“s tribulations and spaniel-like devotion to the task. He may even have enjoyed the vinous associations of his biographer”
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Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
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culture · British writer and playwright (1904–1991) · writer · novelist · playwright · journalist · screenwriter · autobiographer · children's writer · spy · film critic · also Graham Greene, Greene
Born 2 October 1904 · Died 3 April 1991 · Q128560
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2026· 5 entries
“Oh, I’m not a Berkeleian. I believe my back’s against this wall. I believe there’s a sten gun over there.”
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“The big advantage ... is that at 80 you are more likely these days to beat out encountering your end in a nuclear war,”
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“on the ground of dogmatic atheism”
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The Guardian: The Writer and the Traitor by Robert Verkaik review – the strange case of Graham Greene and Kim Philby
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2025· 1 entry
The Guardian: ‘Eerie gem’ of an unearthed Graham Greene story published in Strand Magazine
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2023· 2 entries
The Guardian: African writer ruined by row with Graham Greene finally gets chance to shine
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The Guardian: Graham Greene was ‘ready to go to jail for Lolita’, says Véra Nabokov’s diary
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2022· 1 entry
The Guardian: Our Man in Havana review – Graham Greene classic becomes a clever musical
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2021· 2 entries
The Guardian: A Splinter of Ice review – Graham Greene and Kim Philby clink glasses
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The Guardian: Graham Greene’s showdown with Soviet spy Kim Philby: A Splinter of Ice review
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1991· 15 entries
Died 1991-04-03.
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“Zmywając statki po obiedzie doznałem dręczącej pokusy, żeby zawartość urny też spłukać do zlewu. Urna ogromnie by mi się przydała bo obiecałem sobie, że w przyszłym roku zajmę się smażeniem owoców – emeryt powinien przecież mieć niejedno hobby, jeżeli nie chce starzeć się zbyt szybko – i napełniona dżemem wyglądałaby estetycznie na nakrytym do podwieczorku stole.”
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Aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland
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“W dzieciństwie zdarza się zawsze taka chwila, kiedy otwierają się drzwi, by wpuścić do środka przyszłość.”
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“W dzieciństwie żyjemy w blasku nieśmiertelności – niebo jest równie bliskie i rzeczywiste, jak brzeg morza. Obok skomplikowanych szczegółów świata pojawia się prostota: Bóg jest dobry, dorośli znają odpowiedzi na wszystkie pytania, istnieje coś takiego, jak prawda, a sprawiedliwość działa miarowo bezawaryjnie, niczym zegar.”
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“Przez całe życie instynkt nakazywał mi zaniechać wszystkiego, do czego nie miałem zdolności.”
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“Nuda – to flet, na którym diabeł wygrywa nam swe ulubione melodie.”
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“Nie wierzę nikomu, kto mówi: kocham, kocham, kocham. To zawsze znaczy: ja, ja, ja.”
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“Jako katolik dziękuję Bogu za heretyków. Herezja to tylko inne określenie wolności myśli.”
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“Człowiek się rodzi, jego rodzice umierają, sam się starzeje i umiera.”
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“It is the story-teller's task to elicit sympathy and a measure of understanding for those who lie outside the boundaries of State approval.”
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“Os comunistas têm cometido grandes crimes, mas, pelo menos, não têm ficado à margem, como uma sociedade estabelecida, nem têm sido indiferentes. Eu preferiria ter sangue nas mãos a ter água, como Pilatos.”
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“A vingança é salutar ao caráter; dela brota o perdão.”
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At the age of 86, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery
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Had a reputation as a writer of both deeply serious novels on the theme of Catholicism, and of "suspense-filled stories of detection"
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1986· 1 entry
Greene was awarded Britain's Order of Merit
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1984· 1 entry
In celebration of his 80th birthday, the Greene King Brewery, which Greene's great-grandfather had founded in 1799, produced a special edition of its St
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1983· 3 entries
Awarded Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (1983).
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The Honorary Consul, published ten years earlier, was released as a film (under the title Beyond the Limit in some territories), starring Michael Caine and Richard Gere
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"I admire him for his courage and his efficiency, but I question his authoritarianism," adding: "All successful revolutions, however idealistic, probably betray themselves in time
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1981· 2 entries
Awarded Jerusalem Prize (1981).
