D. B. Wyndham-Lewis

(Dominic) Bevan Wyndham-Lewis FRSL (March 9, 1891–November 21, 1969) was a British writer best known for his humorous contributions to newspapers and for controversial biographies. His family were originally from Wales, but he was born in Liverpool and brought up in Cardiff. He served in the Welch Regiment during the First World War, and afterwards joined the Daily Express where he was briefly Literary Editor.

Related Topics:
FRSL - March 9 - 1891 - November 21 - 1969 - British - Writer - Humorous - Biographies - Wales - Liverpool - Cardiff - First World War - Daily Express

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1919 he was put in charge of the paper's humorous 'By the Way' column and adopted the pen name 'Beachcomber'. However he was not happy confining his contribution to humour, and gave up the column to the better-known J. B. Morton. Morton acknowledged Wyndham-Lewis' contribution by dedicating his first anthology of columns to him. Wyndham-Lewis lived in Paris from the mid 1920s while doing historical research (although he contributed a column called 'At the Sign of the Blue Moon' to the Daily Mail which his followers regard as his most outstanding body of humourous work).

Related Topics:
1919 - Pen name - Beachcomber - J. B. Morton - Paris - 1920s - Daily Mail

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1928 Wyndham-Lewis wrote a biography of François Villon, a roguish poet from the 15th century, which seemed designed to be an entertaining read. Later biographies of French Kings Louis XI and Charles V were found by academic reviewers to have a distinct bias towards being propaganda on behalf of their subjects, although it was generally accepted that Wyndham-Lewis wrote with a verve rarely found in biographies of this sort of subject. Wyndham-Lewis had converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1921 and this informed his historical analysis.

Related Topics:
1928 - François Villon - Poet - French - Louis XI - Charles V - Propaganda - Roman Catholic - 1921

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later in the 1930s after returning to Britain Wyndham-Lewis turned to humourous anthologies and in 1954 he collaborated with Ronald Searle on The Terror of St Trinian's. Later work also included biographies of James Boswell, Pierre de Ronsard, Molière and Miguel de Cervantes.

Related Topics:
1930s - 1954 - Ronald Searle - St Trinian's - James Boswell - Pierre de Ronsard - Molière - Miguel de Cervantes

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~