Stanley Patrick Johnson (born 18 August 1940) is a French-

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 and former

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 ...

politician who served as

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for Wight and Hampshire East from 1979 to 1984. A former employee of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, he has written books on environmental and population issues. His six children include former UK Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, life peer and former minister Jo Johnson, and journalist

Rachel Johnson Rachel Sabiha Johnson (born 3 September 1965) is a British journalist, television presenter, and author who has appeared frequently on political discussion panels, including '' The Pledge'' on Sky News and BBC One's debate programme, '' Questi ...

Personal life

Stanley Johnson was born in 1940 in Penzance, Cornwall, the son of Osman Kemal (later known as Wilfred Johnson) and Irene Williams (daughter of Stanley Fred Williams of

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, who was the grandson of Sir George Williams, and Marie Louise de Pfeffel). His paternal grandfather,

Ali Kemal Ali Kemal Bey (; 7 September 1869 – 6 November 1922) was a Turkish journalist, newspaper editor, poet, liberal-leaning politician, and government official who was for some three months Minister of the Interior in the government of Damat Feri ...

Bey, one of the last interior ministers of the Ottoman government, was assassinated in 1922 during the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

. Stanley's father was born in 1909 in Bournemouth, and his birth was registered as Osman Ali Wilfred Kemal. Osman's Anglo-Swiss mother Winifred Brun died shortly after giving birth. Ali Kemal returned to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1912, whereafter Osman Wilfred and his sister Selma were brought up by their English grandmother, Margaret Brun, and took her maiden name, Johnson, Stanley's father thus becoming Wilfred Johnson. Johnson's maternal grandmother's parents were Hubert

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

von Pfeffel (born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

on 8 December 1843) and his wife Hélène Arnous-Rivière (born on 14 January 1862). Hubert von Pfeffel was the son of Karl Freiherr von Pfeffel (born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxo ...

on 22 November 1811; died in Munich on 25 January 1890) by his marriage in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

on 16 February 1836 to Karolina von Rothenburg (born in the Free City of Frankfurt on 28 November 1805; died in Frankfurt on 13 February 1872), herself said to be the

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

daughter of

Prince Paul of Württemberg Prince Paul of Württemberg (Paul Heinrich Karl Friedrich August; 19 January 1785 – 16 April 1852) was the fourth child and second son of King Frederick I and his wife, Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Early life Paul was born in St ...

by Friederike Porth. Stanley Johnson attended

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors ...

, Dorset. While still an undergraduate reading English at

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, he took part in the Marco Polo Expedition with

Tim Severin Timothy Severin (25 September 1940 – 18 December 2020) was a British explorer, historian, and writer. Severin was noted for his work in retracing the legendary journeys of historical figures. Severin was awarded both the Founder's Medal ...

and

Michael de Larrabeiti Michael de Larrabeiti (18 August 1934 – 18 April 2008) was an English novelist and travel writer. He is best known for writing ''The Borrible Trilogy'', which has been cited as an influence by writers in the '' New Weird'' movement. Early ...

, travelling on a motorcycle and sidecar from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and on to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The adventure led to the publication of Severin's 1964 book ''Tracking Marco Polo'', with photographs by de Larrabeiti. While studying at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1963, Johnson married the painter Charlotte Fawcett in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, with whom he had four children: Boris, former Leader of the Conservative Party and

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

;

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

, journalist and former editor-in-chief of '' The Lady''; Jo, former Conservative MP for

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

, former

Minister of State for Universities The Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, formerly the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills, Further and Higher Education, previously the Minister of State for Universities, is a mid-level position in ...

, and former Head of the

Lex Column The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

at the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

''; and Leo, film-maker and entrepreneur. He dropped out of Columbia after a year. Johnson and Fawcett divorced in 1979. He married Jennifer Kidd in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

in 1981 and they had two children,

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

and Maximilian. In July 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Johnson posted pictures on Instagram of himself travelling to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece. He was criticised by Liberal Democrat MP Jamie Stone for travelling at a time when guidance under lockdown was to avoid "all but essential international travel". At the time, Greece had reopened its borders but banned direct travel from the United Kingdom; Johnson had circumvented Greece's rules by travelling via Bulgaria. In December 2020, Johnson stated that he was applying for a

French passport A French passport (french: Passeport français) is an identity document issued to French citizens. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of French citizenship (but not proof; the possession of a French p ...

to retain mobility and residence rights in the European Union, saying: "It's not a question of becoming French. If I understand correctly I am French! My mother was born in France, her mother was completely French as was her grandfather."

