Robin Fedden
Henry Robin Romilly Fedden, CBE, (1908-77) was an English writer, diplomat and mountaineer. He was the son of artist Romilly Fedden and novelist Katherine Waldo Douglas.[1]
Raised mostly in France, Fedden went to Cambridge University to read English. He served as a diplomat in Athens and taught English Literature at Cairo University. In Cairo, he co-edited the literary journal Personal Landscape with Lawrence Durrell and Bernard Spencer. After World War II, he worked for the National Trust, rising to the post of Deputy Director-General. He retired in 1973.
He had a wide variety of interests, which were reflected in the books he wrote. The best known of these are The Enchanted Mountains and Chantemesle. He also wrote several guidebooks for the National Trust. He was a dedicated mountaineer, a pursuit he took up in his late thirties.
He was married to Renee Fedden; they had two daughters. He died in 1977.
Selected works
- The Enchanted Mountains: A Quest in the Pyrenees
- Chantemesle (reissued by Eland Books
- The National Trust Guide
- Treasures of the National Trust
- The Continuing Purpose: History of the National Trust, Its Aims and Work
- The National Trust: Past and Present
- Churchill And Chartwell
- Egypt: Land of the Valley
- Crusader Castles
- The Country House Guide
- Suicide: A Social and Historical Study
- Syria and Lebanon
- Syria: An historical appreciation
- English Travellers in the Near East
- Anglesey Abbey
- Petworth House