Gerhardie, William Alexander, 1895-1977

William Alexander Gerhardie (1895-1977), novelist and critic, was born in St Petersburg, Russia, on 21 November 1895, where he attended the St Annen Schule and Reformierte Schule. He moved to London, with the intention of training for a commercial career, but joined the Royal Scots Greys at the outbreak of the First World War. He was posted to the British embassy in Petrograd, 1916-1918, and in 1918 was attached to the Scots Guards. After the war, Gerhardie travelled the world before attending Worcester College, Oxford, where he obtained a B.A. in Russian in 1922. His first two novels, Futility (1922) and The polyglots (1925), were well received, and he became a prolific writer of novels and short stories. Gerhardie travelled widely before settling in London in 1931, where he remained for the rest of his life. During the Second World War, he worked for the B.B.C. He published his last novel in 1940, and thereafter lived in increasing obscurity, involving himself in a l ittle broadcasting and essay-writing. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1975. He died in London on 15 July 1977.

From the guide to the William Gerhardie: Correspondence and literary papers, 20th century, (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)

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