I had the most delightful conversation the other day with Dr. Cyril Wiggishoff and his wife Marianne, former residents of Fountain Hills.

Dr. Wiggishoff has honored the Friends of the Fountain Hills Library with the prestigious gift of his world history book collection, 80 years in the making.

This outstanding 5,000 book gift consists of hundreds of volumes on the political, social and military history of the major countries of the world, many of them rare volumes.

Dr. Wiggishoff’s passion for reading and collecting books began at an early age. Born in Paris on March 17, 1923, Cyril Wiggishoff was raised from the age of five in South Africa, where he lived with his aunt and uncle after his father died in the Spanish Civil War.

Education was important to his aunt and uncle and reading was “an approved activity.” He remembers going by himself to Adams Bookstore in Durban, South Africa, to purchase his very own book when he was 10-years-old.

He came home with a book on Henry IV and was told by his uncle that it was “pornographic.” Of course, he had no idea what that meant, but the book went back to Adams.

When he was 17, Cyril’s uncle informed him that “there was a war on” and that Cyril was to become a doctor. So he studied at medical school in Johannesburg for two years. At the age of 19, he enlisted as an able seaman in the South African Navy, where his first crew assignment was on a 750-ton Norwegian whaling vessel that had been adapted to war purposes.

Later, he attended Officers’ School and, after being commissioned as a sub-lieutenant, volunteered for submarine service. He was sent to Britain to attend a submarine course in 1944. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the Seventh Submarine Squadron at Rothesay, Scotland.

At the end of the WW II, completion of his medical training once again became a priority. He applied and was accepted at Oxford in England, and completed his training there in 1950.

In the late 1950s, Dr. Wiggishoff came to the University of Illinois in Chicago under a Fulbright Fellowship. He returned to private practice in Johannesburg, but soon realized that Chicago was where he wanted to continue his career in surgery.

He spent 23 years as Chief of Staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago as a world renowned surgeon, and at the same time was appointed a Clinical Associate Professor of Urology at the University of Chicago.

Cyril’s passion for knowledge and books never diminished. During each transition of his life, Dr. Wiggishoff immersed himself in any and all literature available regarding the events and involvements in each stage of his life. He has always read several books at a time and all have become part of his collection.

Dr. Wiggishoff and Marianne, his wife of 33 years, now of Scottsdale, moved to Fountain Hills in 1987 from Chicago. During their years in Fountain Hills, they were very civically involved. Marianne served on the Town Council in the ‘90s when the town was working on land planning and preservation. During that time, Cyril served as president of the Library Association (Friends of the Library) and has always belonged to many societies of note.

Chris Brimer Gilboe, who has been working with Dr. Wiggishoff throughout this transition, states: “There are all sorts of book collectors. Some collect every book and title printed by their favorite author, some collect literature on a certain subject, such as Americana, photography, art or even cooking.

“Others gather beautiful bindings as objects d’art or illustrated children’s books. Dr. Wiggishoff, in contrast, has collected books that chronicled his own life and interests.

“He is a true bibliophile, a lover of books, whose library (and his homes to house it) has grown with every year he has lived. It has been said, ‘that to know a man’s book collection is to know the man.’

“Besides being a respected surgeon, Cyril has also been a scholar in world history. He specifically chose (and read) books relating to these passions in his life.”

The mainstay of Dr. Wiggishoff’s library, over 350 volumes, is the military, political and social history of South Africa, because he lived in Durban and Johannesburg.

More than 400 volumes focus on the British Royal Navy and the military history of Britain. Other selections include books on ships, wars, battles, submarines and U-boats of both WW I and WW II.

There are military books on operations, strategies and biographies of the great admirals, commanders, explorers and seamen.

Cyril’s interests extend even further.

The collection includes the military, political and social histories of Britain, France, Spain, Russia and the Far East. There are 40 volumes on the military history of the Far East from the Anglo-Chinese Wars through WW II.

The history of France, with an emphasis on the French Revolution, is covered in nearly 500 volumes. This a mere sample of the whole. Cyril bought the best hard cover books and kept them neat and protected on his bookshelves.

However, as Nicholas Basbanes describes a true book collector in his book, A Gentle Madness, “Every collector eventually faces the same harsh reality: After years spent in determined pursuit, a moment arrives when the precious volumes must pass to other shelves.”

The Friends of the Library consider it a tremendous honor to be entrusted with Dr. Wiggishoff’s life’s passion in books.

Dr. Wiggishoff, once president of the Library Association, envisions, and is hopeful, that these volumes will find their way to the bookshelves of future generations and, at the same time, that the proceeds garnered from these books will benefit the Fountain Hills Branch Library and the citizens who use it.

Dr. Wiggishoff’s final statement was, “If I had not become a surgeon, I would have been a history professor!”

Note: The Friends of the Library want to express appreciation to Dzintars Grauds of MCO, who arranged for the use of a storefront facility, gifted by Madrona of Fountain Hills, LLC, in which the Wiggishoffs’ 5,000-book collection has been displayed and stored for several months.

The entire collection has been sold to a private investor for resale, netting the Library Association more than $14,000 for programs, equipment and renovations, as needed, at the Fountain Hills Branch Library.

A yearly scholarship will also be available for a senior from the Fountain Hills Library Teen Club. Special thanks to Dzintars and Madrona.