Alex Comfort

Alex Comfort (born Feb. 10, 1920, London, Eng.—died March 26, 2000, Banbury, Oxfordshire) was an English gerontologist and author, best known for his books on sexual behaviour.

Comfort was educated at the University of Cambridge (B.A., 1943; M.A., 1945) and the University of London (Ph.D., 1949) and qualified in medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and London Hospital. He taught and did research both in London and in the United States (1974–91).

Comfort’s theories on aging are expressed in The Biology of Senescence (1956) and The Process of Aging (1964), the latter being an introduction to gerontology for the layperson. He advocated greater freedom in sexual behaviour in books ranging from the scholarly Sexual Behaviour in Society (1950) to the best-selling The Joy of Sex (1972), which was described as a “gourmet guide to lovemaking” and featured unself-conscious text and illustrations. Translated into more than 20 languages, it was followed by More Joy of Sex (1974) and The New Joy of Sex (1991). Among Comfort’s other books on sexual problems and practices are Sex in Society (1975) and Sexual Consequences of Disability (1978).

Though chiefly known for his works on sex, Comfort was a prolific author, writing on a diverse range of subjects. At age 17 he wrote his first book, The Silver River (1938), a diary of his travels in the South Atlantic. In 1941 he made his fiction debut with No Such Liberty. Other novels followed, as well as several poetry collections. A noted anarchist, Comfort wrote numerous works on anarchy, including the highly influential Authority and Delinquency in the Modern State (1950). He was also active in the nuclear disarmament movement.