John Symonds (12 March 1914, in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

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 ...

– 21 October 2006) was an English novelist, biographer, playwright and writer of children's books.

Biography

Early life

He was the son of

Robert Wemyss Symonds Robert Wemyss Symonds FRIBA (31 December 1889 – 5 September 1958) was a British architect, and "the pre-eminent 20th century scholar and authority on English furniture".British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. A partial reconciliation with his father resulted in the latter funding research work that John Symonds would later mine for his own novels later in life.Christopher Hawtree. Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 22 November, 2006
/ref> His first job was at Hulton Press, where he worked as a journalist on Picture Post and during this period he became friends with

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

and Stephen Spender. Being exempted from military service, he helped to edit ' Lilliput' magazine. During this time he had a brief marriage with Hedwig Feurstein.

Career

In 1945 he married the

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

and counsellor Renata Symonds (1912-2007), and the following year (1946) he published his first novel, ''William Waste''. This was followed in 1955 by ''The Lady in the Tower'', and, in 1957, by another love story, ''A Girl Among Poets'', which won praise from Sir

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

, who wrote of the author's "gift for describing farcical situations". Symonds met the occultist and founder of the

Thelemite Thelema () is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word ' ...

religion, Aleister Crowley in 1946, the year before Crowley's death. Crowley's will left the copyright of his works to his unincorporated magical society,

Ordo Templi Orientis Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult Initiation, initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner (mystic), Carl Kellner, He ...

(O.T.O.), and made him Crowley's literary executor, though Crowley's legal status as an undischarged bankrupt meant that the copyrights actually ended up in receivership. At first fascinated by Crowley, Symonds became increasingly critical of his ideas and manners, in particular the use of drugs and sex. Along with one of Crowley's disciples,

Kenneth Grant Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

, Symonds edited and republished Crowley's autobiography and a number of his other works. Further to this, he authored four biographical works of his own: ''The Great Beast'' (1952), ''The Magic of Aleister Crowley'' (1958), ''The King of the Shadow Realm'' (1989) and ''The Beast 666'' (1997). Due to his somewhat negative attitude to Crowley in these works, there were many involved in Thelema and ceremonial magic who were themselves critical of Symonds, including Israel Regardie, who called him "that most hostile biographer." Nonetheless, his significance in keeping Crowley's legacy alive has also been recognised, and it has been noted that "Regardless of his reception, it is no exaggeration to state that without the publication efforts of Symonds (and Grant) Crowley could easily have been a forgotten figure by the 1970s." He found his widest (largest) audience in the writing of children's books. In 'The Magic Currant Bun', (1953), a boy chases a magic bun, which came out of an oven, through the streets of Paris He enjoyed the bun very much when he caught it in his mouth. His feline magical fantasy, ''Isle of Cats'' (illustrated by Gerard Hoffnung), followed in 1955. ''Lottie'' (1957), is the story of a talking doll and dog.

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was an English painter, print-maker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All ...

was the illustrator for this book and ''Elfrida and the Pig'' (1959), a story about little girl who is not allowed to play with dolls until she finished her punishment which was to trim her parents' bushes. After a period of writing children's books Symonds returned to biographies in 1959 with ''Madame Blavatsky, Medium and Magician'', a life of the famous Theosophist. This was followed in 1961 with ''Thomas Brown and the Angels: A Study in Enthusiasm'', about the life of a Methodist who becomes involved with the

Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

. Novels followed, beginning with ''William Waste'' (1947), ''The Lady in the Tower'' (1955), ''A Girl Among Poets'' (1957), then a gothic fantasy, ''Bezill'' (1962), then ''Light Over Water'' (1963), in which a journalist researches into the world of the occult. The subject of ''With a View on the Palace'' (1966) is a Russian film director who becomes obsessed with the Royal Family to the point of hiring an apartment near Buckingham Palace so he can observe their movements. In ''The Stuffed Dog'' (1967), two girls discover a lifelike doll in an attic which has a man's voice. With 'In Prophesy and the Parasites', 1973, a wealthy widow awaits prospective ic Psychological issues predominate in ''The Shaven Head'' (1974), and ''In Letters from England'' (1975), a German veteran of

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

humbles himself by applying to work as an au pair for a London doctor. In ''The Child'' (1976), a girl starts a new religion. Symonds wrote twenty-six plays but not many were performed. He won critical praise in 1961 for his

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

play, ''I, Having Dreamt, Awake'', about a prodigal son and con-man who returns home from America, after manufacturing a fortune, to impress his poor relations in London. ''The Poison Maker'', his final work for the stage was performed at the Old Red Lion Theatre in 2006, adapted and directed by the actress Vicki Carpenter who played Florence, with Eva Gray as Pansy. In 1970 Symonds was appointed to the editorial board of '' Man, Myth & Magic Encyclopedia''. He became literary executor to

Gerald Hamilton Gerald Bernard Francis Hamilton (1 November 1890 – 9 June 1970) was a British memoirist, critic and internationalist known as "the wickedest man in Europe".''The Man Who Was Norris: The life of Gerald Hamilton'', Tom Cullen, Daedalus, 2014. ...

, and, in 1974, published ''Conversations with Gerald'', an account of Hamilton's adventures.

Personal life and death

Symonds was married to his wife Renata for over 50 years. He died on 21 October 2006 and was buried on the east side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

. She died in 2007, aged 93. There were two sons: Gabriel, a physician, and Thomas, a publisher, and four grandchildren.Denis Duncan. Renata Symonds obituary, in ''The Guardian'', 11 September 2007
/ref>

References

Bibliography

Non-fiction

* ''The Great Beast. The Life of Aleister Crowley''. London: Rider, 1951. 316pp., illus., with "Notes on the Horoscope of Aleister Crowley" by Rupert Gleadow & 'Bibliography of the Works of Aleister Crowley' compiled by Gerald Yorke.' ** ''The Great Beast. The Life and Magick of Aleister Crowley''. London: Macdonald, 1971. viii, 413pp.,prt., with "Notes on the Horoscope of Aleister Crowley" by Rupert Gleadow. * ''The King of the Shadow Realm. Aleister Crowley his life and magic''. London: Duckworth, 1989. xi, 588pp., with 'Notes on the Horoscope of Aleister Crowley' by Rupert Gleadow. * ''The Beast 666. The Life of Aleister Crowley''. London: The Pindar Press, 1997. x, 608pp., with 'Notes on the Horoscope of Aleister Crowley' by Rupert Gleadow. * ''The Magic of Aleister Crowley''. London: Frederick Muller, 1958.209pp., illus.

Fiction

* ''William Waste''. London: Sampson Low, Marston, 1947. 184pp. * ''The Lady in the Tower'' (1955) * ''A Girl Among Poets'' (1957) * ''Bezill'' (1962) * ''Light Over Water'' (1963) * ''The Medusa's Head'' (1991)

Children's books

* ''The Stuffed Dog'' (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1967), illustrated by

External links

"John Symonds – Obituary"
''The Telegraph'', 11 November 2006, retrieved 10 May 2007.

''The Guardian'', 22 November 2006.
"John Symonds – Obituary"
''The Independent'', 11 November 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Symonds, John English biographers English children's writers English fantasy writers English male journalists English occult writers English short story writers People from Battersea 1914 births 2006 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery English male short story writers English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century British biographers 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers English male biographers