Mr Anthony Hope Hawkins Barrister and Novelist

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933), Novelist, was born in London, the younger son of a headmaster, the Rev. Edward Comerford Hawkins (d.1906). Hawkins was educated at Marlborough College and then went on to study classics at Balliol College, Oxford. Hawkins was called to the Bar in 1887, spending his spare time writing short stories. By 1893, he had published five novels under the pseudonym, Anthony Hope, the most successful being Mr. Witts Widow (1892). In 1894, Hawkins wrote the highly acclaimed The Prisoner of Zenda, a court romance set in the fictional kingdom of Ruritania. This name gave rise to the term, 'Ruritania', which is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as the novelists and dramatists locale for court romances in a modern setting. Later the same year, Hawkins's The Dolly Dialogues was published captivating audiences with its charismatic evocation of fin de siécle society. After the success of both books, Hawkins left the Bar and devoted the rest of his career to writing. The success of Zenda was equalled only by The King's Mirror (1899), considered by some to be his finest book. Hawkins married Elizabeth Somerville in 1903. At the beginning of the Great War, he wrote The New (German) Testament (1914), arguing against German militarism and was knighted for his contribution to political publications in 1918. After the war, Hawkins suffered from severe depression and wrote little else until his death in 1933. 'Spy' illustrated him at the peak of his popularity after the success of The Prisoner of Zenda.

In his short life he has achieved a position among the best of our younger novelists that entitles him to a place in this gallery.... He suddenly burst upon the world as something like a master of romantic fiction.

Vanity Fair, 'Men of the Day', No. 640, 1895.