Vita Sackville-West

British writer
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: Victoria Mary Nicolson, Victoria Mary Sackville-West
Quick Facts
Byname of:
Victoria Mary Sackville-West, married name
Victoria Mary Nicolson:
Born:
March 9, 1892, Knole, Kent, England
Died:
June 2, 1962, Sissinghurst Castle, Kent (aged 70)
Also Known As:
Victoria Mary Nicolson
Victoria Mary Sackville-West
Notable Family Members:
spouse Sir Harold Nicolson
On the Web:
Project Muse - Vita Sackville-West (Nov. 15, 2024)

Vita Sackville-West (born March 9, 1892, Knole, Kent, England—died June 2, 1962, Sissinghurst Castle, Kent) was an English novelist and poet who wrote chiefly about the Kentish countryside, where she spent most of her life.

She was the daughter of the 3rd Baron Sackville and a granddaughter of Pepita, a Spanish dancer, whose story she told in Pepita (1937). In 1913 she married Harold Nicolson, a diplomat and author. Her poetic gift for evoking the beauty of the English countryside was recognized in her long poem The Land (1926). Apart from her many novels, of which the best known are The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent (1931), she also wrote biographies and several gardening books. She was the chief model for the character Orlando in the novel of that title written by Virginia Woolf. In 1948 she was made a Companion of Honour.

Portrait of a Marriage (1973) by her son Nigel Nicolson is based on his mother’s journal detailing her sexless friendship with her husband and her love affair with another woman. Dearest Andrew: Letters from V. Sackville-West to Andrew Reiber, 1959–1962 (1979) reveals her life to a gardening friend.

Nobel prize-winning American author, Pearl S. Buck, at her home, Green Hills Farm, near Perkasie, Pennsylvania, 1962. (Pearl Buck)
Britannica Quiz
Novels and Novelists Quiz
This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.