Evelyn Waugh

His most famous works include the early satires Decline and Fall and A Handful of Dust, the novel Brideshead Revisited, and the Second World War trilogy Sword of Honour. Waugh converted to Catholicism in 1930 after his first marriage failed. He was a perceptive writer who used the experiences and the wide range of people whom he encountered in his works of fiction, generally to humorous effect.

About Evelyn Waugh in brief

Summary Evelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires Decline and Fall and A Handful of Dust, the novel Brideshead Revisited, and the Second World War trilogy Sword of Honour. Waugh converted to Catholicism in 1930 after his first marriage failed. He was a perceptive writer who used the experiences and the wide range of people whom he encountered in his works of fiction, generally to humorous effect. He displayed to the world a mask of indifference, but he was capable of great kindness to those whom he considered his friends. After his death in 1966, he acquired a following of new readers through the film and television versions of his works, such as the television serial BridesHead Revisited. He was born on 28 October 1903 to Arthur Waugh and Catherine Charlotte Raban, into a family with English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Huguenot origins. Among ancestors bearing the Waugh name was the Rev. Alexander Waugh, a minister in the Secession Church of Scotland who helped found the London Missionary Society and was one of the leading Nonconformist preachers of his day.

The elder of his two sons, born in 1866, was Arthur Waug, who became a country medical practitioner, who bullied his wife and children and became known in the Waug family as ‘the Brute’ The younger, Alec Waugh later became a novelist of note, and his father Arthur was a publisher and editor. He died in 1998. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The Waugh family still live in Hampstead, north London, and have three grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. For more information, visit www.justgiving.com/Arthur-Evelyn-St-John-Waugh-1903-1904-1905-1906-1907-1908-1909-1910-1911-1912-1913-1914-1915-1916-1917-1918-1919-1921-1922-1923-1924-1925-1926-1928-1929-1930-1931-1932-1933-1934-1935-1936-1938-1937-1939-1940-1941-1942-1943-1944-1946-1947-1948-1949-1954-1955-1952-1953-1958-1956-1957-1959-1962-1961-1951-1960-1964-1963-1966-1945-19. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.