Nancy Mitford

Nancy Mitford was born November 28, 1904 in London, England , part of an aristocratic family. She is one of the noted Mitford sisters, was an essayist in, and editor of, Noblesse Oblige (1956), in which she helped to originate the famous 'U', or upper-class, and 'non-U' classification of linguistic usage and behavior.

She married Peter Rodd, a diplomat's son; they were divorced in 1958. At the end of World War II she moved to Paris, France, where she became involved with French statesman Col. Gaston Palewski. The largely one-sided affair lasted fitfully until Palewski's 1969 marriage to Violette de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duchess of Sagan, a granddaughter of American railroad magnate Jay Gould.

Nancy Mitford died on June 30, 1973 in Versailles, France. Her remains were brought home to England and interred in the Swinbrook Churchyard, Oxfordshire, England with those of her younger sister, Unity Mitford (1914-1948).

She was the author of:

• "Highland Fling" (1931)
• "Christmas Pudding" (1932)
• "Wigs on the Green" (1935)
• "Pigeon Pie" (1940)
• The Pursuit of Love (1945)
• Love in a Cold Climate (1949)
• The Blessing (1951)
• Madame de Pompadour (1954)
• Voltaire in Love (1957)
• Don't Tell Alfred (1960)
• "The Water Beetle" (1962)
• The Sun King (1966)
• Frederick the Great (1970)

Referenced By