Richard Davenport-Hines
Encyclopedia
Richard Davenport-Hines (born 21 June 1953) is a British historian and literary biographer, best known for his biography of the poet W. H. Auden
.
He was educated at St Paul’s School, London and Selwyn College, Cambridge
(which he entered as Corfield Exhibitioner in 1972 and left in 1977 after completing a PhD on the history of British armaments companies during 1918-36). He was a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics
, 1982-86, where he headed a research project on the globalisation of pharmaceutical companies. He was joint winner of the Wolfson Prize for History and Biography in 1985 and winner of the Wadsworth Prize for Business History in 1986. He now writes and reviews in a number of literary journals, including the Literary Review
and the Times Literary Supplement. He is an adviser to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
, to which (as of January 2011) he has contributed 157 biographies.
He was a trustee of the London Library
between 1996 and 2005, and has been on the committee of the Royal Literary Fund
since 2007. He is a member of the Athenaeum Club, London
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
since 2005 and the Royal Historical Society
since 1984. He was chairman of the judges of the Biographers’ Club Prize in 2008, and of the judges of the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History in 2010. He is also one of the judges of the Cosmo Davenport-Hines Prize for Poetry awarded annually since 2009 to members of King’s College, London – named in commemoration of his son who died on 9 June 2008 aged 21. He also inaugurated the Cosmo Davenport-Hines Memorial Lecture given annually since 2010 under the joint auspices of King’s College, London and the Royal Society of Literature.
He has contributed to several volumes of historical or literary essays. These include an essay on English and French armaments dealers operating in eastern Europe in the 1920s in Maurice Lévy-Leboyer, Helga Nussbaum and Alice Teichova (editors), Historical Studies in International Corporate Business (1989); an essay on HIV in Roy Porter and Mikulas Teich (editors), Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Science (1994); a historical critique of drugs prohibition laws in Selina Chen and Edward Skidelsky, High Time for Reform (2001); a chapter in the Cambridge Companion to W.H. Auden (2005); and a memoir in Peter Stanford (editor), The Death of a Child (2011).
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
.
He was educated at St Paul’s School, London and Selwyn College, Cambridge
Selwyn College, Cambridge
Selwyn College is a constituent college in the University of Cambridge in England, United Kingdom.The college was founded by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of the Rt Reverend George Selwyn , who rowed on the Cambridge crew in the first Varsity Boat Race in 1829, and went on to become the...
(which he entered as Corfield Exhibitioner in 1972 and left in 1977 after completing a PhD on the history of British armaments companies during 1918-36). He was a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, 1982-86, where he headed a research project on the globalisation of pharmaceutical companies. He was joint winner of the Wolfson Prize for History and Biography in 1985 and winner of the Wadsworth Prize for Business History in 1986. He now writes and reviews in a number of literary journals, including the Literary Review
Literary Review
Literary Review is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at Edinburgh University. Its offices are currently on Lexington Street in Soho, London, and it has a circulation of 44,750. Britain's principal literary monthly, the magazine was...
and the Times Literary Supplement. He is an adviser to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, to which (as of January 2011) he has contributed 157 biographies.
He was a trustee of the London Library
London Library
The London Library is the world's largest independent lending library, and the UK's leading literary institution. It is located in the City of Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom....
between 1996 and 2005, and has been on the committee of the Royal Literary Fund
Royal Literary Fund
The Royal Literary Fund is a benevolent fund set up to help published British writers in financial difficulties. It was founded by Reverend David Williams in 1790 and has received bequests and donations, including royal patronage, ever since...
since 2007. He is a member of the Athenaeum Club, London
Athenaeum Club, London
The Athenaeum Club, usually just referred to as the Athenaeum, is a notable London club with its Clubhouse located at 107 Pall Mall, London, England, at the corner of Waterloo Place....
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
since 2005 and the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
since 1984. He was chairman of the judges of the Biographers’ Club Prize in 2008, and of the judges of the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History in 2010. He is also one of the judges of the Cosmo Davenport-Hines Prize for Poetry awarded annually since 2009 to members of King’s College, London – named in commemoration of his son who died on 9 June 2008 aged 21. He also inaugurated the Cosmo Davenport-Hines Memorial Lecture given annually since 2010 under the joint auspices of King’s College, London and the Royal Society of Literature.
He has contributed to several volumes of historical or literary essays. These include an essay on English and French armaments dealers operating in eastern Europe in the 1920s in Maurice Lévy-Leboyer, Helga Nussbaum and Alice Teichova (editors), Historical Studies in International Corporate Business (1989); an essay on HIV in Roy Porter and Mikulas Teich (editors), Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Science (1994); a historical critique of drugs prohibition laws in Selina Chen and Edward Skidelsky, High Time for Reform (2001); a chapter in the Cambridge Companion to W.H. Auden (2005); and a memoir in Peter Stanford (editor), The Death of a Child (2011).
Works
- Dudley Docker: The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior (Cambridge University Press, 1984)
- Markets and Bagmen, Studies in the History of Marketing and British Industrial Performance, 1830–1939 (Ashgate, 1986) editor
- Speculators and Patriots: Essays in Business Biography (Cass, 1986)
- Business in the Age of Reason (Cass, 1987) editor with Jonathan Liebenau
- Enterprise Management and Innovation (Cass, 1988) editor with Geoffrey Jones
- British Business in Asia Since 1860 (Cambridge University Press, 1989) editor with Geoffrey Jones
- The End of Insularity - Essays in Comparative Business History (Cass, 1989) editor with Geoffrey Jones
- Business in the Age of Depression & War (Cass, 1990) editor
- Capital Entrepreneurs and Profits (Cass, 1990) editor
- Sex , Death and Punishment: Attitudes To Sex & Sexuality In Britain Since The Renaissance (Collins, 1990)
- Glaxo A History to 1962 (Cambridge University Press, 1992) with Judy Slinn
- The Macmillans (Heinemann, 1992)
- Vice - An Anthology (Hamish Hamilton, 1993)
- Auden (Heinemann, 1995)
- Gothic: Four Hundred Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin (Fourth Estate, 1998)
- The Pursuit of Oblivion: A global history of narcotics 1500-2000 (Weidenfeld, 2001)
- A Night at the Majestic (Faber, 2006)/ (in USA, Proust at the Majestic)
- Ettie – the Intimate Life and Dauntless Spirit of Lady Desborough (Weidenfeld, 2008)