John Edward Francis Hooper (born 17 July 1950) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster. He is the Italy and Vatican correspondent of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

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 ...

, he is the son of the artist and writer William John ('Bill') Hooper ("Raff") (1916–1996). Hooper was educated at St Benedict's School in London and

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...

. In his first year at university, he travelled to the breakaway state of

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

to help make a television documentary on the

Nigerian Civil war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

Career

After graduating, Hooper worked for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as a current affairs reporter. In 1973, he became Diplomatic Correspondent of the then newly established

Independent Radio News Independent Radio News provides a service of news bulletins, audio and copy to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom and beyond. The managing director, Tim Molloy, succeeded long-term MD John Perkins in November 2009. Perkins had been ...

. The following year he moved to Cyprus following the Turkish invasion of the island as a freelance correspondent for news organisations including the BBC, ''The Guardian'' and ''The Economist''. In 1976, after the death of Spain's dictator,

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, Hooper was asked by ''The Guardian'' to become its correspondent in Madrid. Over the next three years, he covered the

Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

. He returned to Madrid as correspondent for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', ''Guardian'' and ''Economist'' in 1988, remaining until 1994. In the intervening years, he worked on the London staff of ''The Guardian'' and from 1984 to 1988 was a presenter of the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

programme, ''Twenty Four Hours''. Between 1994 and 1999, Hooper was based in Rome as Southern Europe Correspondent for ''The Guardian'' and ''Observer''. He brought to light the so-called ‘Ship of Death’ and was a member of the award-winning ''Observer'' team that investigated its aftermath. Hooper was Central Europe Correspondent for the same two papers, based in Berlin, until 2003. He covered the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

and was in Afghanistan in 2001 during the

Battle of Tora Bora The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in the cave complex of Tora Bora, eastern Islamic State of Afghanistan, Afghanistan, from November 30December 17, 2001, during the final stages of the United States invasion of A ...

and the search by US allies for

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

. Hooper's ''The Spaniards: A portrait of the new Spain'' won the 1987 Allen Lane award for a best first work of history or literature. He later published two expanded and revised versions as ''The New Spaniards'' (1995 and 2006). The 2006 edition was described as "essential reading for all who wish to understand the new Spain" by Sir

Raymond Carr Sir Albert Raymond Maillard Carr (11 April 1919 – 19 April 2015) was an English historian specialising in the history of Spain, Latin America, and Sweden. From 1968 to 1987, he was Warden of St Antony's College, Oxford. Early life Carr was ...

in a review for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

''. In 2015, Hooper published ''The Italians'', a portrait of the Italian people and their culture. His latest work, with Anna Kraczyna, is an annotated translation of Carlo Collodi's ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' published by Penguin Classics. Between 2016 and 2022, Hooper lectured on contemporary Italian history at Stanford University's campus in Florence. In 2021, he was made an honorary fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge.

Bibliography

* John Hooper, ''The Spaniards: a portrait of the new Spain'' New York: Viking, 1986. * John Hooper, ''The New Spaniards'' Penguin, 2006. * John Hooper, ''The Italians'' Viking, 2015. * John Hooper and Anna Kraczyna, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' Penguin, 2021.

References

External links

John Hooper's website

John Hooper's Guardian profile

John Hooper on Journalisted.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, John 1950 births Living people English male journalists People educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge English male non-fiction writers War correspondents of the Nigerian Civil War People of the Kosovo War