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 requirements, he concentrated on field work in Afghanistan…

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Citation: Utz, Richard. "Bruce Chatwin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 July 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=837, accessed 19 March 2024.]

837 Bruce Chatwin 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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