Philip Sandeman Ziegler (24 December 1929 – 22 February 2023) was a British biographer and historian.

Background

Ziegler was born in

Ringwood, Hampshire Ringwood is a market town in south-west Hampshire, England, on the River Avon, Hampshire, River Avon close to the New Forest, northeast of Bournemouth and southwest of Southampton. It was founded by the Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxons, ...

on 24 December 1929, the son of Louis Ziegler, an Army officer, and Dora Barnwell, a homemaker. He was educated at

St Cyprian's School St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usual ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, and went with the school when it merged with

Summer Fields School Summer Fields is a fee-paying boys' independent day and boarding preparatory school in Summertown, Oxford. It was originally called Summerfield and used to have a subsidiary school, Summerfields, St Leonards-on-Sea (known as "Summers mi"). ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He attended

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

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, graduating in 1951 with a first class degree in

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

from Oxford before joining the

British Foreign Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

. In the Foreign Service, he served in

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

where he worked with the US ambassador to Laos

Charles W. Yost Charles Woodruff Yost (November 6, 1907 – May 21, 1981) was a career U.S. Ambassador who was assigned as his country's representative to the United Nations from 1969 to 1971. Early life and education Yost was born in Watertown, New York. ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, and

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, as well as with the Delegation to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

in Paris.Biographical Note to ''The Black Death'' Penguin Books, 1982 reprint

Writing career

In 1967, he resigned from the Foreign Service and joined the publishers Collins, which was, at the time, run by his father-in-law. Originally intending to be a novelist, he began a career as biographer with his life of Talleyrand's lover, the Duchess of Dino. He was editor in chief at Collins from 1979 to 1980. He was chosen as official biographer of

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

, for which he was later appointed CVO. Ziegler wrote for various journals and newspapers, including ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', '' The Listener'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' and ''

History Today ''History Today'' is a history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and publishes articles of tradit ...

''.

Personal life

In 1967, gunmen broke into Ziegler's family home in

and shot dead his wife, Sarah Collins. Ziegler was wounded in the attack. Ziegler married social worker Mary Clare Charrington in 1971; she died in 2017. Ziegler died from cancer on 22 February 2023, at the age of 93.

Works

* ''Duchess of Dino ''(1962) on

Princess Dorothea of Courland Dorothea von Biron, Princess of Courland, Duchess of Dino, Duchess of Talleyrand and Duchess of Sagan, known as Dorothée de Courlande or Dorothée de Dino (21 August 1793 – 19 September 1862), was a Baltic German noblewoman, and the ruling ...

* '' Addington: A Life of Henry Addington, First Viscount Sidmouth ''(1965) * ''The Black Death ''(1969) * ''

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

''(1971) * ''

Omdurman Omdurman () is a major city in Sudan. It is the second most populous city in the country, located in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the capital city of Khartoum. The city acts ...

''(1973) * ''Melbourne: a Biography of William Lamb 2nd Viscount Melbourne ''(1976) on

Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...

the Prime Minister * ''Crown and People ''(1978) * '' Diana Cooper ''(1981) * ''Mountbatten. The Official Biography ''(1985) * ''Elizabeth's Britain 1926 to 1986 ''(1986) * ''Diaries of Lord Louis Mountbatten 1920–1922: Tours with the Prince of Wales ''(1987) editor * ''Personal Diary of Admiral the Lord Louis Mountbatten, South-East Asia, 1943–1946 ''(1988) * ''The Sixth Great Power:

Barings Barings LLC is a global investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company ( MassMutual). It operates as a subsidiary of MassMutual Financial Group, a diversified financial services organization. As of December 31, ...

1762–1929 ''(1988) * ''From Shore to Shore – The Final Years: The Diaries of

Earl Mountbatten of Burma Earl Mountbatten of Burma is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1947 for Rear Admiral Louis Mountbatten, who in 1946 had been created the first Viscount Mountbatten of Burma. He was later promoted to Admiral of the Fleet. ...

1953–1979 ''(1989) * ''Edward VIII, the Official Biography ''(1990) * ''

Brooks's Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world. History In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James ...

: A Social History ''(1991) editor with

Desmond Seward Desmond Eric Christopher Seward (22 May 1935 – 3 April 2022) was an Anglo-Irish popular historian and the author of many books, including biographies of Henry IV of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Marie Antoinette, Empress Eugénie and Napol ...

* ''Wilson: The Authorised Life of Lord Wilson of Rievaulx ''(1993) on

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

* ''London at War 1939–1945 ''(1995) * ''

Osbert Sitwell Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE (6 December 1892 – 4 May 1969) was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and l ...

''(1998) * ''Britain Then and Now: The

Francis Frith Francis Frith (also spelled Frances Frith, 7 October 1822 – 25 February 1898) was an English photographer and businessman. Francis Frith & Co., the company he founded in 1860 with the initial goal of photographing every town and village in Eng ...

Collection ''(1999) * ''Soldiers: Fighting Men's Lives, 1901–2001 ''(2001) * ''

Rupert Hart-Davis Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (28 August 1907 – 8 December 1999) was an English publisher and editor. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. As a biographer, he is remembered for his ''Hugh Walpole'' (1952), as an editor, ...

: Man of Letters ''(2004) * ''Legacy:

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...

, The

Rhodes Trust Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* ...

and

Rhodes Scholarships The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is o ...

'' (2008) * ''Edward Heath'' (2010) * ''Olivier'' (2013) * ''

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 Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

(Penguin Monarchs): The Dutiful King '' (2015) * ''Between the Wars: 1919–1939'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Philip 1929 births 2023 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford British male biographers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Eton College People educated at St Cyprian's School People educated at Summer Fields School Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order People from Ringwood, Hampshire

Background

Writing career

Personal life

Works

See also

References