Anthony Samuel Curtis (12 March 192629 June 2014) was a British writer, lecturer, biographer, editor, journalist, literary critic, and playwright.

Background

Anthony Curtis studied at

Midhurst Grammar School Midhurst Grammar School was a grammar school and later a comprehensive upper school in Midhurst, West Sussex. The school served pupils aged 11 to 18 who usually joined the school from one of the local intermediate schools. It was replaced in 2 ...

, and received a scholarship to study history at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. This was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and he soon found himself studying war in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. He later lectured at the Sorbonne (1950–51), after which he became Deputy Editor of ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' in 1955. He worked at the ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...

'' and was its literary editor from 1960 to 1970. He was also literary editor of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' from 1970 to 1990. Curtis was a treasurer for 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 lon ...

and the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

. He became a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

in 1990, and a Fellow of 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 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 2009.Barker, Nicolas (2 August 2014)
"Anthony Curtis: Editor, critic and authority on Henry James, Virginia Woolf and particularly Somerset Maugham"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Retrieved 1 July 2024. He was known for his work on

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

, and

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

. He published two biographies of Maugham (''The Pattern of Maugham'', 1974; ''Somerset Maugham'', 1977), a new introduction to ''The Razor’s Edge'' in 1992, and a one-man play titled ''Mr Maugham at Home'' (2010). Curtis's book ''Lit Ed: On Reviewing and Reviewers'', a memoir and history of literary newspaper editing, was published in 1998.Cramb, Gordon (9 July 2014)
"Anthony Curtis, biographer and playwright, 1926-2014
. ''Financial Times''. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Anthony Samuel 1926 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British writers Financial Times people Royal Air Force personnel of World War II University of Paris people