Patrick Rollo Basil French was a British writer, historian and academician.
13 Facts About Patrick French
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Patrick French was the author of several books including: Younghusband: the Last Great Imperial Adventurer, a biography of Francis Younghusband; The World Is What It Is, an authorised biography of Nobel Laureate V S Naipaul that won the National Book Critics Circle Award in the United States of America; and India: A Portrait.
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Patrick Rollo Basil French was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, on 28 May 1966.
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Patrick French was raised in Warminster and attended Ampleforth College, before enrolling at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied English and American literature, received an MA in English literature, and went on to receive a PhD in South Asian studies.
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At the age of 25, Patrick French set off on a trail across Central Asia to retrace the steps of British explorer Francis Younghusband.
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The book sold heavily due to the controversy and Patrick French was awarded the Sunday Times Young Author of the Year award for the book.
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Patrick French was awarded the Hawthornden Prize in 2009 for the book.
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Francis Younghusband 8.
In 2011, Patrick French published India: A Portrait, described as "an intimate biography of 1.2 billion people".
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Patrick French was appointed the inaugural Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University in 2017.
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Patrick French then married Meru Gokhale, and they had a son.
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In 2003, Patrick French was offered and declined appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
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Patrick French felt the order's motto, "For God and the Empire", would affect perceptions of his writing on South Asian history.
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Patrick French died from cancer in London on 16 March 2023, aged 56.