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Jan Morris

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Jan Morris

CBE FRSL
BornJames Humphry Morris[1]: 4 
(1926-10-02)2 October 1926
Clevedon, Somerset, England
Died20 November 2020(2020-11-20) (aged 94)[2]
Pwllheli, Wales
OccupationWriter
NationalityWelsh
GenreNon-fiction, travel writing
Spouse
Elizabeth Tuckniss
​
(m. 1949)​
Children5

Catharine Jan Morris[3][4] CBE FRSL (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 1926 – 20 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy (1968–1978), a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, including Oxford, Venice, Trieste, Hong Kong and New York City. She published under her birth name, James, until 1972, when she had gender reassignment surgery after transitioning from male to female.

Morris was a member of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition, which made the first ever confirmed ascent of the mountain.[5] She was the only journalist to accompany the expedition, climbing with the team to a camp at 22,000 feet, and using a prearranged code to send news of the successful ascent, which was announced in The Times on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation (2 June 1953).[6]

Background

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Morris was born in Clevedon, Somerset, England, the youngest of three children of Walter Henry Morris (died 1938), an engineer from Monmouth, on the borders of Wales, who never fully recovered after being gassed in the First World War, and Enid (née Payne; died 1981), an English church organist who trained as a concert pianist at the Leipzig Conservatory[7][8] and was a "well-known recitalist in the early days of broadcasting in south Wales and the west of England".[9][3] Her elder brothers Gareth (1920–2007) and Christopher (1922–2014) achieved distinction, as a flautist and as an organist and music publisher for the Oxford University Press respectively.[10][11][12]

Morris was a chorister in the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, while boarding at Christ Church Cathedral School.[13] She went on to be educated at Lancing College, returning to Christ Church, Oxford, as an undergraduate, taking a second-class honours BA in 1951 (promoted to the customary Oxford MA in 1961), and editing the Cherwell magazine.[10][14] Despite being born and largely raised in England, Morris always identified as Welsh.[15] In the closing stages of the Second World War, Morris served in the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, and in 1945 was posted to the Free Territory of Trieste, during the joint British–American occupation, eventually serving as regimental intelligence officer.[5][16]

Career

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After the war, Morris wrote for The Times and in 1953 was the only journalist accompanying the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition, which included Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who were the first to scale Mount Everest. Morris reported the success of Hillary and Tenzing in a coded message to the newspaper, "Snow conditions bad stop advanced base abandoned yesterday stop awaiting improvement",[17] and by coincidence the scoop was published in The Times on the morning of the coronation of Elizabeth II.[18]

The message was initially interpreted to mean that Tom Bourdillon and Tenzing had reached the summit, but the first name was corrected before the story was broken. Claims that the news was held back ignore the communication problems of the time; it was quite an achievement to get the news of the 29 May ascent to London by Coronation Day on 2 June, as it had to be sent to Namche Bazaar by runner.[19]

Reporting from Cyprus on the Suez Crisis for the Manchester Guardian in 1956, Morris produced the first "irrefutable proof" of collusion between France and Israel in the invasion of Egyptian territory, interviewing French Air Force pilots who confirmed that they had been in action in support of Israeli forces.[20] She also reported on the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem.[21] Later, Morris opposed the Falklands War.[22]

Personal life

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In 1949, Morris married Elizabeth, daughter of Ceylon tea planter Austen Cecil Tuckniss;[16] they had five children together, including the poet and musician Twm Morys. One of their children died in infancy. They lived together in the village of Llanystumdwy, in North Wales, for over 50 years until Morris's death in November 2020, first in a large Georgian house, Plas Trefan, and latterly in a converted stable block, Trefan Morys, in the grounds.[23][24]

Morris began transitioning to life as a woman in 1964, one of the first high-profile people to do so.[1]: 105 [25] In 1972, Morris travelled to Morocco to undergo sex reassignment surgery, performed by surgeon Georges Burou,[1]: 135–144  because doctors in Britain refused to allow the procedure unless Morris and Tuckniss divorced, something Morris was not prepared to do.[1]: 127  They did divorce later, but remained together, and on 14 May 2008 were legally reunited when they formally entered into a civil partnership.[5][26] She detailed her transition in Conundrum (1974), her first book under her new name, and one of the first autobiographies to discuss a personal gender reassignment.[27][note 1]

Morris died on 20 November 2020 at Ysbyty Bryn Beryl (Bryn Beryl Hospital) in Pwllheli in North Wales, at the age of 94, survived by Elizabeth and their four children. Her death was announced by her son Twm.[2][10]

Her wife Elizabeth died at age 99 on 17 June 2024.[28]

Awards

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Morris received honorary doctorates from the University of Wales and the University of Glamorgan, was an honorary fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, and was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was elected to the Gorsedd Cymru in 1992,[10][29] and received the Glyndŵr Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales in 1996.[30] "Out of polite respect" she accepted her appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours for services to literature,[31] but Morris was a Welsh nationalist republican at heart.[32] In 2005, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature".[33][34] In January 2008, The Times named her the 15th-greatest British writer since the War.[26] She has featured in the Pinc List of leading Welsh LGBT figures.[35] She won the 2018 Edward Stanford Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing Award.[36]

Works

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See also: Jan Morris bibliography

Morris's 1974 best-selling memoir Conundrum documented her transition and was compared to that of transgender pioneer Christine Jorgensen (A Personal Autobiography). Later memoirs included Pleasures of a Tangled Life (1989) and Herstory (1999). She also wrote many essays on travel and her life, and published a collection of her diary entries as In My Mind's Eye in 2019.[37]

