Biographies

N

Napoleon – see Bonaparte.

Nasser, Gamal Abdel (1918–1970). Soldier and politician. President of Egypt from 1956. Ordered the invasion of the Suez Canal in 1956. Later agreed a short-lived union of Egypt and Syria. One of the leaders of the invasion of Israel in 1967, in which Nasser and his allies were crushed.

Neguib, Mohammed (1901–1984). Egyptian soldier and politician. In 1952 General Neguib and Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser led a coup that forced King Farouk to abdicate. Neguib became commander-in-chief, prime minister and president and Nasser became Minister of the Interior. Subsequently, younger officers considered Neguib to be too moderate and in November 1954 he resigned as president and retired from public life.

Nevinson, Henry Wood Nevinson (1856–1941). Journalist and campaigner, known for his reporting on the Second Boer War, and slavery in Angola. One of the founders (1907) of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage, and a war correspondent in WWI, wounded at Gallipoli.

Newcastle, Margaret, Duchess of (1623–1673). Writer. Douglas Grant's Margaret the First, A Biography of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, 1623–1673 was published by RH-D in 1957.

Newman, Ernest, né William Roberts (1868–1959). Music critic of The Sunday Times, 1920–1958. His books include Opera Nights (1943), Wagner Nights (1949), and More Opera Nights (1954). He and Neville Cardus approached music criticism very differently, Newman aiming at a greater objectivity, but they remained on warily good terms.

Newman, John Henry (1801–1890). Anglican priest who caused controversy by converting to Roman catholicism in 1845. Unlike his fellow convert, Cardinal Manning, Newman held no RC bishopric or other major church office, but was nevertheless made a cardinal in 1879.

Nichols, Beverley (1898–1983). Author and journalist.

Nicholson, Benjamin Lauder (1894–1982). Artist. Son of William Nicholson.

Nicholson, Edith (Edie) (1890–1958). Second wife (m. 1919) of the painter William Nicholson. Daughter of Sir Lionel Phillips and widow of Lieutenant-colonel John Stuart Wortley.

Nicholson, Sir William (1872–1949). Painter, illustrator and designer of stained glass.

Nicolson, Sir Harold George (1886–1968). Author, diplomat and MP. Married the author Vita Sackville-West, 1913.

Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910). Pioneer nurse, famous for her work in the military hospitals of the Crimea. She established nursing as a respectable profession for women.

Nijinsky, Vaslav Fomich (1889–1950). Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, star of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.

Nisard, Jean Marie Napoléon Désiré (1806–1888) French author and critic. Vigorous upholder of classicism against romanticism.

Nixon, Sir Frank Horsfall (1890–1966). Civil Servant, 1912–1944; subsequently in business.

Noble, Montague Alfred (1873–1940). Australian cricketer. All-rounder. Member of Australian test team, 1898–1909. A highly-regarded captain in the 1903/4, 1907/8 and 1909 Ashes series.

Norrie, Lt General Sir Charles Willoughby Moke (1893–1977). 1st Baron Norrie. Governor of South Australia 1944–1952. Governor-general of New Zealand 1952–25 July 1957. Son: Sir George Willoughby Moke Norrie, 2nd Baron Norrie (1936–).

North, Frederick (1732–1792) 2nd Earl of Guilford, known by his courtesy title, Lord North, from 1752 until 1790. Prime Minister 1770–1782, during whose time in office the American colonies were lost.

Norwich, John Julius: John Julius Cooper (1929–2018) 2nd Viscount Norwich. Married (1) 1952, Anne Frances May Clifford, daughter of Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford and Alice Devin Gundry (div 1985), (2) 1989, Mary Makins, daughter of 1st Baron Sherfield and Alice Brooks Davis.

Nowell-Smith, Simon Harcourt (1909–1996). Book collector and bibliographer. Librarian of the London Library, 1950–56. Married 1938 Marion Sinclair, née Crichton (1914–1977).

Nuffield, William Richard Morris (1877–1963), 1st Viscount. Motor car manufacturer and philanthropist. Founder of Nuffield College, Oxford, 1949.

Nugent, Sir Terrence Edmund Gascoigne ('Tim') (1895–1973). 1st Baron Nugent. Soldier and senior official in the Royal Household.