Basil Murray
Encyclopedia
Basil Murray was the second son of the scholar Gilbert Murray
and his wife Lady Mary Howard, daughter of the 9th Earl of Carlisle
.
His sister Rosalind was the first wife of Arnold J. Toynbee
. Murray attended the University of Oxford
, where he had a somewhat unsavoury reputation, and Evelyn Waugh
met him there in 1922. Murray would later provide Waugh with the model and first name for his anti-hero
Basil Seal, star of the novels Black Mischief
and Put Out More Flags
.
Murray became involved in anti-Fascist politics after Hitler's rise to power and in 1936 managed to incite a riot by heckling the British fascist Oswald Mosley
during a speech at Oxford University. He was subsequently tried and convicted of breach of the peace in a proceeding described by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin
as a disastrous miscarriage of justice.
As a journalist, he covered the Spanish Civil War
from the Republican side, making radio broadcasts from Valencia.
He died in Spain
, purportedly of pneumonia
. According to a memoir by journalist Claud Cockburn, however, Murray was bitten to death by his pet ape while lying in a drunken stupor in a Valencia hotel.
He was the father of the writers Ann Paludan
(born 1928) and Venetia Murray (1932–2004).
Gilbert Murray
George Gilbert Aimé Murray, OM was an Australian born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece, perhaps the leading authority in the first half of the twentieth century...
and his wife Lady Mary Howard, daughter of the 9th Earl of Carlisle
George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle
George James Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle , known as George Howard until 1889, was an English aristocrat, politician and painter.-Background and education:...
.
His sister Rosalind was the first wife of Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold Joseph Toynbee CH was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934–1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline, which examined history from a global...
. Murray attended the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he had a somewhat unsavoury reputation, and Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
met him there in 1922. Murray would later provide Waugh with the model and first name for his anti-hero
Anti-hero
In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
Basil Seal, star of the novels Black Mischief
Black Mischief
Black Mischief was Evelyn Waugh's third novel, published in 1932. The novel chronicles the efforts of the English-educated Emperor Seth, assisted by a fellow Oxford graduate, Basil Seal, to modernize his Empire, the fictional African island of Azania, located in the Indian Ocean off of the eastern...
and Put Out More Flags
Put Out More Flags
Put Out More Flags, the sixth novel by Evelyn Waugh, was first published by Chapman and Hall in 1942. The novel is set during the first year of the Second World War, and follows the wartime activities of characters introduced in Waugh's earlier satirical novels Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies and...
.
Murray became involved in anti-Fascist politics after Hitler's rise to power and in 1936 managed to incite a riot by heckling the British fascist Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
during a speech at Oxford University. He was subsequently tried and convicted of breach of the peace in a proceeding described by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
as a disastrous miscarriage of justice.
As a journalist, he covered the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
from the Republican side, making radio broadcasts from Valencia.
He died in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, purportedly of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. According to a memoir by journalist Claud Cockburn, however, Murray was bitten to death by his pet ape while lying in a drunken stupor in a Valencia hotel.
He was the father of the writers Ann Paludan
Ann Paludan
Ann Paludan is a British author of several books on Chinese history, sculpture, and architecture.-Biography:Ann Paludan is the daughter of Basil Murray...
(born 1928) and Venetia Murray (1932–2004).