Antonia Fraser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lady Antonia Fraser
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Fraser in 2010
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| Born | Antonia Margaret Caroline Pakenham 27 August 1932 London, England |
| Alma mater | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford |
| Genre | Biography, detective fiction |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6, including Rebecca Fraser and Flora Fraser |
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Lady Antonia Fraser is a famous British writer. She writes many kinds of books, including history books, stories, and biographies (books about real people's lives). She also writes detective stories! She was married to Harold Pinter, a famous writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Pakenham was born on August 27, 1932, in London, England. She is the oldest of eight children. Her parents were Frank Pakenham, who was the 7th Earl of Longford, and Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford. Because her father was an Earl, she has the special title "Lady Antonia."
When she was a teenager, Lady Antonia and her brothers and sisters became Catholic, just like their parents had. Her grandparents on her mother's side were Unitarians, a faith that believes strongly in helping society.
She went to school at the Dragon School in Oxford and St Mary's School, Ascot. Later, she studied at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, which was also her mother's college. Before going to Oxford in 1950, she took part in the London social season, which was a series of events for young women.
Writing Career
Lady Antonia Fraser started her career working for a publisher called Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This company later became her own publisher.
Writing History and Biographies
Lady Antonia's first big book was Mary, Queen of Scots, published in 1969. After that, she wrote many other biographies. These included Cromwell, Our Chief of Men in 1973.
She has said that she is more interested in the people who led nations than in big ideas. She enjoys writing about important historical figures. Her book The Warrior Queens (1989) tells the stories of royal women who led armies, like Boadicea and Cleopatra. In 1992, she wrote a book called The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
She also wrote a well-liked biography about King Charles II in 1979. This book even influenced a TV mini-series about Charles II in 2003. Lady Antonia has edited many biographies about kings and queens. In 1996, she published The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605. This book won two awards: the St. Louis Literary Award and the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Non-Fiction Gold Dagger.
Her biography Marie Antoinette: The Journey (2001) was made into a movie called Marie Antoinette in 2006. She also wrote Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King (2006). Lady Antonia won the Wolfson History Award in 1984 for her book The Weaker Vessel, which looked at the lives of women in England during the 1600s.
Other Types of Writing
Lady Antonia Fraser has also written detective novels. Her most popular ones are a series of ten books written between 1977 and 1995. These books feature a female TV personality and detective named Jemima Shore. The Jemima Shore books were turned into a TV series called Jemima Shore Investigates in 1983.
Her very first books were about dolls and toys. She also wrote books about King Arthur and Robin Hood for a special series.
Media and Groups
From 1988 to 1989, Lady Antonia was the president of English PEN, a group that supports writers. She also led their committee that helps writers who are in prison.
She was the president of Edinburgh's Sir Walter Scott Club from 1983 to 1984. She helps judge the Enid McLeod Literary Prize, which she won herself for her book Marie Antoinette in 2001.
Lady Antonia is a vice-president of the London Library and has also been a vice-president of the Royal Stuart Society. She was a contestant on the BBC Radio 4 game show My Word! from 1979 to 1990.
Memoirs
Lady Antonia wrote a memoir (a book about her own life) called Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter. It was published in January 2010. She also read a shorter version of it on BBC Radio Four. Her second memoir, My History. A Memoir of Growing Up, came out a few years later.
Personal Life
From 1956 to 1977, Lady Antonia was married to Sir Hugh Fraser. He was a politician and a friend of the American Kennedy family. They had six children together, including Rebecca Fraser and Flora Fraser.
In 1975, a dangerous incident happened near their home in London. A bomb was placed under Hugh Fraser's car. It exploded, but thankfully, Lady Antonia, Hugh, and their visitor Caroline Kennedy were not hurt. A neighbor, Gordon Hamilton Fairley, who was walking his dog, was sadly killed.
In 1975, Lady Antonia began a relationship with the famous playwright Harold Pinter. They married in 1980. Harold Pinter passed away on December 24, 2008, when he was 78 years old.
Lady Antonia Fraser still lives in her family home in London, where she continues to write in her study.
Awards and Recognition
Lady Antonia Fraser has received many honors for her work. She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1999. In 2011, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contributions to literature. In 2018, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH). She also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2003.
Here are some of the awards she has won:
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1969), for Mary, Queen of Scots.
- Wolfson History Prize (1984), for The Weaker Vessel.
- Crime Writers' Association Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction (1996), for The Gunpowder Plot.
- St. Louis Literary Award from Saint Louis University Library Associates.
- Historical Association Norton Medlicott Medal (2000).
- Enid McLeod Literary Prize (2001), for Marie Antoinette.
Works by Lady Antonia Fraser
Non-fiction Books
- Mary Queen of Scots (1969)
- Dolls (1963)
- A History of Toys (1966)
- Cromwell, Our Chief of Men (1973)
- King James VI and I (1974)
- King Charles II (1979)
- Heroes and Heroines (1980)
- The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot in Seventeenth-century England (1984)
- The Warrior Queens: Boadicea's Chariot (1988)
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1992)
- The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 (1996)
- Marie Antoinette (2001)
- Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King (2006)
- Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter (2010)
- Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832 (2013)
- My History. A Memoir of Growing Up (2015)
- Our Israeli Diary: Of That Time, Of That Place (2017)
- The King and the Catholics: The Fight for Rights, 1829 (2018)
- The Case of the Married Woman: Caroline Norton: A 19th Century Heroine Who Wanted Justice for Women (2021)
- Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit (2023)
Historical Fiction Books
- King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1954)
- Robin Hood (1955)
Jemima Shore Detective Novels
- Quiet as a Nun (1977)
- The Wild Island (1978)
- A Splash of Red (1981)
- Cool Repentance (1982)
- Oxford Blood (1985)
- Jemima Shore's First Case (1986)
- Your Royal Hostage (1987)
- The Cavalier Case (1990)
- Jemima Shore at the Sunny Grave (1991)
- Political Death (1995)
Books Edited by Lady Antonia Fraser
- Scottish Love Poems (1975)
- The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England (1975)
- Love Letters (1976)
- The Pleasure of Reading (1992)
- A Red Rose or A Satin Heart (2010)
See also
In Spanish: Antonia Fraser para niños
