Sybille Bedford, OBE (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.

Early life

She was born as Sybille Aleid Elsa von Schoenebeck in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

, west of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

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

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

faith of her father at

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Feldkirch in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

. By her father's first marriage to Melanie Herz, Bedford had a half-sister Maximiliane Henriette von Schoenebeck (referred to as 'Jacko' in ''Quicksands'' but in real life known as 'Catsy') who became Baroness von Dincklage on her marriage to Hans Günther von Dincklage, a press attaché at the German Embassy in Paris. Bedford's 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, Norberto Marchesani, an Italian architectural student.Obituary for Sybille Bedford
in ''The Daily Telegraph'', 21 February 2006. During those years she studied in England, lodging in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

.. In the early 1920s, Sybille often travelled between England and Italy. Following the rise of fascism in Italy, her mother and stepfather settled in Sanary-sur-Mer, a small coastal fishing village in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

in the south of France, near

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. 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. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

, 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 novell ...

and

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

. Meanwhile, her mother became addicted to morphine, which had been prescribed by a local physician, and became increasingly dysfunctional. In 1933, Sybille published an article critical of the Nazi regime in '' Die Sammlung'', the literary magazine of Klaus Mann, 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 U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and spent the rest of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the United States.

Career as a writer

After the war, Bedford spent a year travelling in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. 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'', 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 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 ''Decli ...

wrote in a letter to

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford family#Mitford sisters, Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the ...

, "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: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

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 stylised 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, 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.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 area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

. 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. She worked for

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

, 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 800 Fellows, elect ...

, 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 Golden PEN Award

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 in 1982. *'' A Legacy'', 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 (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

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, authorised 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 Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

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

External links