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Alan Sillitoe

2 of 8 portraits of Alan Sillitoe

© John Hedgecoe / Topfoto

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Alan Sillitoe

by John Hedgecoe
bromide print, 1959
16 in. x 12 1/2 in. (406 mm x 319 mm)
Purchased, 2000
Primary Collection
NPG P776

Sitterback to top

  • Alan Sillitoe (1928-2010), Novelist, screenwriter, poet and playwright. Sitter in 8 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • John Hedgecoe (1932-2010), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 23 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1959back to top

Current affairs

Harold Macmillan wins the general election with an increased majority, returning to office as Conservative prime minister. The victory was the result of perceived economic improvement under the Conservative government, and his (misquoted) boast: 'you've never had it so good.' During his premiership he earned the nickname 'Supermac', coined by cartoonist, Victor 'Vicky' Weisz.

Art and science

Claudia Jones organises the first West Indian-style carnival in the country, starting the tradition of the annual Notting Hill carnival. The event was a response to the race riots of 1958, and an attempt to celebrate West Indian culture and help overcome racial prejudice by giving the whole community the opportunity to join in the event.

International

Fidel Castro becomes leader of Cuba. After defeating the American-backed Batista government, Castro's revolutionary army arrived in Havana on 8th January where Castro proclaimed himself Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Within a month, Prime Minister José Miró Cardona had resigned, and Castro took over.
In Tibet, an uprising against Chinese rule is brutally crushed, and the Dalai Lama flees to India, beginning his long exile.

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