
Robert Cecil Romer Maugham, 2nd Viscount Maugham (17 May 1916 – 13 March 1981), known as Robin Maugham, was a British author.
Trained as a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
, he served with distinction in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and wrote a successful
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...
, ''
The Servant'', later filmed with
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...
and
James Fox
James William Fox (born William Fox; 19 May 1939) is an English actor known for his work in film and television. Fox's career began in the 1960s through roles in films such as '' The Servant'' and ''Performance''. He is also known for his role ...
. This was followed by over thirty books including novels, travelogues, plays and biographical works. In the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, he drew attention to
human trafficking
Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...
as the new slavery.
Family background
Maugham was the son of
Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham
Frederic Herbert Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham, (20 October 1866 – 23 March 1958) was a British barrister and judge who was Lord Chancellor from March 1938 until September 1939.
Background and education
Born in Paris, Maugham was the se ...
, and Helen Romer.
Educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...
,
he was expected to follow his father and grandfather into the law. But although he qualified as a barrister, he realised that his real calling was to follow his uncle
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
as a writer. He also responded against his elite background, turning socialist as a reaction to the spread of
fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
in 1930s Europe.
War service
When the Second World War looked inevitable, he declined a commission in the Hussars and instead joined up as an ordinary trooper in the
4th County of London Yeomanry tank regiment bound for North Africa. Later, his commanding officer Brigadier Carr recorded in dispatches that Robin Maugham had saved the lives of perhaps 40 men by pulling them from destroyed tanks. At the
Battle of Gazala
The Battle of Gazala, also the Gazala Offensive (Italian language, Italian: ''Battaglia di Ain el-Gazala'') was fought near the village of Gazala during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, f ...
in Libya he sustained a severe head wound that resulted in blackouts, which he later joked made him perfect material for a job in intelligence.
After a period of convalescence he became the unofficial liaison officer between
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
and both
Glubb Pasha
Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb, KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC, KStJ, KPM (16 April 1897 – 17 March 1986), known as Glubb Pasha (; and known as Abu Hunaik by the Jordanians), was a British military officer who led and trained Transj ...
and
General Paget. He describes in his first travel book ''Nomad'' (Chapman & Hall 1947) how he dashed across the Levant from one bemedalled dignitary to another. His maverick style proved an effective driving force behind the setting up of the
Middle East Centre for Arab Studies
The Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) was an Arabic language college created by the British Army during World War II in Jerusalem, and relocated afterwards as a civilian institution to Lebanon near Beirut where it functioned between 1947� ...
(MECAS), corroborated in Leslie McLoughlin's history of British Arabists in the 20th century ''In a Sea of Knowledge'' (Ithaca Press 2002). MECAS had a profound effect on diplomatic relations in the Middle East for decades to come. Frustrated by governmental delays, and in a state of exhaustion, he was invalided back to England.
Literary career
Disillusioned by politics, Maugham turned his mind to writing. His first professional dramatic work appeared at the Chanticleer Theatre in South Kensington (1944). This was followed by a novel, ''Come to Dust'' (Chapman & Hall 1945), written in a hospital bed as a cathartic release from the traumas of war. His first major success came with the publication of a novella entitled ''The Servant'' (Falcon Press 1948), on which was based the classic film ''
The Servant'' directed by Joseph Losey, starring
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...
and
James Fox
James William Fox (born William Fox; 19 May 1939) is an English actor known for his work in film and television. Fox's career began in the 1960s through roles in films such as '' The Servant'' and ''Performance''. He is also known for his role ...
.
After his father died in 1958, he took the title of 2nd Viscount Maugham. His maiden speech in the House of Lords on slavery alerted the world to the continued existence of human trafficking. From this came his book ''The Slaves of Timbuktu'' (Longmans 1961). At the height of his career, Maugham was a best-selling author with his novels translated into many languages. He wrote over thirty books including novels, travel books, plays, and biographical works such as ''Somerset and all the Maughams'' (Heinemann 1966).
There has been a revival of interest in the works of Robin Maugham with the republication of his novellas ''The Servant'' and ''
The Wrong People'' with introductions by the playwright William Lawrence, a trustee of the 2nd Viscount Maugham's Estate (Deed of Appointment 5 December 2007).
