Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart
Encyclopedia
Robert Gilbert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart GCB
, GCMG
, PC, MVO
(25 June 1881 – 14 February 1957) was a senior British
diplomat in the period before and during the Second World War. He was Principal Private Secretary
to the Prime Minister
from 1928 to 1930 and Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
from 1930 to 1938 and later served as Chief Diplomatic Adviser to the British Government. He is best remembered for his opposition to Appeasement
and his hardline stance towards Germany during and after the Second World War. Vansittart was also a published poet, novelist, and playwright.
, Surrey
, the eldest of the three sons of Robert Arnold Vansittart, of Foots Cray Place, Kent
, a Captain in the 7th Dragoon Guards
, by his wife Susan Alice, daughter of Gilbert James Blane. He was a second cousin of Thomas Edward Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia.) He was educated at Eton
.
between 1903 and 1905, when he became Third Secretary. He then served at the embassies in Teheran between 1907 and 1909 and Cairo
between 1909 and 1911. From 1911 he was attached to the Foreign Office. During the First World War he was joint head of the contraband department and then head of the Prisoner of War Department under Lord Newton
. He took part in the Paris Peace Conference
and became an Assistant Secretary at the Foreign Office in 1920. From that year to 1924 he was private secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon
. From 1928 to 1930, he was Principal Private Secretary
to the Prime Minister
, firstly Stanley Baldwin
and then Ramsay MacDonald
. In January 1930 he was appointed Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
, where he supervised the work of Britain's diplomatic service.
from the start; anything Hitler said, he claimed, was "for foreign consumption". He thought Hitler would start another European war as soon as he "felt strong enough". Vansittart supported revising the Versailles Treaty in Germany
's favour but not while Hitler was in power. In Vansittart's view, Britain should be firm with Germany, and an alliance between France
and the Soviet Union
against Germany was essential. Vansittart also urgently advocated rearmament. In the summer of 1936 Vansittart visited Germany and claimed that he found a climate that "the ghost of Barthou
would hardly have recognised" and that Britain should negotiate with Germany. He thought that satisfying Hitler's "land hunger" at Russia's expense would be immoral and regarded the Franco-Russian alliance as non-negotiable. It was because he believed Germany had gained equality in Europe that Vansittart favoured facilitating German expansion in Africa
. He thought that Hitler was exploiting fears of a "Bolshevist
menace" as a cover for "expansion in Central and South-Eastern Europe".
Like Maurice Hankey
, Vansittart thought in power politics
terms. He thought Hitler could not decide whether to follow Goebbels and Tirpitz
in viewing Britain as "the ultimate enemy" or on the other hand adopting the Ribbentrop
policy of appeasing Britain in order to engage in military expansion in the East. Vansittart thought that in either case time should be "bought for rearmament" by an economic agreement with Germany and by appeasing "genuine grievance[s]" about colonies. Vansittart wanted to detach Mussolini
from Hitler. He thought that the British Empire
was an "Incubus
" and that the Continent was the central British national interest, but he doubted whether agreement could be had there. This doubt rested on his fear that German attention, if turned eastwards, would result in a military empire between the Baltic
, the Adriatic Sea
and the Black Sea
.
At the Foreign Office in the 1930s, Vansittart was a major figure in the loose group of officials and politicians opposed to appeasement
of Germany. In the late 1930s, Vansittart together with Reginald Leeper
, the Foreign Office's Press Secretary often leaked information to a private newspaper The Whitehall Letter edited by Victor Gordon Lennox, the Daily Telegraphs diplomatic editor opposed to appeasement This brought him into conflict with the political leadership at the time and he was removed as Permanent Under-Secretary in 1938. A new post as "Chief Diplomatic Adviser to His Majesty's Government" was instead created ad hoc
for him. He continued in this role until 1941.
