E. F. Benson
| E. F. Benson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Edward Frederic Benson 24 July 1867 Wellington College, Berkshire |
| Died | 29 February 1940 (aged 72) University College Hospital, London |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | OBE |
| Spouse | Bachelor |
| Relatives |
Edward White Benson (father) Robert Hugh Benson (brother) A. C. Benson (brother) |
Edward Frederic "E. F." Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.
E. F. Benson was born at Wellington College in Berkshire, the fifth child of the headmaster, Edward White Benson (later Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral, Bishop of Truro and Archbishop of Canterbury), and Mary Sidgwick Benson ("Minnie").
Benson was educated at Temple Grove School, then at Marlborough College, where he wrote some of his earliest works and upon which he based his novel David Blaize. He continued his education at King's College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he was a member of the Pitt Club, and later in life he became an honorary fellow of Magdalene College.
E. F. Benson was the younger brother of Arthur Christopher Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson (Maggie), an amateur Egyptologist. Two other siblings died young. Benson's parents had six children and no grandchildren. E. F. Benson never married, and is speculated to have been homosexual. Proponents of this theory point to what they consider the implicit (though admittedly critical) homoeroticism of his university works such as David Blaize (1916), his appreciation of the qualities of young men, as in "The Blotting Book" (1908), and his friendships with admitted homosexuals such as John Ellingham Brooks with whom he shared a villa in Capri. (Prior to the First World War the island was extremely popular with well-to-do homosexuals).
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