Richard Hoggart facts for kids

Herbert Richard Hoggart (born September 24, 1918 – died April 10, 2014) was an English academic. An academic is a person who works as a teacher or researcher at a university. Hoggart studied many subjects, including how society works (sociology), English books (literature), and how culture develops. He was especially interested in popular culture in Britain.

Early Life and Education

Richard Hoggart was born in Potternewton, a part of Leeds, England. He grew up in a poor family with two siblings. His father, Tom Longfellow Hoggart, was a soldier and house painter. He died when Richard was only one year old from a sickness called brucellosis. This is a type of infection. When Richard was eight, his mother, Adeline, also died from a chest illness.

After his parents died, Richard lived with his grandmother in Hunslet. His aunt encouraged him to study hard. Following his older brother, Tom, Richard went to Cockburn High School. This was a grammar school, which is a special type of secondary school. He got a scholarship to study English at the University of Leeds. A scholarship helps pay for school. He did very well and earned a top degree. During World War II, he served in the Royal Artillery, which is a part of the army. He left the army as a staff captain.

Career Highlights

After the war, Richard Hoggart worked at the University of Hull from 1946 to 1959. In 1951, he published his first book, which was about the poet W. H. Auden.

His most famous book, The Uses of Literacy, came out in 1957. This book was partly about his own life. It talked about how working-class culture in Britain was changing. He worried that advertising and media were making everyone's culture the same. He also thought that American culture was having a big effect on Britain.

From 1959 to 1962, he was a senior lecturer at the University of Leicester. In 1960, Hoggart was an expert witness in a famous court case. This case was about a book called Lady Chatterley's Lover. Some people thought the book was rude and should not be sold. Hoggart argued that the book was actually about good morals. He said it used words he heard every day. His words helped the court decide that the book could be sold.

Later, he became a professor at Birmingham University from 1962 to 1973. There, he started the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in 1964. This center studied how culture works in modern times. He was its director until 1969.

Richard Hoggart also worked for UNESCO from 1971 to 1975. UNESCO is a part of the United Nations that promotes education, science, and culture around the world. After that, he was the Warden (like a head) of Goldsmiths, University of London from 1976 to 1984. The main building at Goldsmiths is now named the "Richard Hoggart Building" to honor him.

Hoggart was part of many important groups and committees. These groups helped make decisions about public services, broadcasting (like TV and radio), and the arts. He believed that education should help people think for themselves, not just train them for jobs. He also worried that people were losing their sense of right and wrong.

Family Life

Richard Hoggart had three children. His two sons were also well-known. Simon Hoggart was a political journalist, and Paul Hoggart is a television critic. Simon passed away a few months before his father. Richard also had a daughter named Nicola.

In 2006, a TV show called The Chatterley Affair was made about the 1960 court trial. The actor David Tennant played Richard Hoggart in the show.

Later Years and Death

In his later years, Richard Hoggart suffered from dementia. This is a condition that affects memory and thinking. He passed away in a nursing home in London on April 10, 2014, when he was 95 years old.

Key Works

Richard Hoggart wrote many books and essays. Here are some of his most important ones:

• Auden (1951) – His first book, about the poet W. H. Auden.
• The Uses of Literacy: Aspects of Working Class Life (1957) – His most famous book, about changes in British culture.
• Speaking to Each Other: About Society (1970)
• Speaking to Each Other: About Literature (1970)
• Only Connect: On Culture and Communication (1972)
• An Idea and Its Servants: UNESCO from Within (1978) – About his time working at UNESCO.
• A Local Habitation, 1918–40 (1988) – The first part of his life story, about his childhood in Leeds.
• A Sort of Clowning: Life and Times, 1940–59 (1990)
• An Imagined Life: Life and Times, 1959–91 (1992)
• The Way We Live Now: Dilemmas in Contemporary Culture (1995) – Where he talked about his concerns for modern culture.

See also

• European Museum of the Year