Nancy Mitford, 1957

The Hon. Nancy Freeman-Mitford, CBE (28 November 1904, London - Versailles, 30 June 1973), was a novelist and biographer, one of the 'Bright Young Things' on the London social scene in the interwar years. Image File history File links Nancy_Mitford. ... Image File history File links Nancy_Mitford. ... 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... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Versailles (pronounced in French), formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important administrative and judicial center. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ...

She was born at 1 Graham Street (now Graham Place) in Belgravia, London, the eldest daughter of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale. She is best known for her series of novels about upper-class life in England and France, particularly the four published since 1945; but she also wrote four well-received, well-researched popular biographies (of Louis XIV, Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, and Frederick the Great). She is one of the noted Mitford sisters and the first to publicise the extraordinary family life of her very English and very eccentric family, giving rise to a "Mitford industry" which continues to roll on. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... Madame de Pompadour, portrait by François Boucher circa 1750 Madame de Pompadour (December 29, 1721 – April 15, 1764) was a well known courtesan and the famous mistress of King Louis XV of France. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was the Hohenzollern king of Prussia 1740–86. ... The Mitfords were an aristocratic British family noted for their accomplishments in writing and their notorious lives, particularly of the daughters of the family, known as the Mitford sisters. ...

She was an essayist in Noblesse Oblige (1956), which famously helped to popularise the famous 'U', or upper-class, and 'non-U' classification of linguistic usage and behaviour (see U and non-U English) — although this is something she saw as a bit of a tease and she certainly never took the matter seriously. She is credited as editor of the book but in fact the organisation of the project was done by the publishers. One of her novels had been used by Professor Alan Ross, the inventor of the phrase, as an example of upper-class linguistic usage. U and non-U English usage, with U standing for upper class, and non-U representing the rest, were part of the terminology of popular discourse of social dialects (sociolects) in 1950s Britain and the northeast United States. ...

Nancy Mitford's gift as a comic writer and her humour are evident throughout her novels and also in the articles which she wrote for the London Sunday Times. She was a noted letter-writer and her correspondence has been published in Love from Nancy: The Letters of Nancy Mitford (1993) and in The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh (1996). Her letters are notable for their humour, irony and cultural and social breadth.

In 1933, after a going-nowhere romance with homosexual Scottish aristocrat Hamish St Clair-Erskine, she married The Hon. Peter Rodd, the youngest son of the 1st Baron Rennell. (Lord Rennell was a British Ambassador to Italy, a former poet, and possibly a one-time lover of Oscar Wilde according to historian Neil McKenna.) The marriage was a failure; her husband was unfaithful and couldn't keep a job; in time Nancy took over the family finances, working in a bookshop, and was unfaithful in her turn. Though the Rodds separated in 1939, they continued to see one another on a purely friendly basis, and Rodd used her Paris flat as an occasional base. She also gave him financial assistance from time to time. They were divorced in 1958 (although Nancy's surname appears as Rodd on her headstone). Lieutenant-Colonel The Honourable Peter Murray Rennell Rodd (16 April 1904 – 1968) was a younger son of James Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell. ... James Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell of Rodd in the County of Hereford GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC (9 November 1858– 26 July 1941), known as Sir Rennell Rodd before 1933, was a British diplomat, poet and politician. ... Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. ...

The turning-point in Nancy's hitherto very English existence was her meeting with French soldier and politician Colonel Gaston Palewski (Charles de Gaulle's Chief of Staff), whom she always called 'Colonel' and with whom she had a relationship in London during the war. At the end of the Second World War she moved to Paris, to be near him. The largely one-sided affair, which inspired the romance between Linda Talbot (nee Radlett) and Fabrice de Sauveterre in Mitford's novel The Pursuit of Love, lasted fitfully until Palewski's affair with and eventual 1969 marriage to Violette de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duchess of Sagan (1915-2003), a beautiful socialite who was the former wife of Count James de Pourtalés and a granddaughter of American railroad magnate Jay Gould. Gaston Palewski (20 March 1901 - 3 September 1984) was a French statesman. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Jay Gould (1836-1892) Jason Gould (May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American financier. ...

Based in Paris at 7 Rue Monsieur, Mitford had a busy social and literary life and received countless guests visiting the city. She had a huge number of friends and acquaintances in the English, French and Italian aristocracies, as well as in the international set in Paris. She travelled frequently and established a pattern of visits to country houses in England, Ireland and France as well as annual visits to Venice. Although much of her life was spent in France, she remained English to the core in her beliefs and attitudes. City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

Nancy Mitford's public persona was remarkable: she was invariably elegantly dressed (often by Dior or Lanvin), she lived a hectic social life, and was a well-known public personality in the United Kingdom even though she lived in Paris. She had a particular "Mitford" brand of humour which became very well known through her novels and newspaper articles and attracted a cult following. Her "teases" were famous, including a description in a Sunday Times article of Rome as a village centred on the vicarage. The posthumous publication of her letters has enhanced her reputation.

Her novels, articles and biographies gave her a long-sought financial independence. Financial concerns, and in particular the need to provide for her old age, had been (especially in earlier years) a constant worry. They probably explain her move from Paris to Versailles, where she bought a house, but which isolated her from the life she had established in Paris.

She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and an Officer in the Legion of Honour in 1972. It was Palewski who formally invested her, presenting her with the latter decoration, when she was already fatally ill. She died of Hodgkin's Disease on 30 June 1973 in Versailles. Palewski was with her on the day of her death. Her remains were brought home to England and are interred in the Swinbrook Churchyard in Oxfordshire with those of her younger sisters, Unity Mitford (1914-1948), Diana, Lady Mosley (1910-2003) and Jessica (1917-1996). 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... French Legion of Honor The Légion dhonneur (in Legion of Honor (AmE) or Legion of Honour (ComE)) is an Order of Chivalry awarded by the President of France. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ... Versailles (pronounced in French), formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important administrative and judicial center. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... The Hon. ... Diana Mitford (June 17, 1910 - August 11, 2003) was one of Britains noted Mitford sisters. ... The Honourable Jessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford, known to friends and family as Decca (September 11, 1917–July 22, 1996), self-described muckraker and political radical, was one of the noted Mitford sisters, daughters of David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, the 2nd Baron Redesdale. ...

She is the subject of several biographies, including: Nancy Mitford: a Memoir by Harold Acton (1976) and Nancy Mitford: A Biography by Selena Hastings (1986). Harold Acton (July 5, 1904 - February 27, 1994) was an Anglo-Italian writer and dilettante who is probably most famous for inspiring the character of Anthony Blanche in Evelyn Waughs novel Brideshead Revisited (1945). ...

Written Works

• Highland Fling (1931)
• Christmas Pudding (1932)
• Wigs on the Green (1935)
• Pigeon Pie (1940)
• The Pursuit of Love (1945)
• Love in a Cold Climate (1949)
• The Blessing (1951)
• Madame de Pompadour (1954)
• Voltaire in Love (1957)
• Don't Tell Alfred (1960)
• The Water Beetle (1962)
• The Sun King (1966)
• Frederick the Great (1970)

The Pursuit of Love is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1945. ... Love in a Cold Climate is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1949. ... Voltaire in Love is a popular history by Nancy Mitford first published in 1957. ... Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was the Hohenzollern king of Prussia 1740–86. ...

Trivia

• In the Angel television series' episode "She", a reference is made about a flower called "Nancy's Petticoat" and how it was named after Nancy Mitford. In reality, there is no flower named after Mitford.[1]

Angel is a spin-off of the American television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ... She is the 13th episode of season 1 of the television show Angel. ...

External link

• Literary Encyclopedia: Nancy Mitford