Robert S. Hichens
Robert Smythe Hichens was a notable English writer born in 1864 in Speldhurst, Kent. Initially encouraged to pursue an education at Oxford, Hichens displayed a greater inclination towards music, studying at the Royal College of Music and later journalism. His literary career began with freelance reporting and the publication of short stories, leading to his first novel, *The Coastguard's Secret*, at age twenty-one. Hichens gained significant recognition for *The Green Carnation*, a satirical work inspired by his encounter with Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, which explored themes of homosexuality in late 19th-century Paris.
He became a prominent figure among contemporary writers such as H. Rider Haggard and George Bernard Shaw, even succeeding Shaw as a music critic. Throughout his career, Hichens authored several best-selling novels, with *The Garden of Allah* being particularly notable. He also ventured into film adaptations of his works, beginning in 1915, with multiple novels, including *Bella Donna* and *The Garden of Allah*, being adapted into movies. Hichens remained a significant literary figure until his death in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1950, leaving behind a legacy that reflects the cultural conversations of his time.
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Robert S. Hichens
Author
- Born: November 14, 1864
- Birthplace: Speldhurst, Kent, England
- Died: July 20, 1950
- Place of death: Zurich, Switzerland
Biography
Robert Smythe Hichens was born in 1864 at Speldhurst, Kent, England. His father, Canon F. H. Hichens of Canterbury, wanted him to study at Oxford. Hichens, however, showed an inordinate talent and aptitude for music, so he was permitted to study at the Royal College of Music in London. In addition, he studied journalism at the London School of Journalism and later trained with the cathedral organist in Bristol. Writing gradually took central place in Hichens’s life, perhaps because of his interest in writing lyrics for songs.
Hichens began his writing career as a freelance reporter and then wrote short stories that were published by various magazines. He wrote his first novel, The Coastguard’s Secret, at the age of twenty-one. Following a visit to Egypt where he met Lord Alfred Douglas and his lover, Oscar Wilde, Hichens wrote The Green Carnation, which was published anonymously. The persona of Wilde, who was possibly the most well-known and notorious author of the time, lent itself to this scandalous story of gay men, who in late-nineteenth century Paris identified themselves by wearing green carnations in their buttonholes. Wilde and Douglas were thinly disguised as characters in the book, and Hichens wrote the book in a parody of Wilde’s writing style. The book was extremely successful and launched Hichens’s literary career.
Hichens lived and participated in a society that boasted some of the world’s most popular and successful writers, including H. Rider Haggard, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Marie Corelli, and George Bernard Shaw; in fact, Hichens succeeded Shaw as music critic for the London World. After publishing several novels and short-story collections in the 1890’s, Hichens lived in North Africa, Italy, and Switzerland. He returned to England during the summers, where he wrote his novels and short stories.
His best-selling work was the novel The Garden of Allah. Hichens began his long association with motion pictures in 1915, when his book, Bella Donna, was licensed for production. The Garden of Allah, Barbary Sheep, The Slave: A Romance, and The Call of the Blood were all licensed and produced as motion pictures within the next three years. Six of his novels were adapted into films in the 1920’s, including a remake of The Garden of Allah.
Considered a major author into the 1940’s, Hichens was an extremely popular novelist during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. In 1947, Alfred Hitchcock directed an adaptation of Hichens’s 1933 novel The Paradine Case. Hichens died in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1950.