Harold Acton

[[Robert Byron]] (left) with Harold Acton at Oxford around 1922 Sir Harold Mario Mitchell Acton (5 July 1904 – 27 February 1994) was a British writer, scholar, and aesthete who was a prominent member of the Bright Young Things. He wrote fiction, biography, history and autobiography. During his stay in China, he studied the Chinese language, traditional drama, and poetry, some of which he translated.

He was born near Florence, Italy, to a prominent Anglo-Italian family. At Eton College, he was a founding member of the Eton Arts Society before going up to Oxford to read Modern Greats at Christ Church. He co-founded the avant garde magazine ''The Oxford Broom'' and mixed with many intellectual and literary figures of the age, including Evelyn Waugh, who based the character of Anthony Blanche in ''Brideshead Revisited'' partly on him. Between the wars, Acton lived in Paris, London, and Florence, proving most successful as a historian, his ''magnum opus'' being a 3-volume study of the Medicis and the Bourbons.

After serving as an RAF liaison officer in the Mediterranean, he returned to Florence, restoring his childhood home, Villa La Pietra, to its earlier glory. Acton was knighted in 1974 and died in Florence, leaving La Pietra to New York University. Provided by Wikipedia
Showing 1 - 13 results of 13 for search 'Acton, Harold, 1904-1994', query time: 0.15s Refine Results
  1. 1
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1971
    Book
  2. 2
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1973
    Book
  3. 3
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1961
    Book
  4. 4
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1975
    Book
  5. 5
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1984
    Book
  6. 6
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1958
    Book
  7. 7
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1979
    Book
  8. 8
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1985
    Book
  9. 9
    by Acton, Harold, 1904-1994
    Published 1972
    Government Document Book
  10. 10
    by Berti, Luciano
    Published 1979
    Other Authors: ...Acton, Harold, 1904-1994...
    Book
  11. 11
    by Sitwell, Osbert, 1892-1969
    Published 1939
    Other Authors: ...Acton, Harold, 1904-1994...
    Book
  12. 12
    Other Authors: ...Acton, Harold, 1904-1994...
    Book
  13. 13
    Published 1947
    Other Authors: ...Acton, Harold, 1904-1994...
    Book
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