Origins & Early Life

Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Anglo-Irish poet and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1968 until his death. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake, most of which feature the fictional detective Nigel Strangeways, starting with A Question of Proof (1935). During the Second World War he worked as a publications editor in the British government's Ministry of Information and also served in the Musbury branch of the Home Guard.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He was the father of the actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and the chef Tamasin Day-Lewis. Cecil Day-Lewis was born in 1904 in Ballintubbert, Athy/Stradbally border, Queen's County (now known as County Laois), Ireland. He was the son of Frank Day-Lewis, a Church of Ireland rector of that parish, and Kathleen Blake (née Squires; died 1906). Some of his family were from England and the family had originally been from Berkhamsted, in Hertfordshire, and settled in Ireland in the late 1860s. His father took the surname "Day-Lewis" as a combination of his own birth father's ("Day") and adoptive father's ("Lewis") surnames.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In his autobiography The Buried Day...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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