Bruce Charles Chatwin (13 May 1940 – 18 January 1989) was an English novelist and travel writer.
Chatwin was born in 1940 at his maternal grandparents' house in Dronfield, near Sheffield, England. His mother, Margharita (née Turnell), had left the family home at Barnt Green, Worcestershire, and moved to her parents' home when Chatwin's father, Charles Chatwin, went away to serve with the Royal Naval Reserve.
He spent his early childhood living in...
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Bruce Charles Chatwin (13 May 1940 – 18 January 1989) was an English novelist and travel writer.
Chatwin was born in 1940 at his maternal grandparents' house in Dronfield, near Sheffield, England. His mother, Margharita (née Turnell), had left the family home at Barnt Green, Worcestershire, and moved to her parents' home when Chatwin's father, Charles Chatwin, went away to serve with the Royal Naval Reserve.
He spent his early childhood living in West Heath in Birmingham (then in Warwickshire), where his father had a law practice. He was educated at Marlborough College, in Wiltshire.
After leaving Marlborough College in 1958, Chatwin reluctantly moved to London to work as a porter in the Works of Art department at the auction house Sotheby's. Thanks to his sharp visual acuity, he quickly became Sotheby's expert on Impressionist art. He later became a director of the company.
In late 1964 he began to suffer from problems with his sight, which he attributed to the close analysis of...
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