Sir Henry Thomas Hopkinson (19 April 1905 – 20 June 1990) was a British journalist, picture magazine editor, author, and teacher.

Early life

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, his father was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

clergyman and a scholar, and his mother had been a school mistress. Hopkinson attended prep school on the Lancashire coast and then St Edward's School, Oxford. From there he went to

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, reading

Classical Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ' ...

(Class II, 1925) and Greats (Class III, 1927). His philosophy tutor for Greats was

R. G. Collingwood Robin George Collingwood (; 22 February 1889 – 9 January 1943) was an English philosopher, historian and archaeologist. He is best known for his philosophical works, including ''The Principles of Art'' (1938) and the posthumously published ...

Early work

Tom Hopkinson first worked in advertising and publicity, then became a magazine assistant editor in 1934. He was soon working for

Stefan Lorant Stefan Lorant ( hu, Lóránt István; February 22, 1901 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary – November 14, 1997 in Rochester, Minnesota) was a pioneering Hungarian-American filmmaker, photojournalist, and author. Early work He was born on February 22 ...

on ''

Weekly Illustrated ''Weekly Illustrated'' was a weekly British magazine. The magazine was launched in 1934 by Odhams Press, publishers of the Daily Herald. Under the editorship of Stefan Lorant (1901–1997) it was the first British picture magazine that was base ...

'' magazine, and wrote short stories and novels during his free time. He also assisted Lorant on '' Lilliput'' magazine, and then on '' Picture Post'' magazine from 1938 to 1940. When Lorant left permanently for America in July 1940, Hopkinson became editor of ''Picture Post'', in 1940, remaining until 1950. It was Hopkinson who began photojournalist Bert Hardy's connection with ''Picture Post''. Another colleague there was

Jeffrey Mark Jeffrey Mark (1898 – December 1965) was an English composer, folk song collector and writer. Life and career Mark was born in Carlisle, Cumberland, the son of a cabinet maker, and in 1909 won a scholarship to the Carlisle Grammar School. At 16 ...

Middle career

Hopkinson defended his staff's editorial independence fiercely, and his publisher, Sir Edward Hulton, a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

member for most of his career, did not always appreciate Hopkinson's left-wing views, which affected ''Picture Post'' more strongly than the occasional right-wing views which also found their way into that magazine. While working for the ''Picture Post'' in the Congo, Hopkinson reportedly saved a man's life by standing over him to prevent a mob beating the man to death. In October 1950, after photojournalist Bert Hardy and writer

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

returned to London from their

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

coverage, Hopkinson tried to go to press with their coverage of United Nations atrocities in

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

. Hulton stopped the presses, fearing that coverage would "give aid and comfort to the enemy". Hopkinson persisted and Hulton sacked him. During the next six and one-half years, ''Picture Post'' was led by a revolving door of editors, many of whom did not do well for the magazine, which had been the leading picture magazine in Britain during World War II and for at least five years thereafter. Hopkinson became editor of South Africa's ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'' magazine in 1958. He encouraged the South Africa photojournalist

Peter Magubane Peter Magubane (born 18 January 1932) is a South African photographer. Early life Peter Sexford Magubane was born in Vrededorp, now Pageview, a suburb of Johannesburg, and grew up in Sophiatown. He began taking photographs using a Kodak Browni ...

, who was covering the

anti-apartheid struggle The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...

. He travelled regularly to Ghana and Nigeria during this time, organising the local editions of ''Drum''. Hopkinson provided the textual material for the South African volume of the Life World Library published by

Time Inc Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Ill ...

in 1965.

Later career

When Hopkinson left ''Drum'', he went on to teach journalism in British universities and studied United States journalism schools. In 1969 he was in Malta advising on the setting up of a Journalism course. He was founding director of the Centre for Journalism Studies at

University College Cardiff , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, from 1970 to 1975. Later, he returned to Oxford. He continued his habit of writing short stories, novels, and also wrote a memoir, ''Of This Our Time'', about his life from 1905 up to 1950. He was knighted by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1978.

Family life

Hopkinson married three times; his wives were Antonia White,

Gerti Deutsch Gertrude Helene Deutsch (1908–1979), also known as Gertrude Hopkinson, was an Austrian-born British photographer. She is best known for her work for the magazine ''Picture Post'', from 1938 until 1950. Early life and education Deutsch was a ...

and Dorothy Hopkinson. He was the father of three children: (by Antonia White) Lyndall Hopkinson Passerini and (by Gert Deutsch) Nicolette Hopkinson Roeske and

Amanda Hopkinson Amanda Hopkinson (born 1948) is a British scholar and literary translator. Biography She was born in London to the British journalist and magazine editor Sir Tom Hopkinson and photographer Gerti Deutsch. She gained a BA from the University of Wa ...

Other works

Hopkinson and his last wife, Dorothy, co-authored ''Much Silence'' (Gollancz, 1974), a biography of Meher Baba. He and Dorothy met Baba in London in 1952, became devotees, and were considerably influenced by him. Lady Hopkinson died in August 1993, and Hopkinson later rewrote and expanded their work on Baba into a larger version, ''The Silent Messenger: The Life & Work of Meher Baba'', which was completed but apparently never published."Glow International", November 1993, pp.23–24