's. In 1940, Vansittart sued the American historian Harry Elmer Barnes
for libel for an article Barnes had written in 1939 accusing Vansittart of plotting aggression against Germany in 1939. During the war, Vansittart became a prominent advocate of an extremely hard line with Germany. His earlier worries about Germany were reformulated into an argument that Germany was intrinsically militaristic and aggressive. In Black Record: Germans Past and Present (1941), Vansittart portrayed German history from the time of ancient Rome
as a continuous record of aggression.
Nazism was just the latest manifestation. Therefore, after Germany was defeated, it must be stripped of all military capacity, including its heavy industries. The German people enthusiastically supported Hitler's wars of aggression, just as they supported the Franco-Prussian War
in 1870 and the First World War
in 1914. So they must be thoroughly re-educated under strict Allied supervision for at least a generation. De-Nazification was not enough. The German military elite was the real cause of war, especially the "Prussianist" officer corps and the General Staff
: both must be destroyed. In 1943 he wrote:
He also wrote "the other Germany has never existed save in a small and ineffective minority".
In other occasions he has also made similar sayings:
The British historian and R. B. McCallum
wrote in 1944: "To some, such as Lord Vansittart, the main problem of policy was to watch Germany and prevent her power reviving. No one can refuse him a tribute for his foresight in this matter".
(MVO) in 1906, a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
(CMG) in 1920, a Companion of the Order of the Bath
(CB) in 1927, a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1929, a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1931 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in 1938. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1940 and raised to the peerage as Baron Vansittart, of Denham in the County of Buckingham, in 1941.
. He helped Korda with the financing of London Films
. His full title was Baron Vansittart of Denham, after the town where London Films had its studio. Vansittart contributed to three motion pictures. He wrote the screenplay for Wedding Rehearsal (1933), contributed dialogue to Sixty Glorious Years (1938), and provided song lyrics for Korda's The Thief of Bagdad
(1940), under the pseudonym of "Robert Denham".
, in 1921. They had one daughter. She died in 1928. Vansittart married as his second wife Sarah Enriqueta, daughter of Herbert Ward, of Paris, and widow of Sir Colville Barclay
, in 1931. He died in February 1957, aged 75, when the barony became extinct.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, GCMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, PC, MVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
(25 June 1881 – 14 February 1957) was a senior British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diplomat in the period before and during the Second World War. He was Principal Private Secretary
Principal Private Secretary
In the British Civil Service and Australian Public Service the Principal Private Secretary is the civil servant who runs a cabinet minister's private office...
to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
from 1928 to 1930 and Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1790.Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs...
from 1930 to 1938 and later served as Chief Diplomatic Adviser to the British Government. He is best remembered for his opposition to Appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
and his hardline stance towards Germany during and after the Second World War. Vansittart was also a published poet, novelist, and playwright.
Background and education
Vansittart was born at Wilton House, FarnhamFarnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, the eldest of the three sons of Robert Arnold Vansittart, of Foots Cray Place, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, a Captain in the 7th Dragoon Guards
7th Dragoon Guards
The 7th Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1688. It saw service for three centuries, before being amalgamated into the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards in 1922....
, by his wife Susan Alice, daughter of Gilbert James Blane. He was a second cousin of Thomas Edward Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia.) He was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
.
Diplomatic career
Vansittart entered the Foreign Office in 1902, starting as a clerk in the Eastern Department, where he was a specialist on Aegean Island affairs. He was an Attaché at the British Embassy in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
between 1903 and 1905, when he became Third Secretary. He then served at the embassies in Teheran between 1907 and 1909 and Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
between 1909 and 1911. From 1911 he was attached to the Foreign Office. During the First World War he was joint head of the contraband department and then head of the Prisoner of War Department under Lord Newton
Thomas Legh, 2nd Baron Newton
Thomas Wodehouse Legh, 2nd Baron Newton PC, DL , was a British diplomat and Conservative politician who served as Paymaster-General during the First World War.-Background and education:...
