Grizel Niven

Grizel Niven
Born Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven
(1906-11-28)28 November 1906
Belgravia, London, England
Died 28 January 2007(2007-01-28) (aged 100)
Nationality British
Known for Sculpture
Notable work Bessie, the award that is given to recipients of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven (28 November 1906 – 28 January 2007) was an English sculptor. She created the bronze sculpture, the Bessie, which has been given to the winner of the annual Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction since its inception in 1996.

Early life

Grizel Niven was born in Belgravia, London, in 1906, the daughter of William Edward Graham Niven and Henriette Julia Degacher. Her younger brother was the actor and writer David Niven.

Career

Niven, in collaboration with Paul Clinton, was awarded a prize for one the six best designs in an international competition for the memorial sculpture at the Dachau Concentration Camp, a prize eventually won by Nandor Glid (the son of parents murdered in Auschwitz) in 1967.[1][2]

Niven heard Kate Mosse talking on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour about setting up a Women’s Prize for Fiction, and telephoned to offer a cast of a sculpture of hers as a prize.[3][4] The 3ft-high original stood in her garden in Jubilee Place, Chelsea, London.[5][6] The bronze Bessie figurine itself is 7.5 inches high.[7]

Personal life

Niven was a lesbian.[8] She died on 28 January 2007, aged 100.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ James Edward Young (1993). The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning. Yale University Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-0-300-05991-5. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Architectural Association Journal. The Association. 1960. p. 216. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Salter, Jessica (23 August 2013). "The world of Kate Mosse, author". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. ↑ The Europa Directory of Literary Awards and Prizes. Routledge. 22 December 2015. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-135-35631-6. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "My haven: Kate Mosse the bestselling novelist, 51, in her study at the West Sussex home she shares with husband Greg". Mail Online. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "NIVEN - LONDON". British Phone Book. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "About". The BAILEYS Women's Prize for Fiction. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Helen Osborne (24 November 2003). "He had charm, but not to spare". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Grizel NIVEN". Thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Grizel Niven (1907-2007)".
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