Evelyn Waugh

Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh (October 28 1903 – April 10 1966) was an English satirical novelist, brother of Alec Waugh and father of Auberon Waugh. He is generally regarded as one the the greatest figures in English literature in the 20th century.

Early Life

Born in London, Waugh was the son of a noted editor and publisher, Arthur Waugh, and was brought up in middle class circumstances in London. His only brother was the writer Alec Waugh. He was educated at Lancing College, a minor English public school with a High Church Anglican emphasis and then at Oxford University (Hertford College), which he left in 1924 with a third-class degree. At Oxford, he was known as much for his artwork as his writing, although he also threw himself into a vigorous social scene populated by the rich and aristocratic and began his personal transformation into a raging snob. In 1925 he taught at a private school in Wales and claims to have attempted suicide by swimming out to sea (turning back, however, when stung by a jellyfish).

Related Topics:
London - Alec Waugh - Lancing College - Public school - Oxford University - Hertford College - 1924 - Snob - 1925 - Suicide - Jellyfish

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He was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker and worked briefly as a journalist, before he had his first great literary success in 1928 with Decline and Fall. Other novels about England's "Bright Young Things" followed, and all were well received by both critics and the general public. He entered into a rather brief and unsuccessful marriage in 1929 to the Hon. Evelyn Gardner, who incongruously had the same first name as he. Their marriage was annulled in 1936.

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His second marriage, in 1937, to the Roman Catholic Laura Herbert, daughter of Aubrey Herbert, was more successful, lasting for the rest of his life and producing six children.

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