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John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO
Royal Victorian Order

The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a House Order of chivalry in the Commonwealth realms. Created by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom on 21 April 1896, with the motto Victoria and 20 June as the official day, the order was established to recognise those who have served the monarch with distinction, each be...
 (born 15 September 1929) is an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 historian, travel writer and television personality. He is commonly known as John Julius Norwich.

ich is the only child of the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom....
 politician and diplomat Duff Cooper and of Lady Diana Cooper, a celebrated beauty and society figure. Through his father, he is descended from King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan.

He was educated at Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College

Upper Canada College is a Private school Elementary school and secondary school for boys in downtown Toronto, Canada. Students between Senior Kindergarten and Twelfth grade study under the International Baccalaureate program....
, Toronto
Toronto

Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 (as a wartime evacuee), at Eton College
Eton College

Eton College, also known as Eton, is a world-famous British independent school for boys, founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England. It was founded as the King's College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor....
, and at the University of Strasbourg
University of Strasbourg

The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
.






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John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO
Royal Victorian Order

The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a House Order of chivalry in the Commonwealth realms. Created by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom on 21 April 1896, with the motto Victoria and 20 June as the official day, the order was established to recognise those who have served the monarch with distinction, each be...
 (born 15 September 1929) is an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 historian, travel writer and television personality. He is commonly known as John Julius Norwich.

Early life

Norwich is the only child of the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom....
 politician and diplomat Duff Cooper and of Lady Diana Cooper, a celebrated beauty and society figure. Through his father, he is descended from King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan.

He was educated at Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College

Upper Canada College is a Private school Elementary school and secondary school for boys in downtown Toronto, Canada. Students between Senior Kindergarten and Twelfth grade study under the International Baccalaureate program....
, Toronto
Toronto

Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 (as a wartime evacuee), at Eton College
Eton College

Eton College, also known as Eton, is a world-famous British independent school for boys, founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England. It was founded as the King's College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor....
, and at the University of Strasbourg
University of Strasbourg

The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
. He served in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 before taking a degree in French and Russian at New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford

New College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxfords of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Its official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College, Oxford; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always called "New College"....
.

Career

Joining the British Foreign Service after Oxford, John Julius Cooper served in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia

File:LocationYugoslavia2.pngYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century....
 and Lebanon
Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic , is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea....
, and as a member of British delegation to the Disarmament Conference in Geneva
Geneva

Geneva is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie . Situated where the Rh?ne River exits Lake Geneva , it is the capital of the Canton of Geneva....
. At his father's death in 1954, he inherited the title of Viscount Norwich
Viscount Norwich

Viscount Norwich, of Aldwick in the Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1952 for the Conservative Party politician, author and former List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to France Sir Duff Cooper....
, created for Duff Cooper
Duff Cooper

Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Privy Council of the United Kingdom , known as Duff Cooper, was a United Kingdom diplomat, Cabinet member, and author....
 in 1952, which made him a member of the British House of Lords
House of Lords

The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". The Parliament comprises the British monarchy, the British House of Commons , and the Lords....
.

In 1964, Norwich left the diplomatic service to become a writer. Apart from his many books (see list), he has also served as editor of series such as Great Architecture of the World, The Italian World, The New Shell Guides to Great Britain, The Oxford Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Art and the Duff Cooper Diaries.

Norwich has worked extensively in radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 and television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
. He was host of the popular BBC radio panel game My Word!
My Word!

My Word! was a long-running radio panel game broadcast by the BBC on the BBC Home Service and BBC Radio 4 . It was created by Edward J. Mason and Tony Shryane, and featured comic writers Denis Norden and Frank Muir, more famous for the series Take It From Here....
 for four years and also a regional contestant on Round Britain Quiz
Round Britain Quiz

Round Britain Quiz is a panel game that has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 since 1947, making it the oldest quiz still broadcast on British radio....
. He has written and presented some 30 television documentaries, including The Fall of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople

The Fall of Constantinople was a siege in which the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Mehmed II attempted to capture the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople which was defended by the army of Emperor Constantine XI....
, Napoleon's Hundred Days, Cortés
Hernán Cortés

Hern?n Cort?s de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqu?s del Valle de Oaxaca was a Spain conquistador who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the Crown of Castile, in the early 16th century....
 and Montezuma
Moctezuma II

Moctezuma, also known as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin was the 9th tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520. It was during Moctezuma's reign that the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire began....
, The Antiquities of Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
, The Gates of Asia, Maximilian of Mexico, Toussaint l'Ouverture
Toussaint L'Ouverture

Fran?ois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture , also Toussaint Br?da, Toussaint-Louverture was a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born a slave in Saint-Domingue, in a long struggle for independence Toussaint led enslaved Africans to victory over Europeans, abolished slavery, and secured native control over the colony in 1797 while nom...
 of Haiti
Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Haitian Creole language- and French language-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago....
, The Knights of Malta and The Death of the Prince Imperial
Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial

Napol?on IV, Prince Imperial, often referred to as Louis Napol?on , Prince Imperial, Fils de France, was the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France and his Empress consort Eug?nie de Montijo....
 in the Zulu War.

