Barbara Hardy
Barbara Gladys Hardy, FRSL (née Nathan; 27 June 1924 – 12 February 2016) was a British literary scholar, author, and poet. From 1965 to 1970, she was Professor of English at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Then, from 1970 to 1989, she was Professor of English Literature at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Also recorded as Barbara Gladys Hardy · Barbara Gladys Nathan
Barbara Hardy
- Name
- Barbara Hardy
- Birth Name
- Barbara Nathan
- Born
- 27 June 1924
- Birthplace
- Swansea, Wales
- Died
- 12 February 2016
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- literary historian · poet · writer · literary scholar · university teacher · man of letters · scholar of english
- Education
- University College London
- Honours
- Fellow of the British Academy · Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature · honorary doctorate
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q23022369
In this article
Biography
Biography
Barbara Hardy studied at University College London. The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with Royal Holloway, University of London and Birkbeck, University of London. Distinctions recorded are Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and honorary doctorate.
Key facts
Key facts
• Honorific Prefix — Professor • Name — Barbara Hardy • Honorific Suffix — FRSL • Birth Name — Barbara Nathan • Born — 27 June 1924 • Birthplace — Swansea, Wales • Died — 12 February 2016 • Discipline — English literature • Sub Discipline — Literature of the 19th century George Eliot Jane Austen Charles Dickens Thomas Hardy • Alma Mater — University College London • Workplaces — Royal Holloway, University of London Birkbeck College, University of London
Early life and education
Early life and education
Hardy was born on 27 June 1924 in Swansea, Wales. Her father was Maurice Nathan, a tobacconist, and her mother was Gladys Emily Ann, née Abraham. She was educated at Swansea High School for Girls, a grammar school. In February 1941, she experienced the Swansea Blitz. She studied at University College London, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1947 and a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1949. On 16 March 1946, she married Ernest Dawson Hardy, a civil servant at the Inland Revenue. They had two children, Kate and Julia.
Selected works
Selected works
• Academic * * * * * • Personal * * • Poetry • Dante's Ghosts (Paekakariki Press, 2013)
Honours
In 1962, Hardy was awarded the Rose Mary Crawshay Prize by the British Academy for her monograph The Novels of George Eliot. In 1988 she delivered the British Academy's Sarah Tryphena Phillips Lecture in American Literature and History. In 1997, she was awarded the Sagittarius Prize by the Society of Authors for her novel London Lovers. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 1997, and a Senior Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 2006.
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Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Barbara Hardy (literary scholar), revision 1343615882 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Armstrong, Isobel. Barbara Hardy obituary. The Guardian. 7 March 2016.
- 2.The British Academy. Professor Barbara Hardy. Elections to the Fellowship. 2006.
- 3.Birkbeck, University of London. In memory of Barbara Hardy (1924-2016). Department of English and Humanities.
- 4.British Academy. HARDY, Professor Barbara. British Academy Fellows.
- 5.Baker, William. Hardy [née Nathan], Barbara Gladys (1924–2016), literary critic and poet. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 2020. 978-0-19-861412-8.
- 6.Rose Mary Crawshay Prize. British Academy.
- 7.Sarah Tryphena Phillips Lectures in American Literature and History. The British Academy.
- 8.You're Booked!. The Independent. 25 May 1997.
- 9.Current RSL Fellows. Royal Society of Literature.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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