Coleção GB 2108 KUAS12 - Murdoch, Iris (1919-1999): Letter to Pam Stringer

1 letter and envelope

GB 2108 KUAS12 1962 collection 1 letter and envelope Murdoch , Dame , Jean Iris , 1919-1999 , author x Murdoch , Iris

Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was born on 15 July 1919 in Dublin; later moving with her family to Brook Green, Hammersmith. Murdoch was educated at Froebel Demonstration School at Colet Gardens; Badminton School, Bristol from 1932 and Somerville College Oxford; winning scholarships to both Badminton and Somerville College.

At Oxford, Murdoch was influenced by the classicist, Eduard Fraenkel, and her philosophy tutor Donald MacKinnon and soon joined the Communist Party. Murdoch gained a first in Classics in 1942 and was employed as assistant principal in the Treasury, 1942-1944; later joining the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, working in London, Brussels and Austria. Murdoch returned to London in 1946 winning a place at Vassar College and a Commonwealth Scholarship, however as she had declared herself a communist on her application for an American visa her application was denied. Murdoch studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, 1947-1948 and won a philosophy tutorship at St Anne's, Oxford, where she stayed until 1963, she later worked as a lecturer at Royal College of Art for four years.

Murdoch's first book Sartre: Romantic Rationalist was published in 1953 by Bowes and Bowes in a series titled 'Studies in Modern Thought' and her first novel Under the net was accepted for publication. She went on to write many books including The Bell, 1958, which achieved great commercial success and The Red and the Green, 1965, concerning the Easter rising, reflecting her Irish background. Murdoch was appointed DBE in 1987 and presented with an honorary degree from Kingston University in 1993. In 1997 Murdoch was diagnosed as suffering with Alzheimer's disease and died in Oxford on 8 February 1999.

Publications include: Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, 1997; A Fairly Honourable Defeat, 1970 and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, 1992.

Acquired in 2005.

Papers of Iris Murdoch, 1962, comprising a letter to Pam Stringer thanking her for remembering to send her the words of a song 'it fills an important blank in my novel...it is supposed to bring tears to the eyes when sung' and expressing pleasure at having seen Stringer recently in Cheltenham.

One item.

Open. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment.

Contact archive for information concerning reproduction at archives@kingston.ac.uk.

English

No additional finding aids currently exist.

KUAS37, KUAS35, KUAS50, KUAS8, KUAS11, KUAS28, KUAS7, KUAS9, KUAS10, KUAS39.

Sources: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online.
Entry compiled by Samantha Velumyl, AIM25 cataloguer.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

May 2008. Authors Murdoch , Dame , Jean Iris , 1919-1999 , author x Murdoch , Iris Music Stringer , Pam , fl 1962 Vocal music Women authors Performing arts

Acquired in 2005.

Papers of Iris Murdoch, 1962, comprising a letter to Pam Stringer thanking her for remembering to send her the words of a song 'it fills an important blank in my novel...it is supposed to bring tears to the eyes when sung' and expressing pleasure at having seen Stringer recently in Cheltenham.

One item.

Open. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment.

Contact archive for information concerning reproduction at archives@kingston.ac.uk.

• inglês

• latim

English

KUAS37, KUAS35, KUAS50, KUAS8, KUAS11, KUAS28, KUAS7, KUAS9, KUAS10, KUAS39.

No additional finding aids currently exist.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• inglês