Henry Harvey Wood

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

OBE (1903–1977) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

literary and artistic figure best known as a founder of the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are i ...

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 5 September 1903 the second of three children to Henry Wood (d.1934) a paper-maker, and his wife, Anne Cassidy. He was educated at the

Royal High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the ci ...

then studied at the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

. He then moved to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

to study English Literature under a Vans Dunlop Scholarship. He graduated MA in 1931. He began lecturing in English Literature and

Rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

at Edinburgh immediately after graduating. He spoke with a lisp. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was declared unfit for active service, but worked briefly in Intelligence. Wood established a branch of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

in 1940. He enlisted the help of artistic and literary friends such as the poet

Edwin Muir Edwin Muir CBE (15 May 1887 – 3 January 1959) was a Scottish poet, novelist and translator. Born on a farm in Deerness, a parish of Orkney, Scotland, he is remembered for his deeply felt and vivid poetry written in plain language and wit ...

In 1943 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Stanley Cursiter Stanley Cursiter (29 April 1887 – 22 April 1976) was an Orcadian artist who played an important role in introducing Post-impressionism and Futurism to Scotland. He served as the keeper (1919–1930), then director (1930–1948), of the Nati ...

James Cameron Smail Dr James Cameron Smail FRSE FRSGS PRSSA CBE LLD (1880-1970) was a Scottish university Principal. Heriot Watt University library is named the Cameron Smail Library in his honour. He wrote extensively on printing and the history of printing. Life ...

Thomas Elder Dickson Dr Thomas Elder Dickson PSSA FRSE (26 August 1899 – 31 March 1978) was a Scottish artist operational through the 20th century. He was also Vice-Principal of the Edinburgh College of Art from 1947 to 1968. He was President of the Society of Scot ...

and

James Pickering Kendall James Pickering Kendall FRS FRSE (30 July 1889, in Chobham, Surrey – 14 June 1978, in Edinburgh) was a British chemist. Life Kendall was born in Chobham, Surrey to soldier William Henry Kendall of the Royal Horse Artillery, and his second w ...

. He also published critical editions of works by

Robert Henryson Robert Henryson (Middle Scots: Robert Henrysoun) was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460–1500. Counted among the Scots ''makars'', he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the Northern Renai ...

and John Marston as well as a book on

Scottish literature Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by List of Scottish writers, Scottish writers. It includes works in Scottish English, English, Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots, Brythonic languages, Bryth ...

. He persuaded

Rudolf Bing Sir Rudolf Bing, KBE (January 9, 1902 – September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born British opera impresario who worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably being General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

to meet with the

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

Sir John Falconer which led to the staging of the Festival in 1947. He served as the first chairman of the program committee and on the Executive Council. He left Edinburgh in 1950 when asked to run the British Council in France. He worked briefly in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

before again working for the Council in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

from 1960 to 1965. He returned to Edinburgh University in 1965. He died of cancer at his home, 158

Coleherne Court Coleherne Court is a large apartment block on the Old Brompton Road in the Earl's Court district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Coleherne Court stands on the site of the former Coleherne House and Hereford House. It was built ...

on 12 August 1977. He was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

on 17 August.

Publications

*''The Poems and Fables of

'' (1933) *''The Plays of John Marston'' (1934) *''The Cherrie and the Slae'' (1937) *''Scottish Literature'' (1952) *''Two Scots Chaucerians'' (1967) *''

William MacTaggart Sir William MacTaggart, (1903–1981) was a Scottish painter known for his landscapes of East Lothian, France, Norway and elsewhere. He is sometimes called William MacTaggart the Younger to distinguish him from his grandfather, the painter Willi ...

'' (1974)

Family

In 1932 he married Lily Terry (1907–2005). They had a son and two daughters.

Artistic recognition

His portrait by Sir William Gillies is held by the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

but is rarely displayed.

References

1903 births 1977 deaths Writers from Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish writers Deaths from cancer in England People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art People of the British Council British arts administrators {{Scotland-writer-stub