Harold Nicolson
Sir Harold George Nicolson KCVO CMG (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, diplomat, historian, biographer, diarist, novelist, lecturer, journalist, broadcaster, and gardener. His wife was the writer Vita Sackville-West.
This article is about the British diplomat, writer and politician. For the former American Central Intelligence Agency officer and spy for Russia, see Harold James Nicholson.
Sir Harold Nicolson
1 May 1968 (aged 81)
Sissinghurst Castle, Kent, England
British
New Party (1931-32)
National Labour (1935-45)
Labour (from 1947)
Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock
Mary Hamilton
- British diplomat
- author
- diarist
- politician
Early life and education[edit]
Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of diplomat Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock. He spent his boyhood in various places throughout Europe and the Near East and followed his father's frequent postings, including in St. Petersburg, Constantinople, Madrid, Sofia, and Tangier.[1] He was educated at The Grange School in Folkestone, Kent, followed by Wellington College. He attended Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 1909 with a third class degree. Nicolson entered the Foreign Office that same year, after passing second in the competitive exams for the Diplomatic Service and Civil Service.[1]
Family[edit]
He and his wife had two sons, Benedict, an art historian, and Nigel, a politician and writer. Nigel later published works by and about his parents, including Portrait of a Marriage, their correspondence, and Nicolson's diary.
In 1930, Vita Sackville-West acquired Sissinghurst Castle, near Cranbrook in Kent. There the couple created the renowned gardens that are now run by the National Trust.
Honours[edit]
He was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1953 as a reward for writing the official biography of George V, which had been published the previous year.[24]
There is a blue plaque commemorating him and his wife on their house in Ebury Street, London SW1.