Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven (28 November 1906 – 28 January 2007) was an English sculptor. She created the bronze sculpture, the ''Bessie'', which has been given to the winner of the annual

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

since its inception in 1996.

Early life

Grizel Niven was born in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...

, London, in 1906, the daughter of William Edward Graham Niven and Henriette Julia Degacher. Her younger brother was the actor, writer and soldier

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

Career

Niven, in collaboration with Paul Clinton, was awarded a prize for one the six best designs in an international competition for the memorial sculpture at the Dachau Concentration Camp, a prize eventually won by

Nandor Glid Nandor Glid (12 December 1924 - 31 March 1997) was a Yugoslav sculptor, best known for designing the memorial sculpture at the Dachau concentration camp. Biography Glid was a Holocaust survivor who had been a forced laborer and partisan during the ...

(the son of parents murdered in Auschwitz) in 1967. Niven heard

Kate Mosse Katharine Mosse (born 20 October 1961) is a British novelist, non-fiction and short story writer and Television presenter, broadcaster. She is best known for her 2005 novel ''Labyrinth (novel), Labyrinth'', which has been translated into more ...

talking on BBC Radio 4's ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...

'' about setting up a Women’s Prize for Fiction, and telephoned to offer a cast of a sculpture of hers as a prize. The 3 ft-high original stood in her garden in Jubilee Place,

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. The bronze ''Bessie'' figurine itself is 7.5 inches high.

Personal life

Niven was a lesbian. She died on 28 January 2007, aged 100.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niven, Grizel 1906 births 2007 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century English women artists 20th-century English LGBT people English centenarians English women sculptors English LGBT sculptors English lesbian artists Lesbian sculptors People from Belgravia Sculptors from London Women centenarians