# Original nationality of Nero Wolfe. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056 "2018-05-29T14:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/1 "2018-05-29T14:13:45Z")
In _Over My Dead Body_, Wolfe mentions that he was born in the United States. In one of the novels involving a client who obtains US citizenship, Wolfe says that is a naturalized citizen. I believe that in _The Black Mountain_ he says that he was born in Montenegro. Which is it? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/2 "2018-05-29T14:20:51Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > In _Over My Dead Body_, Wolfe mentions that he was born in the United States. In one of the novels involving a client who obtains US citizenship, Wolfe says that is a naturalized citizen. I believe that in _The Black Mountain_ he says that he was born in Montenegro. Which is it? In what published order are these three statements made? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/3 "2018-05-29T14:38:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > In what published order are these three statements made? _Over My Dead Bod_y was published in 1940, _The Black Mountain_ 1954. I don’t recall the title with an immigrant client. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/4 "2018-05-29T14:59:56Z")
I thought he was born in Montenegro. StG ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/5 "2018-05-29T15:04:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > _Over My Dead Bod_y was published in 1940, _The Black Mountain_ 1954. I don’t recall the title with an immigrant client. I would think the last one would be canon, since it goes into great detail as to his birthplace and upbringing in Montenegro. The previous books only contain toss-off statements. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/6 "2018-05-29T15:06:18Z")
It’s clear in the Black Mountain that Nero and his friend/brother??? Marko are from Serbia/Montenegro region. He’s fluent in those languages. I wasn’t surprised in the mid 1990’s to see that region explode into violence. All the ethnic tensions Stout describes in the Black Mountain played out for real after Yugoslavia dissolved. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/7 "2018-05-29T15:17:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I would think the last one would be canon, since it goes into great detail as to his birthplace and upbringing in Montenegro. The previous books only contain toss-off statements. I’ll go with that. Perhaps he lied to the Federal Agent in _Over My Dead Body._ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/8 "2018-05-29T15:51:57Z")
[From Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_Wolfe#Origins): \*The corpus implies or states that Nero Wolfe was born in Montenegro, with one notable exception. In the first chapter of Over My Dead Body (1939), Wolfe tells an FBI agent that he was born in the United States — a declaration at odds with all other references. Stout revealed the reason for the discrepancy in a 1940 letter cited by his authorized biographer John McAleer: “In the original draft of Over My Dead Body Nero was a Montenegrin by birth, and it all fitted previous hints as to his background; but violent protests from The American Magazine, supported by Farrar & Rinehart, caused his cradle to be transported five thousand miles.”[1]:403[c] \* > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > In one of the novels involving a client who obtains US citizenship, Wolfe says that is a naturalized citizen … I don’t recall the title with an immigrant client. ``` *I suggest beginning with autobiographical sketches from each of us, and here is mine. I was born in Montenegro and spent my early boyhood there. At the age of sixteen I decided to move around, and in fourteen years I became acquainted with most of Europe, a little of Africa, and much of Asia, in a variety of roles and activities. Coming to this country in nineteen-thirty, not penniless, I bought this house and entered into practice as a private detective. I am a naturalized American citizen.* — Nero Wolfe addressing the suspects in "Fourth of July Picnic" (1957) ``` ([Again, from Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_Wolfe#Origins)) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/9 "2018-05-29T16:25:43Z")
The Nero Wolfe stories, like those of Sherlock Holmes, are innocent of the burden of complete consistency. While they are generally pretty much in accord, Stout never really verified that everything perfectly agreed. so the exact dimensions of the globe in his study and the address of his brownstone vary from time to time. Wolfe’s behavior and beliefs in early stories don’t always square with those in later ones. And, of course, there are the ages of the participants. Despite stories that stretch from 1937 to 1972 (ignoring the Robert Goldsborough later stories), Archie is always in his thirties and Wolfe in his fifties. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/10 "2018-05-29T16:39:54Z")
In **Too Many Cooks** (1939), when Wolfe brings in all the African-American cooks/waiters/busboys to pump them for clues, I recall he makes a comment about how he’s an inferior American in comparison: “…I wasn’t born here.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/11 "2018-05-29T16:44:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Despite stories that stretch from 1937 to 1972 (ignoring the Robert Goldsborough later stories), Archie is always in his thirties and Wolfe in his fifties. Looks like you missed a few… 1. **Fer-de-Lance** 2. **The League of Frightened Men** 3. **The Rubber Band** 4. **Please Pass the Guilt** 5. **A Family Affair** Get busy, you incredibly lucky bastard. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/12 "2018-05-29T17:02:10Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Looks like you missed a few… > > 1. **Fer-de-Lance** > > 2. **The League of Frightened Men** > > 3. **The Rubber Band** > > 4. **Please Pass the Guilt** > > 5. **A Family Affair** > > Get busy, you incredibly lucky bastard. Sorry, that’s what I get for working from my non-Wolfe imperfect memory ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-nationality-of-nero-wolfe/815056/13 "2018-05-29T17:05:12Z")
Too bad — if you still had **The League of Frightened Men** ahead of you, I would be day-glo green with envy.