The writer and historian Patrick French, known for his award winning 2008 authorised biography on VS Naipaul, has died from cancer aged 57. News of his death was announced by his wife Meru Gokhale, a former publisher at the Penguin Press Group.
“At 8.10am this morning my beloved husband Patrick French passed away in London after a brave battle with cancer,” she said yesterday. “He was an exceptional father, friend, husband, teacher and mentor to many. His kindness and love will stay with us forever. He went in peace, without suffering.”
Born in England in 1966, French studied literature at Edinburgh University. He won a number of prestigious writing awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and the Somerset Maugham Award.
He was widely respected for his writing on India, including his chronicling of the nation’s struggle for liberation from English rule in his 1998 work, Liberty or Death: India’s Journey to Independence and Division.
Esta historia es de la edición March 17, 2023 de The Independent.
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