. He took part in the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
and became an Assistant Secretary at the Foreign Office in 1920. From that year to 1924 he was private secretary to the Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
. From 1928 to 1930, he was Principal Private Secretary
Principal Private Secretary
In the British Civil Service and Australian Public Service the Principal Private Secretary is the civil servant who runs a cabinet minister's private office...
to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, firstly Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
and then Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
. In January 1930 he was appointed Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1790.Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs...
, where he supervised the work of Britain's diplomatic service.
Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1930-1938
Vansittart was suspicious of HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
from the start; anything Hitler said, he claimed, was "for foreign consumption". He thought Hitler would start another European war as soon as he "felt strong enough". Vansittart supported revising the Versailles Treaty in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's favour but not while Hitler was in power. In Vansittart's view, Britain should be firm with Germany, and an alliance between France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
against Germany was essential. Vansittart also urgently advocated rearmament. In the summer of 1936 Vansittart visited Germany and claimed that he found a climate that "the ghost of Barthou
Louis Barthou
Jean Louis Barthou was a French politician of the Third Republic.-Early years:He was born in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and served as Deputy from that constituency. He was an authority on trade union history and law. Barthou was Prime Minister in 1913, and held ministerial office...
would hardly have recognised" and that Britain should negotiate with Germany. He thought that satisfying Hitler's "land hunger" at Russia's expense would be immoral and regarded the Franco-Russian alliance as non-negotiable. It was because he believed Germany had gained equality in Europe that Vansittart favoured facilitating German expansion in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. He thought that Hitler was exploiting fears of a "Bolshevist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
menace" as a cover for "expansion in Central and South-Eastern Europe".
Like Maurice Hankey
Maurice Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey
Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC was a British civil servant who gained prominence as the first Cabinet Secretary and who later made the rare transition from the civil service to ministerial office.-Life and career:The third son of R. A...
, Vansittart thought in power politics
Power politics
Power politics, or Machtpolitik , is a state of international relations in which sovereigns protect their own interests by threatening one another with military, economic, or political aggression...
terms. He thought Hitler could not decide whether to follow Goebbels and Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz was a German Admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871...
in viewing Britain as "the ultimate enemy" or on the other hand adopting the Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
policy of appeasing Britain in order to engage in military expansion in the East. Vansittart thought that in either case time should be "bought for rearmament" by an economic agreement with Germany and by appeasing "genuine grievance[s]" about colonies. Vansittart wanted to detach Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
from Hitler. He thought that the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
was an "Incubus
Incubus (demon)
An incubus is a demon in male form who, according to a number of mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have intercourse with them. Its female counterpart is the succubus...
" and that the Continent was the central British national interest, but he doubted whether agreement could be had there. This doubt rested on his fear that German attention, if turned eastwards, would result in a military empire between the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
and the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
.
At the Foreign Office in the 1930s, Vansittart was a major figure in the loose group of officials and politicians opposed to appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
of Germany. In the late 1930s, Vansittart together with Reginald Leeper
Reginald Leeper
Sir Reginald Wildig Allen Leeper was a British civil servant and diplomat. He was the founder of the British Council....
, the Foreign Office's Press Secretary often leaked information to a private newspaper The Whitehall Letter edited by Victor Gordon Lennox, the Daily Telegraphs diplomatic editor opposed to appeasement This brought him into conflict with the political leadership at the time and he was removed as Permanent Under-Secretary in 1938. A new post as "Chief Diplomatic Adviser to His Majesty's Government" was instead created ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
for him. He continued in this role until 1941.
Vansittartism
Vansittart was also involved in intelligence work. His thinking was along the same lines as ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's. In 1940, Vansittart sued the American historian Harry Elmer Barnes
Harry Elmer Barnes
Harry Elmer Barnes was a prominent American historian in the 20th century. A "progressive who had some classical liberal impulses," he was associated for virtually his entire career with Columbia University.-Early career:...
for libel for an article Barnes had written in 1939 accusing Vansittart of plotting aggression against Germany in 1939. During the war, Vansittart became a prominent advocate of an extremely hard line with Germany. His earlier worries about Germany were reformulated into an argument that Germany was intrinsically militaristic and aggressive. In Black Record: Germans Past and Present (1941), Vansittart portrayed German history from the time of ancient Rome
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
as a continuous record of aggression.
