Bruce Chatwin

Richard Utz (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Ed. by Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 14 May 1940
Died 19 Jan 1989
Activity 1973-1989

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Essayist
Journalist
Novelist

Other

Anthropologist
Autobiographer

Resources

Chatwin's Works

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Bruce (Charles) Chatwin was born on May 13 1940, the son of Charles Leslie (a lawyer) and Margharita (Turnell) Chatwin, in Sheffield, England. After a secondary school education at Marlborough College (1953-1957), he went to work as a porter at Sotheby & Company, the famous London art auction house, where he quickly and amazingly rose to art auctioneer and director of modern art. He married an American, Elizabeth Chanler, in 1965 and left Sotheby’s in 1966 to study archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, supporting himself in part by reselling a private collection of antiquities he had gathered during his career in the world of art auctioneering. Little interested in a formal educational experience or in fulfilling degree requirements, he concentrated on field work in Afghanistan…

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1225 words

Citation: Utz, Richard. "Bruce Chatwin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=837, accessed 27 November 2024.]