Morris wrote many books on travel, particularly about Venice and Trieste. Her Pax Britannica trilogy, on the history of the British Empire, received praise.[38] In an interview with the BBC in 2016, she told Michael Palin that she did not like to be described as a travel writer, for her books were not about movement and journeys; they were about places and people.[39] Morris's 1985 novel Last Letters from Hav, an "imagined travelogue and political thriller" was shortlisted for that year's Booker Prize.[40]

In 1995, Morris completed a biography of First Sea Lord John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, entitled Fisher's Face.[41] She began researching the life of the Admiral in the 1950s, describing the several-decades-long project as a "jeu d’amour" (love game).[42]

Her writing about nature is included by Katharine Norbury in her anthology "Women on Nature".[43] The book was published in 2021 and includes dozens of writers including Morris, Thomasine Pendarves, Jane Austen, Vanessa Bell, Enid Blyton and Virginia Woolf.[44]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ The opening lines of Conundrum: "I was three or perhaps four years old when I realized that I had been born into the wrong body, and should really be a girl. I remember the moment well, and it is the earliest memory of my life."

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d Morris, Jan (2006). Conundrum. New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1-59017-189-9.
  2. ^ a b "Travel writer and journalist Jan Morris dies at 94". BBC News. 20 November 2020. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b Jan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7
  4. ^ The International Who's Who of Women 2002, 2001, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Taylor & Francis, p. 388
  5. ^ a b c Lea, Richard (20 November 2020). "Jan Morris, historian, travel writer and trans pioneer, dies aged 94". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Jan Morris: She sensed she was 'at the very end of things'. What a life it was …". The Guardian. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  7. ^ Johns, Derek (2 October 2016). "Jan Morris at 90: she has shown us the world". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  8. ^ Kandell, Jonathan (20 November 2020). "Jan Morris, Celebrated Writer of Place and History, Is Dead at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  9. ^ Fenwick, Gillian. Travelling Genius: The Writing Life of Jan Morris, University of South Carolina Press, 2008, pp. xvii, xix
  10. ^ a b c d "Jan Morris obituary | Jan Morris". The Guardian. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Gareth Morris | Music". The Guardian. 28 February 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  12. ^ 02 March 2015 • 6:03pm (2 March 2015). "Christopher Morris, musician – obituary". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Morris, Jan (3 February 2011). "2". Conundrum. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-26600-5. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  14. ^ Fenwick, Gillian. Travelling Genius: The Writing Life of Jan Morris, University of South Carolina Press, 2008, pp. xvii–xviii
  15. ^ Johns, Derek (2 October 2016). "Jan Morris at 90: She has shown us the world". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  16. ^ a b Jan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 10
  17. ^ Morris, Jan. Coronation Everest. Faber and Faber, 2003, p.149.
  18. ^ Venables, Stephen (2003). To the top: the story of Everest. London: Walker Books. p. 63. ISBN 0-7445-8662-3.
  19. ^ "The Press battle to report Everest climb". BBC News. 29 May 2013. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  20. ^ Rusbridger, Alan (10 July 2006). "Courage Under Fire". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  21. ^ A Writer's World: Travels 1950–2000. 2003.
  22. ^ "Authors Take Sides on the Falklands (Review)", W. L. Webb, The Guardian Weekly, 29 August, (p.21).
  23. ^ Lively, Penelope (23 February 2014). "A Writer's House in Wales". The Independent. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  24. ^ Adams, Tim (1 March 2020). "You're talking to someone at the very end of things". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  25. ^ "Obituary: Jan Morris, a poet of time, place and self". BBC News. 20 November 2020. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  26. ^ a b McSmith, Andy (4 June 2008). "Love story: Jan Morris – Divorce, the death of a child and a sex change... but still together". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 July 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  27. ^ Shopland, Norena. "A tangle in my life", in Forbidden Lives: LGBT stories from Wales, Seren Books, 2017
  28. ^ "Elizabeth Morris, wife of writer Jan and a strong support through her gender reassignment – obituary". Daily Telegraph. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  29. ^ "Appreciation: My lunch with Jan Morris, writer, traveler, transgender pioneer". Los Angeles Times. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  30. ^ "BBC Wales Arts: Jan Morris". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  31. ^ "No. 55513". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1999. p. 9.
  32. ^ Frost, Caroline. "Jan Morris: A Profile". BBC Four website. Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  33. ^ "Golden Pen Award, official website". English PEN. Archived from the original on 21 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  34. ^ Fenwick, Gillian (2008). "Chronology". Traveling Genius: The Writing Life of Jan Morris. University of South Carolina Press. p. XX. ISBN 9781570037474. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  35. ^ "Pinc List 2017". Wales Online. 19 August 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  36. ^ "Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2018 winners". Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards. 1 February 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  37. ^ Italie, Hillel (20 November 2020). "Jan Morris, author and transgender pioneer, dies at 94". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  38. ^ Kandell, Jonathan (20 November 2020). "Jan Morris, Celebrated Writer of Place and History, Is Dead at 94". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  39. ^ "Artsnight: Michael Palin Meets Jan Morris". BBC Two. BBC. 8 October 2016. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  40. ^ "Last Letters from Hav". The Booker Prizes. The Booker Prize Foundation. January 1985. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  41. ^ Morris, Jan (1995). Fisher's Face. London: Viking. ISBN 9780571265930. Reprinted and published (2010) by Faber & Faber{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  42. ^ "'Our Jacky' : The ever-unconventional Jan Morris reveals his face that launched a lifelong obsession : FISHER'S FACE: Or, Getting to Know the Admiral by Jan Morris". Los Angeles Times. 9 July 1995. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  43. ^ @NatGeoUK (19 July 2021). "'Women felt at ease to write about the experience of being outside.'". National Geographic. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  44. ^ Norbury, Katharine (13 May 2021). Women on Nature. Unbound Publishing. ISBN 978-1-80018-042-0.

Further reading

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