Work

Johnson has previously worked at the

and was the Head of Prevention of Pollution Division at the

from 1973 to 1979. He has a great interest in the environment. In 2010 he became chairman of the Gorilla Organisation, a body dedicated to saving the world's last remaining gorillas from extinction. He was previously a board member of

Plantlife International Plantlife is the international conservation membership charity working to secure a world rich in wild plants and fungi. It is the only UK membership charity dedicated to conserving wild plants and fungi in their natural habitats and helping peo ...

Politics

At the 2005 general election, Johnson stood for the

in the constituency of

Teignbridge Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot. Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish and Teignmouth. It is named for the old Teignbridge hundred. ...

, where he came second behind

Richard Younger-Ross Richard Alan Younger-Ross (born Richard Alan Ross, 29 January 1953) is a politician in England. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Teignbridge from 2001 to 2010, having contested the seat in 1992 and 1997, finally winnin ...

of the Liberal Democrats. In May 2008, Johnson hoped to be selected to contest his son Boris's parliamentary seat of Henley for the

. However, the local Conservative party had chosen three local people as possible candidates and on 30 May, local councillor John Howell was selected to fight the by-election. Having supported the Remain campaign during the 2016 European Union membership referendum, in October 2017 he came out in support of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, stating that "the time has come to bail out" and cited the approach and attitude of the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...

as a major factor in his change of mind. He added that argument and debate over the length or detail of any transition or implementation period is expected but the ultimate "end-state" of the UK leaving the European Union is decided.

Books and other writing

He has published a number of books dealing with environmental issues and nine novels, including ''The Commissioner'', which was made into a 1998 film starring

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

. In 1962 he won the Newdigate Prize for Poetry. The Marburg Virus (1982, Heinemann) ISBN 0-434-37704-X His 2015 novel ''The Virus'' is a thriller about the rise of a mysterious virus and the fight to stop a deadly pandemic He has written a memoir, ''Stanley I Presume'', which was published in March 2009. For a time, starting on 26 May 2005, he wrote a weekly column for the ''G2'' section of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and continues to write for various newspapers and magazines, often on environmental topics.

Television

He was one of the first regular hosts of the late night discussion programme ''The Last Word'' on Channel 4's

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content When ...

channel, and made an appearance on '' Have I Got News For You'' on 7 May 2004. In November 2017, Johnson was confirmed as a contestant for the seventeenth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. He was the fifth person to be eliminated from the show, finishing in seventh place. In 2018, alongside eight other celebrities, he appeared on the BBC programme ''

The Real Marigold Hotel ''The Real Marigold Hotel'' (known in Australia as ''The Indian Dream Hotel'') is a British travel documentary series created by Twofour productions, directed by Aparna Sanyal and broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two. The show, whose name is based ...

''. In February 2020 he appeared on BBC Two's ''

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip ''Antiques Road Trip'' (also known as ''Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'') is a BBC television series produced by STV Studios. It was first shown on BBC Two from 2010 to 2012, and has been shown on BBC One since 2013. This show is not to be conf ...

''.

Awards

In 1983 he received the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

Richard Martin Award for Outstanding Services to animal welfare. He was for many years an ambassador for the UNEP

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or the Bonn Convention, is an international agreement that aims to conserve migratory species throughout their r ...

based in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, Germany. In October 2015 Johnson was awarded the RSPB Medal by the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment thr ...

for his role in the creation of one of the cornerstones of Europe's nature conservation policy – the Habitats Directive (1992). In December 2015 he received the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

Leader for a Living Planet Award.

