Christine Stephanie Nicholls, née Metcalfe, (born 23 January 1943) is an author and former editor of the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. She spent her childhood in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Now retired, she lives in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England.

Early life

Nicholls was born in England and accompanied her parents to Kenya in 1947. She moved around Kenya as her father took a series of teaching posts until he was employed permanently at

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Primary School in 1954. At this time Nicholls was a boarder at The Kenya High School in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, which she attended from 1953 to 1958.

Career

In 1961 Nicholls went to

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formally known under ...

, in Oxford University where she received her MA. She then attended St Anthony's College and received her D.Phil. Following her university education she was employed at the

Institute of Commonwealth Studies The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, founded in 1949, is the sole postgraduate academic institution in the United Kingdom devoted to the study of the Commonwealth. It is also home to the longest-running interdisciplinary and practice-oriente ...

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

as a research fellow. She later worked as a freelance researcher for the

BBC Arabic BBC Arabic () consisted of the Modern Standard Arabic, Literary Arabic language radio station which was run by the BBC World Service, as well as the BBC Arabic Television, BBC's satellite TV channel, and the website that serves as a Literary Ar ...

department. Nicholls joined

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 1977 as Assistant Editor of the

. She later became the editor and produced 5 volumes from 1981 to 1986. She has also written a number of other factual books under the name of C.S. Nicholls.

Works

* 1971 ''The Swahili Coast, Politics, Diplomacy and Trade on the East African Littoral'', (Allen & Unwin) * 1981 ''Dictionary of Biography 1961–1970'', with E.T. Williams (Oxford University Press) *1986 ''Dictionary of Biography 1971–1980'', with Lord Blake(Oxford University Press) *1990 ''Dictionary of Biography 1981–1985'', with Lord Blake (Oxford University Press) *1996 ''Dictionary of Biography 1986–1990'', (Oxford University Press) *1993 ''Dictionary of National Biography–Missing Persons'', (Oxford University Press) *1990 ''Power, A Political History'', (Harrup, OUP and various) *1985 ''Cataract'', (with Philip Awdry) (Faber & Faber) *1996 ''Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Biography'' (Helicon) *1998 ''David Livingstone'', (Sutton Publications) Written as part of a biographical series which Nicholls edited. *2000 ''A History of St Anthony’s College 1950–2000'', (Macmillan) *2002 ''Elspeth Huxley, A Biography'', (HarperCollins) (Thomas Dunne Books in USA). *2005 ''Red Strangers: the White Tribe of Kenya'', (Timewell Press) *2011 ''A Kenya Childhood'', (blurb.com)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Christine Stephanie 1943 births Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Kenyan women writers Alumni of Kenya High School Alumni of the University of London Living people English women writers 20th-century British writers 21st-century British writers 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people