Personal life
Described as "unashamedly
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...
",
Maugham never married, and the viscountcy became extinct upon his death. He had three sisters: Kate, Honor, and novelist Diana Marr-Johnson (1908–2007).
Maugham bought the merchant ship ''
MV Joyita
MV ''Joyita'' was an American merchant ship, merchant vessel from which 25 passengers and crew mysteriously disappeared in the Australasia, South Pacific in October 1955. She was found Ghost ship, adrift with no one aboard.
The ship was in ver ...
'' as a hulk in the early 1960s, writing about the mystery of the incident in his book ''The Joyita Mystery'' (1962). The ship had been lost at sea only to reappear five weeks later after a massive search found nothing, without crew or passengers, and with four tons of cargo missing.
He wrote a candid, critically acclaimed,
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
, ''
Escape from the Shadows
''Escape from the Shadows'' is the 1972 autobiography of British author Robin Maugham (1916–1981), later the 2nd Viscount Maugham.
The title refers to three huge shadows over Maugham’s life: his famous father, Frederic Maugham, 1st Visc ...
'' (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1972), and then a sequel, ''Search for Nirvana'' (W. H. Allen London 1975) which he dedicated to his last companion William Lawrence who travelled with him on his search and who assisted him with his work.
Death

In the last five years of his life, with the impact of the new movement of
working class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
realism, his popularity began to diminish and his health deteriorated. Maugham died in
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
in 1981, aged 64.
He died from a
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...
, compounded by long-standing
diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained hyperglycemia, high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or th ...
, although an official cause of death was difficult to obtain as his body was apparently lost for forty-eight hours after his death. He is buried in
Hartfield
Hartfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The parish also includes the settlements of Colemans Hatch, Hammerwood and Holtye, all lying on the northern edge of Ashdown Forest.
Geography
The main ...
, Sussex, next to his parents.
Missing diaries
In November 1991 it was discovered that 24 of the author's chronicles which dated back to the war years, his friendship with
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
and his time in British Intelligence, had mysteriously disappeared from the home of one of the executors of his estate. The disappearance of Maugham's diaries became the subject of an official investigation by the Chelsea Crime Squad. An article appeared in the Peterborough column of ''The Daily Telegraph'' on 22 November 1991 under the heading "Maugham Whodunnit Puzzles Chelsea" – a longer more detailed analysis by the writer and investigative journalist, Michael Thornton, appeared in ''The Independent on Sunday'' Review on 22 February 1992, detailing the episode. The diaries were left in trust for the playwright William Lawrence, the author's last partner.
After Maugham's death the subsequent High Court Grant of Probate issued on 23 January 1984 granted William Lawrence as the main beneficiary of the author's works which included a settlement with regard to Maugham's diaries under which the chronicles were kept in trust with the 2nd Viscount's estate.
Works
Novels
*''The Servant'' (1948)
*''Line on Ginger'' (1949; used for the film ''
The Intruder'')
*''The Rough and the Smooth'' (1951)
*''Behind the Mirror'' (1955)
[John Betjeman, in the ''Daily Telegraph'': 'Robin Maugham can write �� ��the sincerity of the author and his gift of narrative and brief y certain powers of describing a scene, character make him a fiction addict's delight.']
*''The Man with Two Shadows'' (1958)
*''November Reef'' (1962)
*''The Green Shade'' (1966)
*''
The Wrong People'' (1967)
*''The Second Window'' (1968)
*''The Link: A Victorian Mystery'' (1969)
*''The Last Encounter'' (1972)
*''The Barrier'' (1973)
*''The Sign'' (1974)
*''Knock on Teak'' (1976)
*''Lovers in Exile'' (1977)
*''The Dividing Line'' (1978)
*''The Corridor'' (1980)
*''Refuge'' (1980, unpublished)
*''The Deserters'' (1981)
Collections
*''The Black Tent and Other Stories'' (appeared 1972; had been made into a film ''
The Black Tent
''The Black Tent'' is a 1956 British war film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel, Anna Maria Sandri, André Morell and Donald Pleasence. It is set in North Africa, during the Second World War and was film ...
