John Patrick Douglas Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross (25 June 1904 – 4 June 1976) was a Scottish historian and writer noted for his biography of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

and other works on

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...

history.

Early life

Balfour was born on 25 June 1904. He was the eldest son of

Patrick Balfour, 2nd Baron Kinross Patrick Balfour, 2nd Baron Kinross KC (23 April 1870 – 28 July 1939) was a Scottish peer and advocate. Early life Balfour was born on 23 April 1870. He was the eldest son and only child of John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross and the former Lilias O ...

and Caroline Elsie Johnstone-Douglas (1879–1969). His paternal grandparents were the

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

John Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross John Blair Balfour, 1st Baron Kinross (11 July 1837 – 22 January 1905) was a Scottish lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1899. Early life Balfour was born in the manse at Clackmannan, the son of Rev. P ...

and, his first wife, Lilias Oswald Mackenzie (a daughter of Donald Mackenzie, Lord Mackenzie). His maternal grandparents were Jane Maitland Hathorn-Stewart and Arthur Johnstone-Douglas, an member of the extended Marquess of Queensberry family. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, where he was a member of the

Railway Club Railway Stage & Beer Café is Vancouver’s longest continually operating nightclub, occupying the same premises uninterrupted from 1931 to 2016. Three rooms made up the second floor space at the corner of Seymour and Dunsmuir Street. The first was ...

. He then became a journalist and writer.

Career

A prominent historian, Lord Kinross was a writer noted for his biography of

and other works on

history. During the Second World War he served with the Royal Air Force and from 1944 to 1947 was First Secretary at the British Embassy at Cairo.

Personal life

In 1938, he married Angela Mary Culme-Seymour (1912–2012), daughter of George Culme-Seymour and Janet (née Orr-Ewing) and former wife of the artist John Spencer-Churchill. Having been separated by World War II when Balfour was posted to Cairo, she started a five-year relationship with Major Robert Hewer-Hewitt by whom she had two sons, Mark and Johnny. Patrick and Angela were divorced in 1942.The Daily Telegraph: Angela Culme-Seymour
3 February 2012. Despite the brief marriage, Lord Kinross was homosexual; he had no issue and was succeeded by his brother

David Andrew Balfour, 4th Baron Kinross David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. He is buried in "Lords Row" in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

, Edinburgh with all previous ancestors of the title

Baron Kinross Baron Kinross, of Glasclune in the County of Haddington, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 July 1902 for Scottish lawyer John Balfour, Liberal politician and Lord President of the Court of Session. His grand ...

In popular culture

In 1974

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 ...

wrote the poem ''For Patrick: aetat LXX'' published in his ''A Nip in the Air'', with a footnote giving Balfour's name and title.

Books

*''Society Racket. A Critical Survey of Modern Social Life'' (1933) *''The Ruthless Innocent'' (1949) Supposedly based on the character of Angela Culme-Seymour *''The Orphaned Realm: Journeys in Cyprus'' (1951) *''Within the Taurus: A Journey in Asiatic Turkey'' (1954) *''Portrait of Greece with photographs in colour by Dimitri, Max Parrish: London (1956) *''Europa Minor: Journeys in Coastal Turkey'' (1956) *''The Kindred Spirit; a history of gin and of the House of Booth'' (London, 1959) *''The Innocents at Home n account of the author's travels in the United States of America' (1959) *''Atatürk: The Rebirth of a Nation'' (London. 1964) *''Atatürk: A Biography of Mustafa Kemal, Father of Modern Turkey'' (New York. 1965) *''Portrait of Egypt'' (1966) *''The Windsor Years: The Life of Edward, as Prince of Wales, King, and Duke of Windsor'' (1967) *''Between Two Seas: The Creation of the Suez Canal'' (1968) *''Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire'' (1977) *''Hagia Sophia :A History of Constantinople'' (1979) Newsweek Book Division

References

External links

National Portrait Gallery
NPG.org.uk. Accessed 30 November 2022.

ThePeerage.com. Accessed 30 November 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinross, Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Balfour, John Patrick Balfour, John Patrick Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Balfour, John Patrick Balfour, John Patrick British gay writers LGBT peers LGBT writers from Scotland People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British diplomats 20th-century British historians Scottish biographers British Islamic studies scholars Historians of the Ottoman Empire British travel writers Kinross, Patrick, 3rd Baron Burials at the Dean Cemetery 20th-century LGBT people