Nazism was just the latest manifestation. Therefore, after Germany was defeated, it must be stripped of all military capacity, including its heavy industries. The German people enthusiastically supported Hitler's wars of aggression, just as they supported the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
in 1870 and the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914. So they must be thoroughly re-educated under strict Allied supervision for at least a generation. De-Nazification was not enough. The German military elite was the real cause of war, especially the "Prussianist" officer corps and the General Staff
German General Staff
The German General Staff was an institution whose rise and development gave the German armed forces a decided advantage over its adversaries. The Staff amounted to its best "weapon" for nearly a century and a half....
: both must be destroyed. In 1943 he wrote:
In the opinion of the author, it is an illusion to differentiate between the German right, center, or left, or the German Catholics or Protestants, or the German workers or capitalists. They are all alike, and the only hope for a peaceful Europe is a crushing and violent military defeat followed by a couple of generations of re-education controlled by the United Nations.
He also wrote "the other Germany has never existed save in a small and ineffective minority".
In other occasions he has also made similar sayings:
We didn't go to war in 1939 to save Germany from Hitler...or the continent from fascism. Like in 1914 we went to war for the not lesser noble cause that we couldn't accept a German hegemony over Europe.
The British historian and R. B. McCallum
R. B. McCallum
R. B. McCallum was a British historian. He was a fellow of Pembroke College,Oxford, where he taught Modern History and Politics. and was member of Tolkien's Inklings....
wrote in 1944: "To some, such as Lord Vansittart, the main problem of policy was to watch Germany and prevent her power reviving. No one can refuse him a tribute for his foresight in this matter".
Honours
Vansittart was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian OrderRoyal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
(MVO) in 1906, a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(CMG) in 1920, a Companion of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(CB) in 1927, a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1929, a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1931 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in 1938. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1940 and raised to the peerage as Baron Vansittart, of Denham in the County of Buckingham, in 1941.
Literary career
Vansittart was also a published poet, novelist, and playwright. This is a partial list of his literary works.Plays
- Les Pariahs (1902)
- The Cap and Bells: a comedy in three acts (1913)
- Dead Heat: a comedy in three acts (1939)
Novels
- The Gates: A Study in Prose (1910)
- John Stuart (1912)
- Pity's Kin (1924)
Poetry
- Songs & Satires (1909)
- Foolery: a comedy in verse (1912)
- The Singing Caravan, a Sufi Tale (1919)
- Tribute (1926)
- Green and Grey: Collected Poems (1944)
Film career
Vansittart was a close friend of producer Sir Alexander KordaAlexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
. He helped Korda with the financing of London Films
London Films
London Films is a British film production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda originally based at London Film Studios in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. The company's productions included The Private Life of Henry VIII , Things to Come , Rembrandt , The Four Feathers , The Thief of Bagdad ...
. His full title was Baron Vansittart of Denham, after the town where London Films had its studio. Vansittart contributed to three motion pictures. He wrote the screenplay for Wedding Rehearsal (1933), contributed dialogue to Sixty Glorious Years (1938), and provided song lyrics for Korda's The Thief of Bagdad
The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)
The Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies...
(1940), under the pseudonym of "Robert Denham".
Personal life
Lord Vansittart married as his first wife Gladys, daughter of William C. Heppenheimer, of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in 1921. They had one daughter. She died in 1928. Vansittart married as his second wife Sarah Enriqueta, daughter of Herbert Ward, of Paris, and widow of Sir Colville Barclay
Colville Barclay
Sir Colville Herbert Sanford Barclay, 14th Baronet was a British naval officer, painter and botanist whose career spanned amphibious landings and commando operations off the coast of France during the Second World War, having his paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy, publishing reference works...
, in 1931. He died in February 1957, aged 75, when the barony became extinct.