Vivien Noakes (née Langley; 16 February 1937 – 17 February 2011) was a British biographer, editor and critic, an expert on

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

and the literature of the First World War. She was a fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

Early life and education

She was born Vivien Mary Langley, daughter of noted aeronautical engineer Marcus Langley and educated at

Dunottar School Dunottar School is an independent school in Reigate, Surrey, England, established in 1926. History The school was established in 1926 by Jessie Elliot-Pyle in Brownlow Road with three pupils, and was named after Dunnottar Castle in Scotland. She ...

, leaving with A-levels. It was not until later in life that she took her degree at

Manchester College, Oxford Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...

, and

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

, where she was subsequently lecturer.

Career

She lectured at Harvard University and at the Yale Center for British Art. She was a leading authority- per her ''Times'' obituary, "the world's leading authority"- on

and on the literature of World War I.

Personal life

She was married to the painter Michael Noakes, in collaboration with whom she produced ''The Daily Life of The Queen: An Artist's Diary'' (2000); the couple had three children: Anya, Jonathan and Benedict. She died of cancer the day after her 74th birthday, a month after suffering a stroke. Noakes left copies of many of Lear's letters to Somerville College Library.

Works

*''Edward Lear, The Life of a Wanderer'' (1968). (2006 ed.) *''Edward Lear, 1812-1888'' (1986). *''The Painter Edward Lear'' (1991). *''The Daily Life of The Queen: An Artist's Diary'' (2000) with Michael Noakes. *''Voices of Silence'' (2006).

Links

Michael and Vivien Noakes' website
accessed 10 April 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noakes, Vivien 1937 births 2011 deaths English biographers English literary critics Women literary critics Alumni of Harris Manchester College, Oxford Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Harvard University staff Yale University staff Deaths from cancer in England Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Dunottar School for Girls