Nigel Heseltine (3 July 1916 – 1995) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

author of travel books,

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, as well as an

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

for the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Biography

Heseltine was born 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 ...

in 1916, the son of composer Philip Heseltine, better known as

Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occultism, occult practices, was used for all his ...

. His mother is often reported to be Minnie Lucy Channing, an occasional model for

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

, nicknamed "Puma". However, in his memoir ''Capriol for Mother'', Heseltine states that his mother was a Swiss woman, a friend of Juliette Huxley. He spent most of his childhood in Wales with Warlock's mother and Welsh stepfather at Cefn Bryntalch,

Llandyssil Llandyssil is a village in Powys, Wales, about two miles from the town of Montgomery. The village is part of the Llandyssil community. In 2001 there were 420 inhabitants in the parish, of whom 300 lived in the village itself.The population figu ...

, and attended Shrewsbury School. In 1937 he travelled on foot across

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and wrote of his experience in ''Scarred Background''. In 1938 he married Natalia Borisovna Galitzine or Galitzina, an aristocrat in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. He married four more times. During

World War II 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 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, working as a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

for the Olympia Theatre company of Shelagh Richards (1903–1985).Nigel Heseltine
/ref> In the 1950s he was based in Rome working as an agronomist for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. During this time he travelled widely across Africa, eventually settling in Madagascar for twelve years, and then on

Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodr ...

as Resident Commissioner. Later he wrote several books about Africa, including ''From Libyan Sands to Chad'' (an account of crossing the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

) and ''Madagascar''. Towards the end of his career he was employed by the

Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. History The Department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, travelling extensively in the

Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

. He retired in Perth, where he died in 1995.

Works

*''Scarred Background (a Journey Through Albania)'' (1938) *''Violent Rain: a Poem'' The Latin Press (1938) *''The Four-Walled Dream: Poems''

The Fortune Press Reginald Ashley Caton (1897–1971) was an English publisher. He appears as a literary character, especially in novels by Kingsley Amis. In 1924 he founded the Fortune Press in London, initially as a small press specialising in gay erotica. S ...

(1941) *''Dafydd ap Gwilym, Selected poems'' (1944,

Cuala Press The Cuala Press was an Irish private press set up in 1908 by Elizabeth Yeats with support from her brother William Butler Yeats that played an important role in the Celtic Revival of the early 20th century. Originally Dun Emer Press, from 1908 un ...

) translator *''Tales of the Squirearchy'', Druid Press, 1946 *''The Mysterious Pregnancy: a novel'' (published as ''Inconstant Lady'' in the U.S.A.) 1953 *''From Libyan Sands to Chad'' (1959) *''Remaking Africa'' (1961) *''Twenty-five Poems, Dafydd ap Gwilym'' (1968, Piers Press, reprint of 1944 book) translator *''Madagascar'' (1971) *''Capriol for Mother'' (1992), a memoir of Peter Warlock and his family by his son

References

*Rhian Davies, ''Scarred Background: Nigel Heseltine (1916–1995), A Biographical Introduction and a Bibliography'', in ''Welsh Writing in English: A Yearbook of Critical Essays'', Volume 11 (2006-7) 1916 births 1995 deaths Welsh short story writers Welsh travel writers 20th-century Welsh poets 20th-century Welsh dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British short story writers {{Wales-writer-stub