Vivien Noakes

Vivien Noakes (née Langley; 16 February 1937 – 17 February 2011) was a British biographer, editor and critic. She was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

She was born Vivien Mary Langley, daughter of noted aeronautical engineer Marcus Langley and educated at Dunottar School, but left with A-levels. It was not until later in life that she took her degree at Manchester College, Oxford, and Somerville College, Oxford, where she was subsequently lecturer.

She lectured at Harvard University and at the Yale Center for British Art. She was an expert on Edward Lear and on the literature of World War I.

Personal life

She was married to the painter Michael Noakes, in collaboration with whom she produced The Daily Life of The Queen: An Artist's Diary (2000); the couple had three children: Anya, Jonathan and Benedict.

Death

She died of cancer the day after her 74th birthday, a month after suffering a stroke. Noakes left copies of many of Lear's letters to Somerville College Library.

Works

• Edward Lear, The Life of a Wanderer (1968). ISBN 978-0750937443 (2006 ed.)
• Edward Lear, 1812-1888 (1986). ISBN 978-0810912625
• The Painter Edward Lear (1991). ISBN 978-0715397787
• The Daily Life of The Queen: An Artist's Diary (2000) with Michael Noakes. ISBN 978-0091869823
• Voices of Silence (2006). ISBN 978-0750945219

Links

• Michael and Vivien Noakes' website; accessed 10 April 2014.