Sir John Betjeman
(1906-1984), Poet Laureate, writer and broadcasterSitter in 41 portraits
Born in London of Dutch origin, Betjeman was a friend of W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice at Oxford. He began writing for the Architectural Review in 1931. At the Architectural Press he proposed the Shell Guides and became the series editor. As an early champion of Victorian architecture, Betjeman exercised, as he put it, his own 'topographical predeliction for suburbs and gaslights and Pont Street and Gothic Revival churches and mineral railways, provincial towns and garden cities'. His published poetry includes A Few Late Chrysanthemums (1954), the blank verse autobiography Summoned by Bells (1960), and A Nip in the Air, published in 1972, the year he became Poet Laureate.
Explore the portrait of Sir John Betjeman by Angela Conner (NPG 5778) from all angles
Related People
- Paul Betjeman (son)
- Penelope (née Chetwode), Lady Betjeman (wife)
- Candida Lycett Green (daughter)
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