Memoirs Helen Grant (1903–1992)

Abstract

Helen Frances Grant was born at Clifton, Bristol, on 26 December 1903, the daughter of Dr and Mrs H. Newsome. By the time she went up to Somerville to read Spanish and French in 1927 she had not only been private secretary to Walter de la Mare, but had spent two years working in Brussels in a seemingly innocuous office which subsequently turned out to be engaged in industrial intelligence work. While still an undergraduate she discovered her life-long interest in politics — she was a passionate socialist — in the midst of student revolt in Granada, writing an account of this prelude to the Republic for the Observer on her return. It was during this period that she formed her close friendships with many of the figures prominent on the Spanish literary and intellectual scene, including Federico Garcia Lorca and Jorge Guillen. This first-hand insight into her speciality, modern Spanish literature, over the years added a spice to her lectures and supervisions which few teachers can hope to rival.