Martin Cyril D'Arcy (1888–1976), Jesuit and theologian, was born on June 15, 1888 in Bath, England, the youngest of four sons of Martin Valentine D'Arcy and his wife, Madoline Mary Keegan. Following in his brother Edmund Conyers-D'Arcy's footsteps, D'Arcy entered the Society of Jesus at Manresa College in 1906. Shortly thereafter, he began three years of philosophical studies at the Jesuit seminary, St Mary's Hall. D'Arcy's propensity for learning allowed him the opportunity to study at Pope's Hall, the Jesuit private hall of Oxford University. He won a series of university prizes: the Charles Oldham prize in 1915, the John Locke scholarship in 1918, and the Green moral philosophy prize in 1923.

Following his study at Oxford, D'Arcy began teaching, and was ordained in 1921 at St. Beuno's College in north Wales. In 1925 D'Arcy began his doctoral work in philosophy, studying almost exclusively at the Vatican in Rome. In 1927, D'Arcy returned to Campion Hall (Pope's Hall) and began teaching philosophy at Oxford. During his time at Oxford, D'Arcy received into the church a stream of famous converts, most notably, Evelyn Waugh. Also during this time, D'Arcy published many books, including The Nature of Belief (1931), The Pain of this World and the Providence of God (1935), and The Mind and Heart of Love (1945).

In 1933 D'Arcy became master of Campion Hall. During his tenure as master, D'Arcy traveled the globe lecturing on philosophy and spent time entertaining foreign Jesuits and English writers, philosophers, and politicians. D'Arcy also took great interest in his students, among them, Phillip Caraman, SJ. In 1935 D'Arcy made his first trip to the US to receive an honorary degree from Georgetown University. Over the years, D'Arcy made many more trips to the US, lecturing at Georgetown, Fordham, Boston College, and Notre Dame.

In 1945 D'Arcy left Oxford to become provincial of the English Jesuit province, however, he was relieved of his post in February 1950 for neglecting his administrative duties. In 1956 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and in 1960 he became an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

D'Arcy died at the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth, St. John's Wood, London, on November 20, 1976, at age 88.

Source:

Yarnold, Edward. “D'Arcy, Martin Cyril (1888–1976).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 17 Jan. 2006 https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/30998.