Nicholas Andrew Selwyn Lezard[1] is an English journalist, author and literary critic.

Background and education

The Lezard family went from London to Kimberley in South Africa in the 1800s. Nicholas Lezard's great-grandfather, Louis Flavien Lezard (1877–1960), of Hallam Street in central London, became a noted solicitor (senior partner, Lezard, Robins and Edmeades) and local figure in the country, serving as chairman and president of several Kimberley institutions.[2][3][4] Louis's eldest son, Julien (1902–1958) – the third son, Squadron Leader Selwyn Edward Lezard (1908–1974), R.A.F.V.R., being Nicholas Lezard's grandfather – was a Cambridge-educated barrister and noted society figure and gambler, who served in the Special Operations Executive alongside Xan Fielding. Julien Lezard married Hilda, daughter of Sir Daniel Cooper, 2nd Baronet; she was the widow of Thomas Uchter Caulfield Knox, Viscount Northland, son of Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly, and of Geoffrey Edward Mills, son of Charles Mills, 1st Baron Hillingdon.[5][6][7]

He was educated at The Hall School, Hampstead, Westminster School,[8] and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1984, MA 1990).[1]

Career

From 2007 to 2017, he had a weekly column, 'Nicholas Lezard's choice', reviewing paperback books for The Guardian.[9] He also writes for The Independent, and contributes the 'Down and Out' column for the New Statesman.[10] His book The Nolympics: One Man's Struggle Against Sporting Hysteria was published in 2012 by Penguin Books. Lezard's memoir, Bitter Experience Has Taught Me, about his life after a marriage ended, was published in 2013.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 The Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 December 1991, Cambridge University Press, p. 814
  2. ↑ Christian Brothers College, Kimberley, 1897-1997, Steve Lunderstedt, 1997.
  3. ↑ Who's Who of Southern Africa, vol. 43, Argus Printing and Publishing Co., 1959, p. 368
  4. ↑ Humour in Court: Some Random Recollections of a South African Lawyer, Louis F. Lezard, 1921
  5. ↑ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 2003, vol. 1, p. 890
  6. ↑ Hide and Seek, Xan Fielding, Secker and Warburg, 1954
  7. ↑ Me and Other Originals, Charles Johnston, Hamish Hamilton, 1971
  8. ↑ Lezard, Nicholas (November 21, 2018). "On Being a Jew-ish Schoolboy".
  9. ↑ "Nicholas Lezard's choice". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Writers". www.newstatesman.com.
  11. ↑ Blincoe, Nicholas (19 July 2013). "Bitter Experience Has Taught Me, by Nicholas Lezard, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
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