Victor Alexander de Waal (born 2 February 1929) is a British Anglican priest. He was the

Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate prec ...

from 1976 to 1986.

Early life

Victor de Waal was born in Amsterdam, the son of Hendrik de Waal, a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

businessman, and Elisabeth of the Ephrussi family. His mother was born to a well-known Jewish family at the Ephrussi Palace in Vienna. Although she converted to Christianity this did not protect her from the

racial policy of Nazi Germany The racial policy of Nazi Germany was a set of policies and laws implemented in Nazi Germany under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, based on a specific racist doctrine asserting the superiority of the Aryan race, which claimed scientific legi ...

. Before the outbreak of World War II, the family moved to Britain and stayed there after the war, though retaining for many years their Dutch citizenship. The family came to live in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

when he was a boy and he was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

. His second cousin once removed was the Right Revd Hugo de Waal,

Bishop of Thetford The Bishop of Thetford is an episcopal title which takes its name after the market town of Thetford in Norfolk, England. The title was originally used by the Normans in the 11th century, and is now used by a Church of England suffragan bishop. ...

Career

He served as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

from 1959 to 1963 and the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

from 1963 to 1969,''What is the Church'', SCM Press, 1969 and

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Construc ...

. From 1976 to 1986, he served as the

. He helped with the research into his family history by his son, Edmund de Waal, which culminated in the book ''

The Hare with Amber Eyes ''The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance'' (2010) is a family memoir by British ceramicist Edmund de Waal.

''. De Waal is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences of the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Personal life

He married Esther Aline Lowndes-Moir, author (as Esther de Waal) of books on spirituality, especially Celtic. Among their sons are John de Waal, a barrister;

Alex de Waal Alexander William Lowndes de Waal (born 22 February 1963), a British researcher on African elite politics, is the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Previously, he w ...

(born 1963), a writer on Africa;

Edmund de Waal Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or th ...

(born 1964), a ceramic artist; and Thomas de Waal (born 1966), a writer. He later separated from his wife.

Works

*''What is the Church'', 1969, SCM Press. *''The Politics of Reconciliation - Zimbabwe's first decade'', 1990

References

External links

Obituary
of his cousin Hugo de Waal (1935–2007), former

. 1929 births Living people Deans of Canterbury Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Anglican chaplains University and college chaplains in the United Kingdom British people of Austrian-Jewish descent Waal, Victor Waal, Victor Waal, Victor Ephrussi family People educated at Tonbridge School People from Royal Tunbridge Wells {{ChurchofEngland-dean-stub