Malcolm Muggeridge

Malcolm Muggeridge (March 24, 1903–November 14, 1990) was a British journalist, author and media personality.

Related Topics:
March 24 - 1903 - November 14 - 1990 - British - Journalist - Author

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His father, H.T. Muggeridge, was a Labour councillor in Croydon, South London and, for a short time, a Member of Parliament. His mother was Annie Booler.

Related Topics:
H.T. Muggeridge - Labour - Croydon - South London - Member of Parliament

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Malcolm attended Selwyn College at Cambridge University, graduating in 1924 with a third class science degree, and went to India to teach. While still a student he had taught for brief periods in 1920, 1922 and 1924 at the John Ruskin Central School, Croydon, where his father was Chairman of the Governors.

Related Topics:
Selwyn College - Cambridge University - 1924 - India - 1920 - 1922 - John Ruskin Central School - Croydon

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Returning to England in 1927, he married Katherine Dobbs (1903–1994), also called Kathleen or Kitty, whose mother Rosalind Dobbs was a younger sister of Beatrice Webb. He worked as a supply teacher, before moving to teach in Egypt six months later. Here he met Arthur Ransome who was visiting Egypt as a journalist for the Manchester Guardian. Ransome recommended Muggeridge to the editors of the Guardian and he was employed as a journalist for the first time.

Related Topics:
1927 - 1903 - 1994 - Beatrice Webb - Egypt - Arthur Ransome - Manchester Guardian

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Muggeridge and his wife travelled to Moscow in 1932, where Malcolm was to be a correspondent for the Manchester Guardian; at the time they were sympathetic to Stalin's Soviet regime. Their attitude soon changed. Malcolm investigated at first hand reports of the famine in Ukraine, travelling there and to the Caucasus. Reports he sent back to the Guardian, evading censorship, were not fully printed; furthermore, contradictory stories were being written by Walter Duranty. Having come into conflict with the paper's editorial policy, Muggeridge lost his job. He then wrote a novel Winter In Moscow (1934), satirizing Western journalists uncritical of the Stalin regime, and began a writing partnership with Hugh Kingsmill. Muggeridge's politics changed as he moved from a socialist, possibly fellow-traveller position, to a right-wing stance that was no less destructive in its criticism, as it was hard to locate in party-political terms.

Related Topics:
Moscow - 1932 - Soviet - Famine in Ukraine - Caucasus - Walter Duranty - 1934 - Hugh Kingsmill - Fellow-traveller

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He worked on other papers, including the Calcutta Statesman, Evening Standard, and Daily Telegraph. He was editor of Punch magazine from 1953 to 1957, a challenging appointment for one who claimed to have no sense of humour. He also became a popular BBC correspondent and interviewer, and also a figure of fun.

Related Topics:
Evening Standard - Daily Telegraph - Punch magazine - 1953 - 1957 - BBC

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Muggeridge was also the "discoverer" of Mother Teresa, whom he first met in London in 1968. He told the world about her deeds through a book called Something Beautiful for God. He was well-known for his wit and profound writings (e.g., "Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream"). He wrote a two volume autobiography called Chronicles of Wasted Time.

Related Topics:
Mother Teresa - 1968

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In A Third Testament, he profiles seven spiritual thinkers who influenced his life: Augustine of Hippo, William Blake, Blaise Pascal, Leo Tolstoy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Søren Kierkegaard, and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Related Topics:
Augustine of Hippo - William Blake - Blaise Pascal - Leo Tolstoy - Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Søren Kierkegaard - Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Having been a high-profile agnostic for most of his life, he converted to Christianity sometime between 1966 and 1969 and finally, to the surprise of many, to Roman Catholicism at the age of 79 along with his wife, Kitty.

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