Nicholas Lezard
Nicholas Andrew Selwyn Lezard is an English journalist, author and literary critic.
Background and education
The Lezard family went from London to Kimberley in South Africa in the 1800s. Nicholas Lezard's great-grandfather, Louis Flavien Lezard, of Hallam Street in central London, became a noted solicitor and local figure in the country, serving as chairman and president of several Kimberley institutions. Louis's eldest son, Julien – the third son, Squadron Leader Selwyn Edward Lezard, Royal [Air Force Volunteer Reserve|R.A.F.V.R.], being Nicholas Lezard's grandfather – was a Cambridge-educated barrister and noted society figure and gambler, who served in the Special Operations Executive alongside Xan Fielding. Julien Lezard married Hilda, daughter of Sir Daniel Cooper, 2nd Baronet; she was the widow of Thomas Uchter Caulfield Knox, Viscount Northland, son of Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly, and of Geoffrey Edward Mills, son of Charles Mills, 1st Baron Hillingdon.He was educated at The [Hall School, Hampstead], Westminster School, and Trinity [College, Cambridge].