Sybille Bedford,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(16 March 1911 – 17 February 2006) was a German-born English writer of non-fiction and semi-autobiographical fiction books. She was a recipient of the

Golden PEN Award The Golden PEN Award is a literary award established in 1993 by English PEN given annually to a British writer for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". The winner is chosen by the Board of English PEN. The award has previously been ...

Early life

She was born as Sybille Aleid Elsa von Schoenebeck in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the la ...

, west of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: ...

, to Maximilian Josef von Schoenebeck (1853–1925), a German aristocrat, retired lieutenant colonel and

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individua ...

, and his German Jewish wife, Elisabeth Bernhardt (1888–1937).Feldkirch in literarischen Zeugnissen
/ref> Sybille was raised in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

faith of her father at

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to: Places * Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria ** Feldkirch (district), an administrative division of Vorarlberg, Austria * Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the municip ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden ...

. She had a half-sister by her father's first marriage to Elisabeth Marchesani, Maximiliane Henriette von Schoenebeck (later Baroness von Dincklage, aka ''Jacko'' or ''Catsy''). Her parents divorced in 1918, and she remained with her father, under somewhat impoverished circumstances in the midst of his art and wine collection. He died in 1925, when she was 14 years old, and Sybille went to live in Italy with her mother and stepfather, an Italian architectural student.Obituary for Sybille Bedford
in ''The Telegraph'', 21 February 2006. During those years she studied in England, lodging in Hampstead.. In the early 1920s, Sybille often travelled between England and Italy. With the rise of fascism in Italy, though, her mother and stepfather settled in Sanary-sur-Mer, a small coastal fishing village in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border ...

in the south of France, near

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

and

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

. Sybille herself settled there as a teenager, living near

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...

, with whom she became friends. Bedford interacted with and was influenced by many of the German writers who settled in the area during that time, including

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

and

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

. Meanwhile, her mother became addicted to morphine, which had been prescribed by a local doctor, and became increasingly dysfunctional. In 1933, Sybille published an article critical of the Nazi regime in '' Die Sammlung'', the literary magazine of

Klaus Mann Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann (18 November 1906 – 21 May 1949) was a German writer and dissident. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann, with whom he maintained a lifelong close relationship, and Golo ...

, the son of

. When her Jewish ancestry was subsequently discovered by the Nazis, her German bank accounts were frozen. At this time it was difficult for her to renew her German passport, and staying in Italy without a valid passport or a source of income carried the risk of being deported to Germany. Aldous Huxley's wife Maria came up with a solution in 1935. Maria is known to have said, on the question of who should marry Sybille, "We need to get one of our bugger friends." Sybille entered a marriage of convenience with an English Army officer, Walter "Terry" Bedford (an ex-boyfriend of a former manservant of W. H. Auden's), whom she described as a friend's "bugger butler", and obtained a British passport. The marriage ended shortly thereafter, but Sybille took her husband's surname, publishing all of her later work as Sybille Bedford. With assistance from Aldous and Maria Huxley, Bedford left France for America in advance of the German invasion of 1940. She followed the Huxleys to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and spent the rest of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the United States.

Career as a writer

After the war, Bedford spent a year travelling in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Her experiences on that trip would form the basis of her first published book, a travelogue entitled ''The Sudden View: a Mexican Journey'', which was published in 1953. Bedford spent the remainder of the 1940s living in France and Italy. During this time she had a love affair with an American woman, Evelyn W. Gendel, who left her husband for Bedford and became a writer and editor herself. In the 1950s Bedford became Martha Gellhorn's confidante. ''

A Legacy ''A Legacy'' is a semi- autobiographical novel by Sybille Bedford first published in 1956. It depicts a fictionalized version of the marriage of her parents and the troublesome relations of their two families. Their familial tumults and tragedies ...

'', Bedford's second book and first novel, was published in 1956 and successfully televised by the BBC in 1975. It was described by

Francis King Francis Henry King (4 March 19233 July 2011) Ion Trewin and Jonathan Fryer"Obituary: Francis King" '' The Guardian'', 3 July 2011. was a British novelist and short story writer. He worked for the British Council for 15 years, with positions ...

as "one of the great books of the 20th century".

