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Siegfried Sassoon

しーぐふりーど・さすーん

Shīgufrīdo Sassūn

Aliases: Siegfried Loraine Sassoon
Pen Names: Saul Kain（Early pen name）, Pinchbeck Lyre（Used for satirical poems）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1886-09-08 （Matfield, Kent, England）
Died
1967-09-01 （Heytesbury, Wiltshire, England） age 80
Nationality
United Kingdom
Languages
English
Religion
Roman Catholic Church Baptized in 1957 （Baptismal Name: Siegfried Loraine Sassoon）
Residence History
Matfield, Kent → Cambridge → Heytesbury, Wiltshire → Westminster, London

Career

Occupations
Poet, Writer, Soldier
Active Years
1913-1967
Affiliations
British Army, Royal Welch Fusiliers, Sussex Yeomanry
Influenced By
John Keats, Henry Vaughan, John Masefield
Influenced
Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves

Education

New Beacon School
Preparatory school
Period: 幼少期
Country: United Kingdom
Sevenoaks, Kent
Marlborough College
Public school
Period: 1902-1905頃
Year of Graduation: 1905
Country: United Kingdom
Wiltshire
Clare College, Cambridge
History / History
Period: 1905-1907
Year of Graduation: 1907
Country: United Kingdom
Left without degree

Awards

Military Cross
1916
Organization: British Army
Result: 受賞
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
1928
Work: Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man
Category: 小説部門
Organization: University of Edinburgh
Result: 受賞
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
1951
Organization: UK Government
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Old Huntsman

1917 Poetry

Poetry collection reflecting pre-war hunting life and early works

HuntingNatureEarly Romanticism

Counter-Attack and Other Poems

1918 War poetry

Anti-war poems depicting trench horrors

Horrors of warJingoism satireSoldiers' suffering

Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man

1928 Fictional autobiography

First of Sherston trilogy, life of a country gentleman

Rural lifeCricketFox-hunting

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer

1930 Fictional autobiography

Second of Sherston trilogy, based on WWI experiences

War experiencesAnti-warFriendship
Adaptations
  • [Film] Regeneration / Marc Munden (1997)

The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston

1937 Autobiography

Compilation of Sherston trilogy, seminal war memoir

WarPacifismSpirituality

Bibliography

  • The Daffodil Murderer
  • The Old Huntsman
  • Counter-Attack and Other Poems
  • Picture-Show
  • Aftermath
  • Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man
  • Memoirs of an Infantry Officer
  • Sherston's Progress
  • The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston
  • The Old Century

Adaptations

  • Regeneration (film) - based on Pat Barker novel
  • Benediction (film)

Translations of Works

  • Numerous German translations
  • French translations

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Realistic war depictionSatirical verseLater spiritual prose
Recurring Motifs
Trench horrorsJingoistic pretensionsFriendship and lossCatholic conversion

Health

  • Stomach cancer
    1967年
    Cause of death
  • Neurasthenia (shell shock)
    1917-1918
    Craiglockhart Hospital, led to anti-war declaration

Legacy

Leading WWI anti-war poet, acclaimed for Sherston Trilogy prose. Mentored Wilfred Owen, influential in war literature

Museums

  • Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum Caernarfon Castle, Wales

Archives

  • Cambridge University Library
  • Imperial War Museum

In Popular Culture

  • Portrayed by James Wilby in Regeneration
  • Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi in Benediction

Quotes

  • I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority...the war...has now become a war of aggression and conquest
    Source: Soldier's Declaration (1917)

Trivia

  • Played cricket with Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Father Jewish Baghdadi merchant, mother Anglo-Catholic
  • Nicknamed 'Mad Jack' for bravery on Western Front