Norwich has also worked for various charitable projects. He is Chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund
Venice in Peril Fund

The Venice in Peril Fund is a United Kingdom registered charity. It raises funds to restore and conserve works of art and architecture in Venice, and to investigate ways to protect them against future risks, particularly sea level rise....
, Co-Chairman of the World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund

The World Monuments Fund is a New York City-based private, non-profit organization dedicated to the historic preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
, and a Vice-President of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. For many years he was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organization in England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
, and also served on the Board of English National Opera
English National Opera

English National Opera is the national opera company of England, and one of two opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden....
.

Honours

Lord Norwich was appointed CVO
Royal Victorian Order

The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a House Order of chivalry in the Commonwealth realms. Created by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom on 21 April 1896, with the motto Victoria and 20 June as the official day, the order was established to recognise those who have served the monarch with distinction, each be...
 in 1992 after acting as curator of a Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million Object ....
 exhibition entitled 'Sovereign', which marked the 40th anniversary of the accession of H. M. The Queen.

Family

Norwich married, as his first wife, Anne Frances May Clifford, daughter of the Hon. Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford; they had one daughter, Artemis Cooper
Artemis Cooper

The Hon. Alice Clare Antonia Opportune Cooper Beevor is a United Kingdom writer known as Artemis Cooper.Known as Artemis, a nickname which honors her paternal grandmother, she is the only daughter of the John Julius Cooper and his first wife, the former Anne Clifford, and a granddaughter of the British society figure Lady Diana Cooper....
, an historian, and a son, Jason Charles Duff Bede Cooper. After their divorce, Lord Norwich married, as his second wife, the Hon. Mary (Makins) Philipps, daughter of the 1st Baron Sherfield
Baron Sherfield

Baron Sherfield, of Sherfield-on-Loddon in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1964 for the diplomat Roger Makins, 1st Baron Sherfield....
, GCB, GCMG.

Norwich is also the father of Allegra Huston, offspring of his affair with Enrica Soma Huston, the estranged wife of the American film director John Huston
John Huston

John Marcellus Huston was an United States film director and actor. He was known for directing the films, The Maltese Falcon , The Asphalt Jungle , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The African Queen , The Misfits , and The Man Who Would Be King ....
.

Selected works

  • The Architecture of Southern England. London: Macmillan, 1985 ISBN 978-0333-220-375
  • Byzantium; v. 1: The Early Centuries. Viking, 1988 ISBN 0-670-80251-4
  • Byzantium; v. 2: The Apogee. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992 ISBN 0-394-53779-3
  • Byzantium; v. 3: The Decline and Fall. Viking, 1995 ISBN 0-670-82377-5
  • A Short History of Byzantium. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997 ISBN 0-679-45088-2
  • Fifty Years of Glyndebourne
    Glyndebourne

    Glyndebourne is a 700-year old country house and opera house near Lewes in East Sussex, England. Since 1934 it has been the venue of the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera....
     London: Cape, 1985 ISBN 0224023101
  • A History of Venice
    Venice

    Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
    . Allen Lane, 1981 ISBN 0-679-72197-5
  • The Middle Sea: a History of the Mediterranean. New York: Doubleday, 2006 ISBN 0-385-51023-3
  • Mount Athos
    Mount Athos

    Mount Athos is a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia , of northern Greece, called in Greek language Agion Oros , or in English, "Holy Mountain"....
      (jointly with Reresby Sitwell
    Sir Reresby Sitwell, 7th Baronet

    Sir Reresby Sitwell, 7th Baronet is the current head of the Sitwell family, and owner of Renishaw Hall.He is the son of Sir Sacheverell Sitwell....
    ) London: Hutchinson, 1966
  • The Normans in the South and The Kingdom in the Sun, on Norman Sicily
    Kingdom of Sicily

    The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. The Kingdom of Sicily covered not only the island of Sicily itself, but also the whole Mezzogiorno region of southern Italy and, until 1530, the islands of Malta and Gozo....
    , later republished as The Normans in Sicily London: Penguin, 1992 (The Normans in the south,1016-1130; originally published:- Harlow:Longman,1967 -- The kingdom in the sun, 1130-1194; originally published:- Harlow:Longman,1970) ISBN 0140152121
  • Sahara London: Longmans, 1968
  • Shakespeare's Kings: the Great Plays and the History of England in the Middle Ages: 1337-1485. New York: Scribner, 2000 ISBN 0-684-81434-X
  • A Taste for Travel London: Macmillan, 1985 ISBN 0333384342
  • Trying to Please, (autobiography). Dovecote Press, 2008
  • The Twelve Days of Christmas, illustrated by Quentin Blake
    Quentin Blake

    Quentin Saxby Blake, Order of the British Empire, Chartered Society of Designers, Royal Designers for Industry, is an United Kingdom cartoonist, illustrator and children's literature, well known for his collaborations with writer Roald Dahl....
    . London : Doubleday, 1998 (spoof of the old favourite carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas") ISBN 038541028X
  • Venice: a Traveller's Companion (an anthology compiled by Lord Norwich) London: Constable, 1990 ISBN 0094675503


External links

  • short biography