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

wrote in a letter to Nancy Mitford, "I wondered who this brilliant 'Mrs Bedford' could be. A cosmopolitan military man, plainly, with a knowledge of parliamentary government and popular journalism, a dislike of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

ns, a liking for Jews, a belief that everyone speaks French in the home..." Though outwardly a work of fiction, it was somewhat autobiographical – it presents a stylized version of her father's life in Germany, as well as some of the author's early childhood there. It was a success and enabled Bedford to continue writing. In her lifetime, three more novels were published, as well as numerous works of non-fiction. In non-fiction she was best known as a travel writer and a legal reporter. In 1945 she met

Esther Murphy Esther Strachey ( Murphy, later Arthur; October 22, 1897 – November 23, 1962) was an American academic, historian, and socialite. Early life and education Murphy was born on October 22, 1897, the daughter of Patrick Francis Murphy (1858–1 ...

, who would become her lover. The relationship lasted only a few years, but they remained lifelong friends. Bedford spent the 1950s,the 1960s and the 1970s living in France, Italy, Britain and Portugal, and during that period had a twenty-year relationship with the American female novelist

Eda Lord Eda Hurd Lord (July 30, 1907 – October 22, 1976) was an American writer and longtime companion of writer Sybille Bedford. Early life Eda Lord was born in Durango, Mexico on July 30, 1907. Her father, Harvey Lord, was managing a mine there, bu ...

.Joan Acocella
"Piecework. The writings of Sybille Bedford"
in ''The New Yorker'', 18 April 2005 In 1979 she settled in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. In 1981 she was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. She worked for PEN, was a fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

, and in 1994 became a Companion of Literature. Bedford's final work was ''Quicksands,'' a memoir published in 2005. A biography by Selina Hastings ''Sybille Bedford: An Appetite for Life'' was published in 2020.

Awards and honours

*1993

Works

*''The Sudden View: a Mexican Journey'', 1953 – a travelogue. It was republished by William Collins in 1960 as ''A Visit to Don Otavio: a Traveller's Tale from Mexico'', then republished again, as ''A Visit to Don Otavio: a Mexican Odyssey'', by

Eland Eland may refer to: Animals *''Taurotragus'', a genus of antelope ** Common eland of East and Southern Africa ** Giant eland of Central and Western Africa Places * Eland, Wisconsin, United States * An old spelling of Elland, West Yorkshire * Ela ...

in 1982. *''

'', 1956 – her first novel, inspired by the author's early years and the milieu in which she was raised. With wit and insight the novel traces the overlapping worlds of refined and idle German aristocrat Julius von Felden and the wealthy Jewish Merz family into which he marries. It is set in the south of France, Paris, Spain, Berlin and the German countryside at the beginning of the 20th century. *''The Best We Can Do: (The Trial of Dr Adams)'', 1958 – an account of the murder trial of suspected

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

John Bodkin Adams *''The Faces of Justice: A Traveller's report'', 1961 – a description of the legal systems of England, Germany, Switzerland, and France *''A Favourite of the Gods'', 1963 – a novel about an American heiress who marries a Roman prince *''A Compass Error'', 1968 – a sequel to the above, describing the love affairs of the daughter of that work's protagonist *''Aldous Huxley: A biography'', 1973 – the standard, authorized biography *'' Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education'', 1989 – a follow-up to ''A Legacy,'' inspired by the author's experiences living in Italy and France with her mother *''As It Was: Pleasures, Landscapes and Justice'', 1990 – a collection of magazine pieces on various trials, including the censorship of '' Lady Chatterley's Lover'', the trial of Jack Ruby, and the Auschwitz trial, as well as pieces on food and travel *''Pleasures and Landscapes: A Traveller's Tales from Europe'' – a reissue of the previous, removing the legal writings and including two additional travel essays *''Quicksands: A Memoir'', 2005 – a memoir of the author's life, from her childhood in Berlin to her experiences in postwar Europe

References

Bibliography

Obituary for Sybille Bedford
in ''The Telegraph'', 21 February 2006. *Louise Carpenter: "Sense and Sensuality", ''Good Weekend'', 16 July 2005. *Martin Mauthner: ''German Writers in French Exile, 1933–1940'', London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2007 ().

External links

*In German

* ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009433x Appearance on Desert Island Discs – 10 July 1998br>Sybille Bedford, 1911-2008
"This site is dedicated to the life and work of Sybille Bedford, writer." *
"Sybille Bedford"
Fellows Remembered, The Royal Society of Literature {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Sybille 1911 births 2006 deaths Writers from Berlin British women novelists German women novelists German baronesses German emigrants to the United Kingdom German people of Jewish descent German lesbian writers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People from Charlottenburg People from the Kingdom of Prussia LGBT writers from Germany English LGBT novelists 20th-century British novelists 20th-century British women writers 20th-century German novelists People from Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald People from Var (department) German emigrants to France British people of German-Jewish descent 20th-century German women British lesbian writers 20th-century LGBT people