Nancy Mitford (1904-1973), Writer and biographer
Nancy Freeman-Mitford
Sitter in 20 portraits
The witty depiction English upper class life captured in the novels The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949) appealed to a post-war public. Mitford received very little formal education, but grew up reading biographies, memoirs and letters. In 1933, she married Peter Murray Rennell Rodd, whom she followed to Perpignan during the Spanish Civil War. Her harrowing experiences working at the French border with Spanish refugee victims moved her to become a socialist. From 1949 she was permanently established in Paris, where she wrote regular articles for the Sunday Times, and historical biographies, including Madame Pompadour (1954) and The Sun King (1966).
by Cecil Beaton
vintage bromide print on white card mount, 1965
NPG P869(20)
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 7 July 1932
NPG x127546
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 7 July 1932
NPG x127547
by Bassano
whole-plate glass negative, 7 July 1932
NPG x19080
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 3 August 1935
NPG x26634
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 3 August 1935
NPG x26631
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 3 August 1935
NPG x26632
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 3 August 1935
NPG x26633
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 13 September 1941
NPG x27172
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 13 September 1941
NPG x155204
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 13 September 1941
NPG x27173
by Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 13 September 1941
NPG x155205
by Tom Blau
modern bromide print from an original negative, 1956
NPG x131946
by Francis Goodman
2 1/4 inch square film negative, June 1960
On display in Room 31 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG x195010
by Francis Goodman
2 1/4 inch square film negative, June 1960
NPG x195076
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, circa 1914
NPG x27956
Mitford
Related People
Thomas Gibson Bowles (grandfather)
Daphne Bowyer (née Freeman-Mitford), Lady Denham (aunt)
Deborah Vivien Cavendish (née Freeman-Mitford), Duchess of Devonshire (sister)
Peregrine Andrew Morny Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire (nephew)
Hon. Iris Elizabeth Freeman-Mitford (aunt)
Jessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford (later Treuhaft) (sister)
(Ernest) Rupert Bertram Freeman-Mitford (uncle)
Thomas David Freeman-Mitford (brother)
Hon. Unity Valkyrie Freeman-Mitford (sister)
Pamela Jackson (née Freeman-Mitford) (sister)
Hon. Frances Georgiana Kearsey (née Freeman-Mitford) (aunt)
Diana Mosley (née Freeman-Mitford), Lady Mosley (sister)
Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale (grandfather)
Clementine Gertrude Helen (née Ogilvy), Lady Redesdale (grandmother)
Sydney (née Bowles), Lady Redesdale (mother)
Hon. Peter Murray Rennell Rodd (husband)
Category
Literature, Journalism and Publishing
Groups
Writers and critics
Place
France
Exhibitions and displays
- Francis Goodman: Back in Focus
Until 3 November
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