John Julius Norwich
Attribution:
Jon Himoff
John Julius Norwich
Prolific English historian and travel writer
15 September 1929
John Julius Cooper, better known as John Julius Norwich thanks to his title 2nd Viscount Norwich, is one of Britain's pre-eminent historians and travel writers, and has appeared on several television and radio shows on the subject of history and beyond. The son of famous statesman and writer Alfred Duff Cooper and his wife Lady Diana Cooper, Norwich had a privileged and illustrious upbringing, having been educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto; Eton College; Strasbourg University and Oxford - where he studied French and German. A stint in the Royal Navy and twelve years in the Foreign Service, serving in Belgrade and Beirut, then served as a prelude to a career which would see Norwich a prolific writer and broadcaster.
Norwich's first published book was The Normans in the South (1967), a reflection on the Sicilian frontiers of the Norman empire. His other printed works include Great Architecture of the World, A Short History of Byzantium, Venice: A Traveller's Companion and his memoirs, Trying to Please. His main historical interests include Byzantium and the ancient Mediterranean, Venice (Norwich is honorary Chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund), the Papacy and Shakespeare's histories. Norwich is also Chairman Emeritus of World Monuments Fund Britain, and was once Chairman of Colnaghi, the oldest fine art dealer in London. Other boards Norwich has sat on include the National Trust and the English National Opera.
Norwich has clocked up over thirty television appearances, and hosted popular BBC radio panel game My Word! between 1978 - 1982. His latest book, The Great Cities in History, released 2009, attempts to bind the cornucopia of human urbanisation - from Sumer to Singapore. Yet as much as Norwich infuses his written and spoken work with enthusiasm and deep understanding, he insists that, "I have not discovered a single new historical fact in my life. I like infecting other people with my own enthusiasm, but I am not interested in pushing back the frontiers of knowledge."
