Literary Encyclopedia

Bruce Chatwin

  • Richard Utz (University of Northern Iowa)

Bruce (Charles) Chatwin was born on May 13 1940, the son of Charles Leslie (a lawyer) and Margharita (Turnell) Chatwin, in Sheffield, England. After a secondary school education at Marlborough College (1953-1957), he went to work as a porter at Sotheby & Company, the famous London art auction house, where he quickly and amazingly rose to art auctioneer and director of modern art. He married an American, Elizabeth Chanler, in 1965 and left Sotheby’s in 1966 to study archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, supporting himself in part by reselling a private collection of antiquities he had gathered during his career in the world of art auctioneering. Little interested in a formal educational experience or in fulfilling degree re

This article in full comprises 1228 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members. All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 17 July 2001

Citation: Utz, Richard. "Bruce Chatwin". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 July 2001

[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=837, accessed 30 July 2010.]

 

Life, Works and Times

Dates:

  • 1940 to 1989 (Life Span)
  • 1973 to 1989 (Activity Span)

Places:

  • England (Birth)
  • England (Primary Activity)

Activities:

  • Essayist (Primary)
  • Journalist (Primary)
  • Novelist (Primary)
  • Anthropologist (Other)
  • Autobiographer (Other)