Spousal abuse and inappropriate touching

Biographer

Tom Bower Thomas Michael Bower (born 28 September 1946) is a British writer and former BBC journalist and television producer. He is known for his investigative journalism and for his unauthorised biographies, often of business tycoons and newspaper pr ...

records in an interview with his first wife Charlotte Fawcett that 'he hit me many times, over many years'. On one occasion in the 1970s he allegedly broke her nose, with Fawcett stating: "He broke my nose. He made me feel like I deserved it. I want the truth to be told." On 15 November 2021, Caroline Nokes accused Johnson of spanking her at the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool in 2003. Johnson said that he had "no recollection of Caroline Nokes at all". Following this, journalist Ailbhe Rea accused Johnson of groping her at the 2019 Conservative Party conference.

Public statements

In August 2018 Johnson said his son

's comments that Muslim women who wear burkas look like "letterboxes" and "bank robbers" did not go far enough, and that criticism of the comments had been "synthetic indignation" created by political opponents. In October 2018 Johnson said that, irrespective of the solution for the border on the island of Ireland after

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

, if the Irish people "want to shoot each other, they will shoot each other". In November 2019 Johnson appeared on BBC's ''

Victoria Derbyshire Victoria Antoinette Derbyshire is a British journalist, newsreader and broadcaster. Her eponymous current affairs and debate programme was broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel from 2015 until March 2020. She has also presented ''News ...

'' show and was told that one viewer had called his son Boris "

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

". Johnson replied, "Pinocchio? That requires a degree of literacy which I think the Great British public doesn't necessarily have." Johnson defended his statement by arguing that he was being humorous, but argued that it was "utterly absurd and wrong that you can read out on air a tweet coming in from one of your readers which calls the prime minister a liar. I think it is amazing you can do that". In June 2022, Johnson was accused of lobbying on behalf of China. He has campaigned for lifting the ban of the Chinese ambassador to the UK on entering

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Works

*''Gold Drain'' (1967, Heinemann) ISBN B0000CNKG6 *''Panther Jones for President'' (1968, Heinemann) *''Life without Birth: A Journey Through the Third World in Search of the Population Explosion'' (1970, Heinemann) *''The Green Revolution'' (1972, Hamilton) *''The Population Problem'' (1973, David & C) *''The Politics of Environment'' (1973, T Stacey) *''The Urbane Guerilla'' (1975, Macmillan) *''Pollution Control Policy of the EEC'' (1978, Graham & Trotman) *''The Doomsday Deposit'' (1979, EP Dutton) *''The Marburg Virus'' (1982, Heinemann) *''Tunnel'' (1984, Heinemann) *''Antarctica: The Last Great Wilderness'' (1985, Weidenfeld & N) *''The Commissioner'' (1987, Century) *''World Population and the United Nations'' (1987, Cambridge UP) *''Dragon River'' (1989, Frederick Muller) *''The Earth Summit: The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)'' (1993, Kluwer Law International) *''World Population - Turning the Tide'' (1994, Kluwer Law International) *''The Environmental Policy of the European Communities'' (1995, Kluwer Law International) *''The Politics of Population: Cairo, 1994'' (1995, Earthscan) *''Icecap'' (1999, Cameron May) *''Stanley I Presume'' (2009, Fourth Estate Ltd) *''Survival: Saving Endangered Migratory Species'' o-authored with Robert Vagg(2010, Stacey International) *''Where the Wild Things Were: Travels of a Conservationist'' (2012, Stacey International) *''UNEP The First 40 Years; A Narrative by Stanley Johnson'' (2012, United Nations Environment Programme) *''Stanley I Resume'' (2014, Biteback) *''The Virus'' (2015, Witness Impulse) Stanley Johnson (2015)
''The Virus''
HarperCollins *''Kompromat'' (2017, Point Blank)

References

External links

Stanley Johnson
personal site *
Biographical Note
European Environment Agency
Channel 4 Election Weblogs - Stanley Johnson
Stanley Johnson's column 26 May 2005.
Newspaper articles by Stanley JohnsonInterview with Stanley Johnson, London 2011, for History of the European Commission (1973-86)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Stanley Patrick 1940 births Living people Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Columbia University alumni Conservative Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 1979–1984 English people of Circassian descent English people of German descent English people of French descent English people of Turkish descent People educated at Sherborne School People from Penzance Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British politicians of Turkish descent English people of Swiss descent Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants Boris Johnson family