15 Facts About Francis Haskell

Francis Haskell wrote one of the first and most influential patronage studies, Patrons and Painters.

Francis Haskell was the son of Arnold Haskell, an influential ballet critic and writer and Vera Saitzoff, daughter of a Russian industrialist and sister of writer Boris Zaytsev.

From ages 5 to 8, Francis attended the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle in London, and then at Eton College.

In 1948, after serving in the Royal Army Educational Corps, Francis Haskell matriculated into King's College, Cambridge.

Francis Haskell read history before switching to English, and among his tutors were Eric Hobsbawm and Dadie Rylands.

Francis Haskell began his career not in academia but as a junior library clerk in the House of Commons from 1953 to 1954.

Francis Haskell was additionally librarian of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Cambridge, from 1962 to 1967.

Francis Haskell was additionally a fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, from 1967 to 1995.

Francis Haskell retired from Oxford in 1995, and was made an honorary fellow of his college.

Francis Haskell was a trustee of the Wallace Collection from 1976 to 1997.

Francis Haskell's research focused beyond artworks to people that surrounded them, including their patrons and history of the academic study of art.

Francis Haskell died of liver cancer on 18 January 2000, aged 71.

Francis Haskell was awarded the Serena medal for Italian studies by the British Academy in 1985.

Francis Haskell was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1994.

Francis Haskell had been made a chevalier of the Legion d'honneur by the President of France in recognition of his work.