Patrick French, British historian who wrote extensively on India, dies at 57

NEW DELHI: In 2008, The New York Times review of Patrick French’s ‘The World Is What It Is’—the authorised biography of Nobel Prize winner VS Naipaul — called French as “a relative rarity among biographers, a real writer”.  French, an established name in the literary world,  died in London on Thursday after battling cancer for four years. He was 57. French seamlessly blended a nuanced take and an innate wit in the pages of biographies he has written over the years.

 His exceptional writing on Naipaul aside, French also authored Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer (1994), a biography of the British explorer Francis Younghusband; Liberty or Death: India’s Journey to Independence and Division (1997); and India: A Portrait, an intimate biography of the lives of Indians wherein he captures a panoramic portrait of the country. 

French, who did his PhD in South Asian Studies and an MA in English and American Literature, both from the University of Edinburgh, majorly focused on political and social analysis of India in the decades directly before and after independence in 1947. He also worked on the period following economic ‘liberalisation’ in the 1990s.

Apart from being adept with words and masterful in weaving narratives, French was also an academician. He was the inaugural dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University. He stepped down in 2022 after five years to take a writing sabbatical.  French was also interested in understanding climate change, and had mentioned in a 2021 tweet how “In my 20s I had a ‘Greta Thunberg’ moment. 

As a non-scientist, I could not see how you burned fossils at ferocious rates without changing the planet”. 
Among the many hats he donned, he was also known for his brief stint in politics when he unsuccessfully contested the 1992 UK general elections as a Green Party candidate. Many from the literary circles and beyond, including author and MP Shashi Tharoor, writer and historian William Dalrymple, took to Twitter to pay their tributes.

Calling him “a brilliant biographer, and a very fine and generous human being”, Indian historian and writer Ramachandra Guha shared his thoughts with this newspaper: “I cherished his friendship and I admired his writing. After I got the news, I heard that his biography of [British novelist] Doris Lessing is done. It will be wonderful and, in many ways, I am thinking about how it is a perfect counterpart to VS Naipaul—of course, both Nobel laureates; one a woman, one a man… I am very intrigued by it and I thought Patrick would be a perfect choice.” 

He added: “Some years ago, he also told me that he wanted to write a book on Queen Victoria’s empire. So, that was an unfinished project.” Delhi-based author and historian Swapna Liddle also shared her thoughts: “A great loss to the world of literature. French will particularly be remembered for his brilliant biographies.” 

Had brief stint in politics
French donned many hats. He was known for his brief stint in politics when he unsuccessfully contested at the 1992 United Kingdom general election as a Green Party candidate. French was also interested in climate change, and had mentioned in a 2021 tweet how “In my 20s I had a ‘Greta Thunberg’ moment. As a non-scientist, I could not see how you burned fossils at ferocious rates without changing planet”