Patrick Bashford (1929–2011) was a Polish-born professor of classical guitar at the Royal College of Music, Vogue model, and familiar face of the 1950s & 60s.

Early life

John Patrick Bashford was born at Beuthen, Germany, now

Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital ...

, Poland. His parents were Maria who was

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and Roderick who was British. Both worked for the British Consular Service in Germany until 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 ...

, when they were transferred to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Bashford was educated at Wells House prep school in

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, St Paul's, southwest London, and then at the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

Career

It is said that his pioneering work helped turn male modelling into a respectable profession. As a model he was noted for his amber eyes and athlete's carriage. He worked as a model for over thirty years. In later life he became a classical guitarist. It is said that his love of the guitar came from his Polish nanny singing him lullabies. He was 20 when he was invited by American poet

Samuel Menashe Samuel Menashe (September 16, 1925 – August 22, 2011) was an American poet. Biography Born in New York City as Samuel Menashe Weisberg, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Menashe grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, and graduated from Tow ...

on a trip to Andalucia and fell in love with the sound. Patrick studied with

José Rey de la Torre José Rey de la Torre (December 9, 1917 – July 21, 1994) was one of the most significant classical guitarists of the mid-twentieth century, and considered by many to be the father of "modern classical guitar technique". Early life Rey studied ...

Mannes College Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School cam ...

in New York City. He became a world recognised expert in Spanish classical guitar. Bashford became a professor at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in 1972.

Family

His wife was Ana Raquel Satre, an operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

. They had one child. They separated in the 1980s. Bashford had an older brother, Christopher. His uncle was Sir Henry Bashford, honorary Physician to

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

. His ancestors served with both the British and French fleets at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

Notes

External links

Photos of Patrick Bashford whilst a model in 1964Photos of Patrick Bashford at Dumfries and Galloway art festival in 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashford, Patrick 1929 births 2011 deaths Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Polish diaspora in the United Kingdom British male models British classical guitarists British male guitarists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British musicians