Sherard, Robert Harborough, 1861-1943 (author and journalist)
Dates
- Existence: 1861 - 1943
Biography
Robert Harborough Sherard Kennedy (he dropped 'Kennedy' as a young man) was the son of the Revd. B.S.C. Kennedy (illegitimate son of the sixth and last Earl of Harborough) and his wife Jane, granddaughter of William Wordsworth. He was educated in Guernsey and at New College, Oxford then the University of Bonn. After the break in relations with his father he spent many years from 1883 living in Paris as a journalist and man of letters where he became a friend and admirer of Oscar Wilde and was Wilde's first biographer (1906). In later life wrote several books and pamphlets defending Wilde's reputation. After publication of 'The Life and Evil Fate of Guy de Maupassant,' Sherard was created a Chevalier of the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur by France in 1929.