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Greene was awarded the Jerusalem Prize, awarded to writers concerned with the freedom of the individual in society
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1980· 1 entry
Awarded Dos Passos Prize (1980).
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1978· 1 entry
“There's a virtue in slowness, which we have lost”
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1976· 1 entry
Awarded The Grand Master (1976).
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1975· 1 entry
Greene was shortlisted once more as one of the final five candidates for the prize, but was passed over again
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1974· 1 entry
But this time the Nobel committee was hesitant to award an English language novelist for a second year in succession following the prize awarded to Patrick White the previous year, and Greene was passed over
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1973· 1 entry
Had an uncredited cameo appearance as an insurance company representative in François Truffaut's film Day for Night
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1971· 1 entry
As part of their Collected Edition of Greene's works, Julian Symons noted the "close relationship" between the genres; as the edition progressed, Eric Ambler pointed out that Greene was redesignating all his "entertainme
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1969· 1 entry
When Samuel Beckett and André Malraux were the main contenders for the prize, Greene's candidacy was however dismissed by the Nobel committee
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1968· 1 entry
Awarded Shakespeare Prize (1968).
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1966· 2 entries
Moving to Antibes, to be close to Yvonne Cloetta, whom he had known since 1959, a relationship that endured until his death
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And 1967, Greene was again among the final three choices, according to Nobel records unsealed on the 50th anniversary
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1965· 1 entry
Greene again entered a similar New Statesman competition pseudonymously, and won an honourable mention
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1963· 1 entry
Staying at the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, where The Comedians (1966) is set
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1961· 1 entry
Was among the final three candidates for the prize
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1958· 1 entry
Greene was offered the position of chairman by Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre, but declined
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1957· 2 entries
François Duvalier, known as "Papa Doc", was elected president over Louis Déjoie
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Just months after Fidel Castro began his final revolutionary assault on the Batista regime in Cuba, Greene played a small role in helping the revolutionaries, as a secret courier transporting warm clothing for Castro's r
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1954· 1 entry
Greene travelled to Haiti
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1953· 1 entry
The Holy Office informed Greene that The Power and the Glory was damaging to the reputation of the priesthood; but later, in a private audience with Greene, Pope Paul VI told him that, although parts of his novels would
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1951· 1 entry
To visit his friend Trevor Wilson, British consul in Hanoi
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1950· 2 entries
His brother Hugh Carleton Greene, who was head of UK Information Services in Malaya, brought Greene to Malaya during the early phase of the Malayan Emergency
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And was shortlisted for that year's prize
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1949· 1 entry
After writing the novella as "raw material", he wrote the screenplay for a classic film noir, The Third Man, also directed by Reed and featuring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten
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1948· 1 entry
Awarded James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Heart of the Matter (1948).
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1947· 3 entries
And 2011, The End of the Affair in 1955 and 1999, and The Quiet American in 1958 and 2002
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But Vivien refused to grant him a divorce, in accordance with Catholic teaching, and they remained married until Greene's death in 1991
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Greene left his family in 1947, but Vivien refused to grant him a divorce, in accordance with Catholic teaching, and they remained married until Greene's death in 1991.
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1941· 2 entries
Awarded Hawthornden Prize for The Power and the Glory (1941).
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The travels led to his being recruited into MI6 by his sister, Elisabeth, who worked for the agency
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1935· 1 entry
On a trip to Liberia that produced the travel book Journey Without Maps
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1932· 1 entry
Greene divided his fiction into two genres: thrillers (mystery and suspense books), which he described as entertainments; and literary works, which he described as novels
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1926· 2 entries
After meeting his future wife Vivien Dayrell-Browning
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After meeting his future wife, Vivien Dayrell-Browning
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1920· 1 entry
Aged 16, in what was a radical step for the time, he was sent for psychoanalysis for six months in London, afterwards returning to school as a day student
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1910· 1 entry
Charles Greene succeeded Dr Fry as headmaster of Berkhamsted
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1904· 2 entries
Born 1904-10-02.
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In St John's House, a boarding house of Berkhamsted School, Hertfordshire, where his father was house master
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