Salvator Aubrey Clarence Menen (22 April 1912 – 13 February 1989 Weatherby, W.J.
Obituary: Aubrey Menen. Three nation novelist
''Guardian'', 27 February, 1989 (via newspapers.com)) was a British writer, novelist, satirist and theatre critic. Born in London, his essays and novels explore the nature of nationalism and the cultural contrast between his own Irish-Indian ancestry and his traditional British upbringing. The first sentence of ''Dead Man in the Silver Market'' offers an example of his good-humoured approach to this contentious topic: "Men of all races have always sought for a convincing explanation of their own astonishing excellence and they have frequently found what they were looking for."

Early life and education

Aubrey Menen was born in London in 1912 to Kali Narain Menon (also Kalipurayath Narayana Menon), "scion of a prominent Nayar family" of Indian

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

origin, and Alice Villet, an Englishwoman of Irish descent. Aubrey chose to change his surname's spelling, allegedly to avoid confusion with his friend

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign r ...

. Menen was raised at

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

and Forest Hill in London. He was brought up

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. His mixed heritage was central to his career, and he often drew heavily on it in his writing. He took a BA in Philosophy from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL) in 1932. Whilst at UCL, he founded a drama group, the London Student Players, writing, directing, and performing in their productions; he befriended

Duncan Grant Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a Scottish painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets, and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major ...

, and commissioned him to design sets. Through Grant, Menen became acquainted with members of the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

including

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

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

Career

In 1932, having graduated from UCL, Menen became drama critic for '' The Bookman'' magazine, until, in 1934, serving as director of the Experimental Theatre in London until 1936. In 1933,

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

had granted Menen permission to produce an adaptation of his novel ''

The Shape of Things to Come ''The Shape of Things to Come'' is a science fiction novel written by the British writer H. G. Wells published in 1933. It takes the form of a future history that ends in 2106. Synopsis A long economic slump causes a major war that leaves Eur ...

'', which generated "considerable publicity". Menen's unconventional, boundary-pushing performances included production of politically-charged drama, his "radical plays... often fraught with controversy". He was sued for blasphemy and obscenity in 1934 in response to his play ''Genesis II'', based on an incident when UCL had rejected Menen for a bursary due to his Indian heritage. In 1939, he went to India, where he became a "leading personality" in radio; from 1948 to 1980, he lived in Italy, where he "flourished as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction" until returning to India, settling at Kerala, where he spent the rest of his life. Menen's 1954 retelling of the classic Hindu epic ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'' – meant as a funny and readable version of the work – was banned in India for some years, as devout Hindus were horrified by the liberties Menen took with a sacred text. Menen stated that his goal was to, "aim at reviving attitude of mind."Menen, Aubrey (1954). "Introduction", ''The Ramayana'', p.4. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York. . . . Menen's humour did not undercut his love for India, however, as can be seen in his book on Hindu mystics and his text to

Roloff Beny Roloff Beny (1924–1984) was a Canadians, Canadian photographer who spent the better part of his life in Rome and on his photographic travels throughout the world. Born Wilfred Roy Beny in Medicine Hat, Alberta, he later took as his first name ' ...

's great book of photographs of India (''India'', 1969).

Works

Novels

*''The Prevalence of Witches'' (1947) *''The Stumbling-Stone'' (1949) *''The Backward Bride: A Sicilian Scherzo'' (1950) *''The Duke of Gallodoro'' (1952) *''The Ramayana, As Told by Aubrey Menen'' (1954) *''The Abode of Love: The Conception, Financing and Daily Routine of an English Harem in the Middle of the 19th Century'' (1956) *''The Fig Tree'' (1959) *''SheLa: A Satire'' (1962) *''A Conspiracy of Women'' (1965) *''Fonthill: A Comedy'' (1974)

Travel

*''Rome Revealed'' (1960) *''Speaking the Language Like a Native'' (1962) *''India'', with Roloff Beny (1969) *''Upon This Rock'' (1972) *''Cities in the Sand'' (1973), about

Leptis Magna Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by #Names, other names in classical antiquity, antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean. Established as a Punic people, Puni ...

Timgad Timgad (, known as Marciana Traiana Thamugadi) was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 AD. The full name of the city was ''Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi''. Emperor ...

, etc. *''London'' (1976) *''Venice'' (1976)

Other non-fiction

*''Dead Man in the Silver Market'' (1953) *''The Space within the Heart'' (1970) *''Cities in the Sand'' (1972) *''The New Mystics and the True Indian Tradition'' (1974) *''Four Days of Naples'' (1979) *''Art and Money'' (1980)

References

External links

NYT Obituary
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080223102005/http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Beyond_Renault/menen.html Review of, "A Conspiracy of Women" {{DEFAULTSORT:Menen, Aubrey English satirists Indian satirists British theatre critics Indian theatre critics 1912 births 1989 deaths Writers from London Indian people of Irish descent English novelists