Brian Lunn (1893–1956) was a British writer and translator. He was born in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, youngest of three sons (there being also a daughter) of

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

parents Sir Henry Lunn (1859-1939) and Mary Ethel, née Moore, daughter of a canon. He had a somewhat Puritanical upbringing, his father, founder of Lunn's Travel agency that would become

Lunn Poly Lunn Poly was a large chain of travel agents in the United Kingdom. TUI Travel acquired Lunn Poly in 2003, and by the end of 2004 had retired the brand absorbing it within the wider Thomson Travel group. History The company originated from two ...

, having strong religious beliefs which were in conflict with his talent as a businessman.

Arnold Lunn Sir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn (18 April 1888 – 2 June 1974) was a skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952. His father was a lay Methodist minister, but Lunn was an a ...

and

Hugh Kingsmill Hugh Kingsmill Lunn (21 November 1889 – 15 May 1949), who dropped his surname for professional purposes, was a versatile British writer and journalist. The writers Arnold Lunn and Brian Lunn were his brothers. Life Hugh Kingsmill Lunn was born ...

were his brothers. In the mid-1920s Lunn was living at 50 Manchester St, London, W1. He had married after her divorce Betty (Beatrix) Duncan daughter of Ellen Duncan Duncan (Ellie) Duncan, founder in 1907 of Dublin's United Arts Club and with her husband Jim were lifelong friends with

Percy French William Percy French (1 May 1854 – 24 January 1920) was an Irish songwriter, author, poet, entertainer and painter. Life French was born at Clooneyquinn House, near Tulsk, County Roscommon, the son of an Anglo-Irish landlord, Christopher F ...

and his family. Ellie and Jim later separated. They had two children, Bettie and Alan. Brian Lunn married a second time to his first wife's sister-in-law, Belinda Duncan a life-long friend of Joyce and Beckett. Lunn most important work as a writer was 'Switchback', his autobiography published in 1948. Its highlight is Brian's description of a mental breakdown he had while serving in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

in the 11th

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

. The onset of his breakdown was described as follows: His other books include a biography of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, an "autobiography" of Satan which he "collated" in collaboration with

William Gerhardie William Alexander Gerhardie OBE FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represen ...

, a travel guide to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and a history of the

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

family. "Salvation Dynasty" was Brian Lunn's account of the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

's founders.

Books

* ''Silbermann'' by

Jacques De Lacretelle Jacques de Lacretelle (14 July 1888 in Cormatin, Saône-et-Loire – 2 January 1985) was a French novelist. He was elected to the Académie Française on 12 November 1936. Bibliography * 1920 ''La vie inquiète de Jean Hermelin'' (Grasset) * ...

, translator Brian Lunn (1923) * ''Austria in Dissolution'' by Stephan Burian Von Rajecz, translator Brian Lunn (1925) * ''Letters to Young Winter Sportsmen - Skiing, Skating and Curling'' (1927) * ''From Serfdom to Bolshevism. The Memoirs of Baron N. Wrangel, 1847-1920'', translators Brian and Beatrix Lunn (1927) * ''The Reign of the House of Rothschild'' by Count Egon Caesar Corti, translators Brian and Beatrix Lunn (1928) * ''The Life of Alfred Nobel'' by H. Schuck and R. Sohlman, translator Brian Lunn (1929) * ''The Cabaret Up the Line'' by

Roland Dorgelès Roland Dorgelès (; 15 June 1885 – 18 March 1973) was a French novelist and a member of the Académie Goncourt. Born in Amiens, Somme, under the name Roland Lecavelé (he adopted the pen name Dorgelès to commemorate visits to the spa town of ...

, translators Brian Lunn and Alan Duncan (1930) * ''The Woman with a Thousand Children'' by Clara Viebig, translator Brian Lunn (1930) * ''Religious Essays: A Supplement to 'The Idea of the Holy by

Rudolf Otto Rudolf Otto (25 September 1869 – 7 March 1937) was a German Lutheran theologian, philosopher, and comparative religionist. He is regarded as one of the most influential scholars of religion in the early twentieth century and is best known fo ...

, translator Brian Lunn (1931) * ''The Memoirs Of Satan'', William Gerhardi and Brian Lunn (1932) * ''Martin Luther: the man and his God'' (1934) * ''Salvation Dynasty: On William Booth and his family'' (1935). Lunn contributed the chapter on

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1504 to 1535 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Chu ...

and

Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the ...

. * ''The Great Tudors'', ed. Katharine Garvin (1936) * ''The Charm of Belgium'' (1939)'Traveller in Belgium', in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' Issue 1944, 6 May, 1939, p. 6 * ''Switchback: an autobiography'' (1948)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunn, Brian 1893 births 1956 deaths British travel writers English autobiographers English biographers