Biographical note
Graham Henry Greene was born on October 2, 1904, in Berkhampsted, Hertfordshire, England. His father was Charles Henry Greene, headmaster of the Berkhampsted School, which Greene also attended, and his mother was Marion Raymond Greene, a cousin of the famous British novelist Robert Louis-Stevenson. In 1927, Greene married Vivien Dayrell Browning, who survives him, together with their two children, Mrs. Lucy Caroline (Greene) Bourget and Francis Greene. Greene is ranked among the greatest of twentieth-century writers. The author of plays, short stories, non-fiction works, and children's books, he is probably best known as a novelist. He achieved his first literary success with the publication of his thriller novel 'Stamboul Train' (Heinemann, 1932), published in the U.S. as 'Orient Express' (1932), which subsequently became a motion picture under the same title. In addition to a full life as an independent author, Greene was sub-editor to the Times, London (1926-30); film critic for 'Night and Day' during the 1930s; film critic (1935-39) and literary editor (1940-41) for the Spectator, London; a member of the British Foreign Office in Africa (1941-44); director of Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd. publishers in London (1944-48); Indo-China correspondent for the New Republic (1954); director of Bodley Head publishers, London (1958-68); and a member of the Panamanian delegation to Washington for the signing of the Canal Treaty in 1977. On April 3, 1991, Greene died of a blood disease in Vevey, Switzerland.
For further biographical and bibliographical information, refer to the following sources: 1. Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 35 and Volume 133 (Obituary notice); and 2. The Life of Graham Greene, Volume 1: 1904-1939 by Norman Sherry (Viking, 1989).
