Cecil Woodham-Smith

(1896 - 1977)

The British biographer and historian Cecil Woodham-Smith began writing seriously only once her children were old enough to enter boarding school. She published three novels under a pseudonym and then began research for her first nonfiction work, an account of the life of Florence Nightingale. It was well regarded as a scholarly and witty work. Her next two books went on to receive similar critical acclaim, and she received honorary doctorates from the National University of Ireland in 1964 and the University of St. Andrews in 1965. For her contributions to British literature, she received the A.C. Benson Medal in 1967.