'' in 1956)
*''The Boy from Beirut and Other Stories'', edited by Peter Burton (1982)
Biography and travel
Plays, speeches, television and radio
*1955: ''The Leopard'' (play) set in
Tanganyika.
Connaught Theatre
The Connaught Theatre is a Streamline Moderne-style theatre and cinema in the centre of Worthing, in West Sussex, England. Built as the Picturedrome cinema in 1914, the venue was extended in 1935 and became the new home of the Connaught Theatre ...
, Worthing
*1956: ''Mister Lear'' (play) Connaught Theatre, Worthing
*1957: ''Rise Above It'' (Television) Produced by ABC. BBC Productions
*1957: ''Odd Man In'' (play) Adaptation of Claude Magnier's comedy ''Monsieur Masure''. St Martin's Theatre
*1957: ''The Last Hero'' (play) Repertory Players,
Strand Theatre, London. The subject was the life of General Gordon
*1957: ''The Lonesome Road'' (Play) by Robin Maugham and
Philip King.
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It opened on April 20, 1927.
History
It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre cen ...
, London, (1957)
*1957: ''Winter in Ischia'' (Play) (not yet performed), see also 1965
*1958: ''The Servant'' (play) Adaptation by Robin Maugham. Connaught Theatre, Worthing
*1960: ''Slavery in Africa and Arabia'' (The House of Lords publication of his maiden speech; Hansard)
*1960: ''The Two Wise Virgins of Hove'' (ITV Television)
*1961: ''The Claimant'' (play) Connaught Theatre, Worthing
*1962: ''Azouk'' (play) Adaptation of Alexandre Rivermale's play by Robin Maugham and
Willis Hall
Willis Edward Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio, television and film writer who drew on his working-class roots in Leeds for much of his writing. Willis formed an extremely prolific partnership with h ...
. The Flora Robson Playhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne
*1962: ''The Last Hero'' (radio play) based on the life of
General Gordon. Produced for BBC Radio, Saturday Night Theatre
*1965: ''Winter in Ischia'' (television ITV), see also 1957
*1966: ''Gordon of Khartoum'' (''
Play of the Month
''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different wor ...
'', BBC1)
*1966: ''The Servant'' (play) The
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a theatre located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, it presents a series of locally produced and national touring productions, including opera, ballet and pantomime. The theatre ...
, Guildford
*1969: ''Enemy'' (play) Premiere, The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford
*1969: ''Enemy'' (play)
Saville Theatre
The Saville Theatre building is a former West End theatre and cinema at 135 Shaftesbury Avenue in the London Borough of Camden. The theatre opened in 1931, and became a music venue during the 1960s. In 1970, it became a cinema, most recently a ...
, London
*1981: ''A Question of Retreat'' (play) Nightingale Theatre, Brighton; also adapted for a Radio 4, BBC production
*1989: ''The Servant'' (play) Bayview Theatre, Toronto. Starting Keir Dullea and David Ferry.
References
Sources
* Connon, Bryan (1997) ''Somerset Maugham and the Maugham Dynasty''. London:
Sinclair-Stevenson
Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd was a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson.
Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton
Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British p ...
;
*
*
Gay for Today gayfortoday.blogspot.com, May 2007
* Maugham, Robin. ''Escape from the Shadows'', Hodder and Stoughton (1972; reprinted 5 November 1981), /
*
* McLoughlin, Leslie: ''In a Sea of Knowledge''—a history of British Arabists in the 20th century (Ithaca Press 2002)
External links
Robin Maugham Collectionat the
Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maugham, Robin
1916 births
1981 deaths
2
Robin Cecil Romer Maugham, 2nd Viscount Maugham
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
English gay politicians
English gay writers
LGBTQ peers
British LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
English LGBTQ novelists
20th-century British novelists
20th-century British dramatists and playwrights
British male novelists
British male dramatists and playwrights
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
20th-century English male writers
British LGBTQ military personnel
Sons of life peers
20th-century British LGBTQ people