Grizel Niven

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.

Grizel Niven
Born
Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven

(1906-11-28)28 November 1906
Belgravia, London, England
Died28 January 2007(2007-01-28) (aged 100)
NationalityBritish
Known forSculpture
Notable work
Bessie, the award that is given to recipients of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

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 3 ft-high original stood in her garden in Jubilee Place, Chelsea, London.[5] The bronze Bessie figurine itself is 7.5 inches high.[6]

Personal life

Niven was a lesbian.[7] She died on 28 January 2007, aged 100.[8][9]

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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.
  2. Architectural Association Journal. The Association. 1960. p. 216.
  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. 2015. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-135-35631-6.
  5. "NIVEN - LONDON". British Phone Book. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. "About". The BAILEYS Women's Prize for Fiction. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. Helen Osborne (24 November 2003). "He had charm, but not to spare". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. "Grizel NIVEN". Thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  9. "Grizel Niven (1907-2007)".
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