Ingaret Giffard, Lady Van der Post (1902 – 5 May 1997), was a British actress and writer, and the second wife of Sir

Laurens Van der Post Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in Jungi ...

(CBE).

Playwright

Born in England, she lived with her family for four years in India, after which, back in London, she began acting and writing plays. One of her plays, "Because We Must," with

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progress ...

Alan Napier Alan William Napier-Clavering (7 January 1903 – 8 August 1988), better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later on in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered f ...

, Howard Wyndham, and

Bronson Albery Sir Bronson James Albery (6 March 1881 – 21 July 1971) was an English theatre director and impresario. Albery was knighted in 1949 for his services to the theatre. The Albery Theatre in London was named in his honour and his elder son, Sir Don ...

, was staged at Wyndham's Theater in 1937.

Marriage

Giffard also travelled to the Sudan and to South Africa. She met Van der Post in London in 1936, where he was working as a journalist. He had been born, raised, and started his career in South Africa. They were both married to others when they met. It was only in 1949 that they were free to marry each other.

Relationship with Carl Jung

Giffard introduced her husband to Carl G. Jung, whose analytic techniques had helped her troubled mother. The Van der Posts moved to Switzerland, where Jung lived, and became part of his circle of friends. Giffard herself trained as a lay Jungian analyst.

Memoir

Giffard wrote a memoir entitled ''The Way Things Happen'', which was published in 1990 by William Morrow & Co.

Death

She died five months after her husband, in 1997.

Surviving papers

Giffard's papers are held at

Durham University Library The Durham University Library is the centrally administered library of Durham University in England and is part of the university's Library and Collections department. Its two main libraries are Palace Green Library and the Bill Bryson Library. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giffard, Ingaret 1902 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British actresses 20th-century British memoirists 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British women writers British women dramatists and playwrights British people in colonial India Jungian psychologists British women memoirists