Claire Tomalin (née Delavenay; born 20 June 1933) is an English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and biographer, known for her biographies of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

, Thomas Hardy,

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

and

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

Early life

Tomalin was born Claire Delavenay on 20 June 1933 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the daughter of English composer Muriel Herbert and French academic Émile Delavenay.

Education

Tomalin was educated at Hitchin Girls' Grammar School, a former state grammar school in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, at

Dartington Hall School Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "o ...

, a former boarding-school in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, and at Newnham College at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Career

Tomalin has written several noted biographies. * In 1974 she published her first book ''The Life and Death of

'', which won the

Whitbread Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

. Since then she has published: * '' Shelley and His World'' (1980) * '' Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life'' (1987) *''The Invisible Woman: The story of

Nelly Ternan Ellen Lawless Ternan (3 March 1839 – 25 April 1914), also known as Nelly Ternan or Nelly Wharton-Robinson, was an English actress known for association with the author Charles Dickens. Birth and family life Ellen Ternan was born in Roches ...

and

'' (1990) NCR Book Award,

Hawthornden Wangsa Maju is a township and a constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This area is surrounded by Setapak, Taman Melati and Gombak district in Selangor. Wangsa Maju is one of the largest townships in Kuala Lumpur and consists of many section ...

, James Tait Black Prize- now a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

* '' Mrs Jordan's Profession'' (1994) * ''

: A Life'' (1997) *''

: the Unequalled Self'' (2002) Whitbread biography and Book of the Year prizes
Pepys Society Prize

Rose Mary Crawshay Prize The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize is a literary prize for female scholars, inaugurated in 1888 by the British Academy. Description The prize, set up in 1888, is said by the British Academy to be the only UK literary prize specifically for female sch ...

. * '' Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man'' (2006), followed by a television film about Hardy, and published a collection of Hardy's poems. * ''

: A Life'' (2011) * ''The Young H. G. Wells: Changing the World'' (2021) * She also edited and introduced Mary Shelley's story for children, ''Maurice''. A collection of her reviews, ''Several Strangers'', appeared in 1999. Tomalin organised two exhibitions about the Regency actress Mrs Jordan at Kenwood House in 1995, and about

and Mary Shelley in 1997. In 2004 she unveiled a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

for Mary Wollstonecraft at 45 Dolben Street,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, where Wollstonecraft lived from 1788. She has served on the Committee of the London Library, and as a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and the

Wordsworth Trust The Wordsworth Trust is an independent charity in the United Kingdom. It celebrates the life of the poet William Wordsworth, and looks after Dove Cottage in the Lake District village of Grasmere where Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordswort ...

. She is a Vice-President of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...

, the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

and of English PEN. She is also a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Personal life

Tomalin married her first husband, fellow Cambridge graduate Nicholas Tomalin, a prominent journalist, in 1955, and they had three daughters and two sons. He was killed while reporting on the Arab-Israeli

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

in 1973. She worked in publishing and journalism as literary editor of the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', then ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', while bringing up her children. She married the novelist and playwright Michael Frayn in 1993. They live in Petersham, London.

Awards and honours

* James Tait Black Memorial Prize, ''The Invisible Woman'' (1990) * Hawthornden Prize, ''The Invisible Woman'' (1991) *

, ''Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self'' (2002) *

, ''Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self'' (2003)
Samuel Pepys Award
of the Samuel Pepys Club, ''Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self'' (2003) * Samuel Johnson Prize, shortlist, ''Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self'' (2003) *Honorary Member Magdalene College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

(2003) *Honorary Fellow Lucy Cavendish College,

(2003), Newnham College;

(2004) *Honorary

D.Litt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

: UEA (2005);

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

(2005); Greenwich (2006);

(2007); Goldsmith (2009);

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

(2008);

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

(2011);

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

(2012) * Costa Book Awards (Biography), shortlist, ''Charles Dickens: A Life'' (2011) *

Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization (BIO) is an international, non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, and to further the professional interests of its practitioners. The organization was founded in ...

Annual Award (2016) * Bodley Medal (2018)

Works

* ''The Young H. G. Wells: Changing the World'' (New York, Penguin Books, 2021) () * ''A Life of My Own'' (London,

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

: A Life'' (New York,

: The Unequalled Self'', (New York,

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers i ...

, 2002) ( or 0-14-028234-3). * ''

: A Life'' (Vintage eBooks, 2000) () *
Several Strangers; writing from three decades
' (London, Viking Books, 1999) (); (New York, Penguin, 2000) (). * '' Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life'' (London, Viking, 1987), 1998 (). * '' Mrs. Jordan's Profession: The Story of a Great Actress and a Future King'', 1995 (). * ''The Invisible Woman: The Story of

and Charles Dickens'' (London, Viking, 1990) (New York, Knopf, 1991) (). * '' Shelley and His World'' (London, Thames and Hudson, 1980) (); (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1980) (). * ''The Life and Death of

'' (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1974), 1992 ().

References

External links

Official website
*
Claire Tomalin
at British Council Literature * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomalin, Claire 1933 births Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Costa Book Award winners English journalists English biographers Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Living people Rose Mary Crawshay Prize winners The Sunday Times people Mary Wollstonecraft scholars British women biographers