‘To eat figs off the tree in the very early morning, when they have been barely touched by the sun, is one of the exquisite pleasures of the Mediterranean’
Elizabeth David
Elizabeth David was, in many ways, a contradictory character. Born into an upper-middle-class family in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, she avoided the usual route of privileged young women of her time and initially opted for a far from conventional lifestyle. After her schooling, she lived on her own in London, working as an actress in the Regent’s Park Theatre and then, on the eve of the Second World War, embarked on an impulsive and dangerous adventure with her then lover, Charles Gibson Cowan, taking a barge through the canals of France to the Mediterranean, only to be arrested by the Italians as war broke out. In sharp contrast to this adventure, she was also happy to attend a French language and culture course at the Sorbonne, paid for by her mother, and to enjoy a privileged life during her short time living in Paris.
The enigma which is Elizabeth David can also be found in her romantic attachments; she never, ‘got her man’, rather she lost the love of her life, Peter Laing, in Cairo. Peter, who had been seriously wounded during the war, was forced to return as an invalid to his native Canada, thwarting her hopes of marriage. She then married a man to whom she was patently unsuited, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony David, and from whom she was soon separated. After a long struggle, she was finally able to divorce Anthony David after many years of estrangement.
Returning to England after becoming ill in New Delhi, she bought a house in Chelsea where she lived the rest of her life building her career as Britain’s most prominent food writer and cook.
She was careless about her health, she took little exercise, smoked and drank quite heavily and led a sedentary but stressful life. All this led to a stroke at a relatively early age. Her ill health was compounded by her frenetic work, writing constantly and her pedantic attitude to her publishers. She was easily enraged and did not tolerate fools gladly.
Below is a simple timeline of the key events in Elizabeth David’s life; it is meant as a general overview rather than an extensive study or detailed chronology of her life and work. In our Books section you will find two detailed biographies of Elizabeth David which tell her story in much more detail. You will also find a range of Elizabeth David’s cookery books and some of the published works of her friends and acquaintances.
Elizabeth David CBE, née Gwynne, was born on Boxing Day 1913 to Stella and Rupert Gwynne at Wootton Manor near Eastbourne in Sussex, England. Elizabeth’s father was the Conservative MP for Eastbourne. Both her mother and her father came from prosperous and titled families, with descendants of English, Scottish, Welsh,…Read More
When Elizabeth’s father, Rupert, died suddenly in 1924, Elizabeth and her sisters were sent to various boarding schools whilst her mother pursued her own interests, moving to Jamaica in 1933 and remarrying. When Elizabeth was sixteen, she was enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris to undertake a course in French…Read More
Having found sufficient money, Elizabeth and Charles bought the ‘Evelyn Hope’, a wooden sailing boat with an engine, crossed the channel to France and sailed up the Seine to Paris. From Paris they continued, by canal and river, to Dijon and Marseilles, and finally to Antibes, where they were unable…Read More
It was in Antibes that Elizabeth first met the writer Norman Douglas (pictured above, on the left, with Graham Greene.) Elizabeth was twenty-five and Norman was seventy but they immediately felt a great affinity for each other and there is little doubt that Norman became Elizabeth’s most important mentor. Norman…Read More
Although Charles wished to continue his relationship with Elizabeth, she wanted to enjoy the new life that awaited her in wartime Egypt. Speaking excellent French and German, she secured a job in the British naval cipher office in Alexandria and quickly found a most agreeable flat in the city. She…Read More
Returning to Britain after the warmth, abundance and good food of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, Elizabeth was daunted by the grey and drab Britain that she found. With rationing still enforced, people were still relying on wartime recipes and ingredients. The food she encountered was quite terrible. ‘There…Read More
The experience of the hotel in Ross-on-Wye, the food austerity which was the hallmark of British cooking, her fond memories of the warmth of the Mediterranean, the extensive choice of fruits, vegetables, meats and delicious dishes that she had found in the Mediterranean and Middle East and that she now…Read More
Elizabeth’s estranged husband, Anthony, had returned from India in 1947. At this point, Elizabeth separated from George and resumed her life with Anthony as his wife. With financial support from Stella Gwynne, Elizabeth and Anthony bought a house in Chelsea, London – 24 Halsey Street, where Elizabeth was to remain…Read More
With the encouragement of a friend, Veronica Nicholson, Elizabeth continued to write articles for ‘Harper’s Bazaar’. As Elizabeth owned the copyright of these articles, Elizabeth began to put together the material for a book. Elizabeth submitted her manuscript to a number of publishers, all of whom turned her down. Revising…Read More
Following the success of ‘A Book of Mediterranean Food’, John Lehmann commissioned a second book which was to be ‘French Country Cooking’, again illustrated by John Minton and published in October 1950. Elizabeth then left England in March 1951 to spend three months in Provence. In June 1951 she travelled…Read More
By 1954, John Lehmann’s publishing firm had been closed down and Elizabeth found herself contracted to Macdonald. She intensely disliked Macdonald and felt that they showed little care for her books and manuscripts. Elizabeth was able to persuade them to relinquish their option on her next book. Elizabeth sold her…Read More
In 1960, Elizabeth ceased to write for ‘The Sunday Times’ and ‘Vogue’, joining instead ‘The Spectator’, ‘The Sunday Despatch’ and ‘The Sunday Telegraph’, writing weekly for these publications. She enjoyed far more editorial freedom and had become a voice of authority following the publication of ‘French Provincial Cooking’. Her books…Read More
In November 1965, together with four business partners, Elizabeth opened a shop in Pimlico called ‘Elizabeth David Ltd’, selling kitchen equipment, much of which was imported from France. Elizabeth was tasked with selecting stock and often refused to stock items she deemed to be of no use in a kitchen…Read More
Elizabeth’s purist attitude to the shop was at odds with her business partners’ commercial acumen and their desire to run the shop profitably. Tensions between Elizabeth and her partners were high and the shop was not a commercial success. Elizabeth’s disagreements with her business partners, the suicide of her sister…Read More
Jill Norman, who was to become Elizabeth’s literary executor, had undertaken research for Elizabeth’s book, ‘English Bread and Yeast Cookery’. Elizabeth and Jill decided to continue their collaboration and to produce two further books, one on ice and ices, and the second a collection of Elizabeth’s early journalism. The book…Read More
In 1986, Elizabeth’s sister, Felicité, who had lived with Elizabeth for thirty years, died. Elizabeth began to suffer from depression and chest pains and spent three months in hospital. At this point, Gerald Asher, a wine importer and friend of Elizabeth’s, invited her to stay with him in California in…Read More
