Lesley Blanch (London, June 6, 1904 – May 7, 2007^[1]) was an English writer, fashion editor and writer of history. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... is the 157th day of the year (158th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

A scholarly romantic, Lesley Blanch was at heart a nomad. She spent the greater part of her long life travelling about those remote regions her books record so vividly. Her lifelong passion was for Russia and the Middle East. She was, in the words of the historian Philip Mansel, “not a school, a trend, or a fashion, but a true original.” A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

A Londoner by birth, Blanch studied painting at the Slade and went on to do private commissions, portraits and book jackets for T.S. Eliot at Faber amongst others. She soon turned to journalism, and was features editor of British Vogue from 1937-44. She covered various aspects of Britain at war for the Ministry of Information, and documented the lives of women in the forces with her friend the photographer Lee Miller. She married Robert Alan Wimberley Bicknell in 1930 and they were divorced in 1941, although the marriage had long since ceased. She claimed, according to an interview in The Sunday Times in August 2006, that she had married Bicknell in order to obtain a house in Richmond, near the Thames in London. Thomas Stearns Eliot (September 26, 1888 - January 4, 1965), was a major Modernist Anglo-American poet, dramatist, and literary critic. ... For other meanings, see vogue. ... Lee Miller Elizabeth Lee Miller (23 April 1907 - 21 July 1977) was an American photographer. ... The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International which is in turn owned by News Corporation. ... August 2006 is the eighth month of that year, and has yet to occur. ... Richmond is a suburb and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, England. ... This article is about the River Thames in southern England. ...

In 1945, she married the French novelist-diplomat Romain Kacew (who later changed his last name to Gary). Life in the French Diplomatic Service took them to the Balkans, Turkey, North Africa, Mexico and the USA. In the USA they associated with Hollywood stars such as Gary Cooper, Aldous Huxley, George Cukor, David Selznick, Sophia Loren and Laurence Olivier.^[2] Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor of English heritage. ... Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963) was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. ... George Dewey Cukor (July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director. ... David Oliver Selznick (May 10, 1902 - June 22, 1965), was an influential Hollywood producer, best known for producing the epic blockbuster Gone With the Wind (1939) which earned him an Oscar. ... Sophia Loren (born September 20, 1934) is a motion picture and stage, Academy Award-winning actress, widely considered to be the most popular Italian actress. ... Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, (IPA: ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and four-time Emmy winning English actor, director, and producer. ...

Gary left her for Jean Seberg^[2] and they divorced in 1962. Blanch continued to travel from her Paris base, and saw old friends Nancy Mitford, Violet Trefusis, Rebecca West and the Windsors. She was a close friend of Gerald de Gaury, who gave her insights into middle eastern customs and culture.^[3] Jean Seberg (November 13, 1938 – September 8, 1979) was an American actress who spent an important part of her career in France. ... Nancy Mitford, 1957 The Hon. ... Violet Keppel Trefusis [1] [2] [3] (June 6, 1894 – February 29, 1972) was an English writer and socialite. ... Dame Rebecca West, DBE (December 21, 1892–March 15, 1983), whose real name was Cicely (she later changed it to Cicily) Isabel Fairfield, was a British-Irish feminist and writer famous for her novels and for her relationship with H. G. Wells. ... Gerald de Gaury was a known soldier and diplomat who wrote several books on Islam. ...

The best known of her 12 books is The Wilder Shores of Love, about four women who "followed the beckoning Eastern star.” It pioneered a new kind of group biography focusing on "women escaping the boredom of convention," and the title added a phrase to the English language. Blanch's love of Russia, instilled in her as a child by a friend of her parents whom she simply called The Traveller, is recounted in Journey into the Mind's Eye, Fragments of an Autobiography which is part travel book, part love story. Lesley Blanch considered her best book to be The Sabres Of Paradise (the biography of Imam Shamyl and history of Imperialist Russian rule in early 19th century Georgia and the Caucasus).

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Lesley Blanch was appointed MBE in 2001, and in 2004 the French government awarded her the medal of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2004. She died just one month shy of 103.^[4] The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... A centenarian is a person who has attained the age of 100 years or more. ...

Publications

• The Wilder Shores of Love, 1954
• Around The World in 80 Dishes, The World Through The Kitchen Window (cookbook), 1955
• The Game of Hearts: Harriette Wilson And Her Memoirs (edited and introduced by Lesley Blanche), 1957
• The Sabres of Paradise: Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus, 1960
• Under A Lilac-Bleeding Star, Travels And Travellers, 1963
• The Nine Tiger Man, 1965
• Journey Into The Mind's Eye, Fragments of an Autobiography, 1968
• Pavilions of the Heart, The Four Walls of Love, 1974
• Farah, Shahbanou of Iran, 1978
• Pierre Loti: Portrait of an Escapist, 1983
• From Wilder Shores, The Tables of my Travels (cookbook), 1989
• Romain, un regard particulier, 1989

References

is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• LesleyBlanch.com, the author's official website
• Time Traveller: Guardian Online Review Profile article by Joe Boyd, July 9, 2005