Christopher Merlin Vyvyan Holland (born December 1945) is a British biographer and editor. He is the only grandchild of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, whose life he has researched and written about extensively.

Biography

Born in London in December 1945, Christopher Merlin Vyvyan Holland is the son of the author Vyvyan Holland and his second wife, Thelma Besant. He is the only grandchild of

and

Constance Lloyd Constance Mary Wilde (; 2 January 18587 April 1898) was an Irish writer. She was the wife of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde and the mother of their two sons, Cyril Holland, Cyril and Vyvyan Holland, Vyvyan. Early life and marriage The daughter ...

. His mother Thelma was an Australian cosmetician who became the personal beauty adviser to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

for about 10 years from the mid-1940s. His paternal grandmother, Constance, changed her and her children's surname to Holland (an old family name) in 1895, after Wilde was convicted of homosexual acts and imprisoned, in order to gain some privacy from the scandal.

Work

Holland has studied and researched Wilde's life for more than thirty years. He is the co-editor, with

Rupert Hart-Davis Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (28 August 1907 – 8 December 1999) was an English publisher and editor. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. As a biographer, he is remembered for his ''Hugh Walpole'' (1952), as an editor, ...

, of ''The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde''. He is the editor of ''Irish Peacock and Scarlet Marquess'', the first uncensored version of his grandfather's 1895 trials. (The book is titled ''The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde'' for release in the US.) Holland has criticised

Richard Ellmann Richard David Ellmann, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (March 15, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American Literary criticism, literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats, William Butler Yeats. ...

's 1987 biography, ''Oscar Wilde'', as inaccurate, particularly his claim that Wilde had

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

and transmitted it to Constance. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Holland has "unearthed medical evidence within private family letters, which has enabled a doctor to determine the likely cause of Constance's death. The letters reveal symptoms nowadays associated with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

but apparently wrongly diagnosed by her two doctors. One, an unnamed German 'nerve doctor', resorted to dubious remedies and the other, Luigi Maria Bossi, conducted a botched operation that days later claimed her life." Holland has also written ''The Wilde Album'', a small volume that included hitherto unpublished photographs of Wilde. The book concerns how the scandal caused by Wilde's trials affected his family, most notably his wife, Constance, and their children,

Cyril Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek language, Greek name (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek (''kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various variant forms of t ...

and Vyvyan. In 2006, his book ''Oscar Wilde: A Life in Letters'' was published, and his volume '' Coffee with Oscar Wilde'', an imagined conversation with Wilde, was released in the autumn of 2007. Holland also wrote ''A Portrait of Oscar Wilde'' (2008), which reveals Wilde through manuscripts and letters from the Lucia Moreira Salles collection, located at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. In addition, Holland has also published features about wine and occasional articles for the magazines ''Country Life'' and ''

The Oldie ''The Oldie'' is a British monthly magazine written for older people "as a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity", according to its website. The magazine was launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who was its edit ...

''. In July 2013, Holland gave the main address for a symposium on Oscar Wilde presented by

The Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

. The address surveyed the popular and critical attitudes towards Wilde and his work from the end of his life to the present time. The symposium was given in conjunction with the opera company's world premiere presentations of ''

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

'', composed by Theodore Morrison with a libretto written by John Cox and the composer. Holland's play ''The Trials of Oscar Wilde'', co-authored with John O'Connor and re-enacting the 1895 trials of Lord Queensberry for libel and Oscar Wilde for gross indecency, toured the United Kingdom in 2014 as a production by the European Arts Company.

Personal life

Holland lives in

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, France, with his second wife. His son, Lucian Holland (born 1979 to Merlin's first wife Sarah), studied classics at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

. Holland briefly considered changing his name to Wilde. He told ''The New York Times'' in 1998, Holland's godfather was Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead, a British biographer best known for writing a biography of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

that was suppressed by the Kipling family for many years, and which he never lived to see in print. Lord Birkenhead knew

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...

,https://www.pbsamerica.co.uk/series/the-man-who-destroyed-oscar-wilde/ the barrister who led the defence against Wilde's action for criminal libel against

John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (20 July 184431 January 1900), was a British nobleman of the Victorian era, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the " Queensberry Rules" t ...

Published works

*1998 – ''The Wilde Album'' *2003 – ''Irish Peacock and Scarlet Marquess: The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde'' *2004 – ''The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde''

References

Citations

General references

*Holland, Vyvyan (Merlin Holland, Ed.), ''Son of Oscar Wilde''. London: Carroll & Graf, 1999. 2nd Edition. * Nick Stafford (writer), David Hunter (director), ''The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde'', based on ''Irish Peacock and Scarlet Marquess'' and broadcast for the first time on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

as a Saturday Drama on 28 June 2014.

External links

*Moss, Stephen
"The importance of being Merlin"
''The Guardian'' (London), 24 November 2000. (Profile of Holland on the publication of the new edition of Wilde's letters) *Wheatcroft, Geoffrey
"''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is complete tosh"
''The Guardian'' (London), 24 November 2000. (Commentary on Wilde's importance) {{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Merlin 1945 births English biographers English people of Irish descent English people of Australian descent Living people Oscar Wilde Writers from London English expatriates in France