rule of Russia.
Tragically, he and his family would pay the price for his poor political decisions when they were all shot by their Communist captors in a basement in 1918.
Liang Qichao
There is a somewhat deserved stereotype that Asian parents, fathers included, can be a handful to deal with.
Political journalist and politician Liang Qichao was the subversion of that stereotype, being the father many people would have loved to have.
He fathered nine children, all of whom would become successful paragons in their respective fields of study.
Surprisingly, he never pressured them into entering any field, instead telling them: “The most important thing is to find your own interest.”
He valued education for his sons and daughters equally and allowed himself to be financially strained to send them overseas to study.
While they were abroad, he wrote to them often, addressing them with affectionate (or embarrassing) nicknames like “Big Baby” or “Old Baby”.
He was never shy about his care for them, once writing: “I put your photos on my desk and ?nd it so cute. Everyone has gained weight!”
When a daughter informed him she was struggling with her studies, he immediately wrote back to assure her not to beat herself up over bad grades.
To him, his children’s happiness and wellbeing were far more important than any academic achievements.
His loving ways resulted in children such as Sicheng, father of modern Chinese architecture, Siyong, a first-generation Chinese archeologist and Sili, International Astronautical Federation vice-president.
Who needs to be a wolf father or tiger mother when you can just be good old dad to your kids?
