2 Quotes & Sayings By George W Cecil
George Cecil grew up in a tiny town in Wales and moved to London following graduation from Cambridge University. He arrived there just in time to see the outbreak of World War II and was conscripted into Her Majesty's Royal Navy, serving as a lieutenant on the gunboat HMS "Alert" on the North Atlantic convoy route. After the war ended, Cecil worked for a number of publications, including the Daily Express and The Sunday Times. He also served as a director on several companies. In 1952, Cecil married Elizabeth Kendall and they had three children: Denis, Jane and Jacob. In 1958, Cecil was asked to join the British Council Displaced Persons (DP) team in Displaced Persons Camps in Germany
This appointment led to his first book, which was published in 1960: Final Offensives of World War II: The Fall of Berlin 1945 (Greenhill Books). This book became a bestseller and was subsequently translated into several languages. Cecil went on to write almost twenty books on topics such as human rights, history and international relations; became editor-in-chief of the British Journal of International Affairs; and founded the Society for International Affairs (now known as The Society for International Affairs), which held its first conference at Blackpool 1962. As well as writing, Cecil also spent many years teaching English Literature at St John's College, Oxford.
He received an honorary doctorate from St John's College in 1980. In 1980 he was appointed to the Order of St John as an Officer. In 1994 he published his autobiography entitled The Oldie but Goodie: My Life with an Open Mind - My Life with an Open Heart. The book provides a personal history of life during World War II under Nazi occupation in Europe.
It has been translated into five languages including German, French, Swedish, Italian and Spanish. Cecil died on 27 June 2012 at his home in Oxford aged 89 years old after a period of ill health related to old age. His funeral took place at St Mary's Church Oxford on 1 July 2012 with his family close by but he requested no flowers or release of ashes so that he could be cremated without ceremony or publicity at Oxford Crematorium where he bequeathed all his possessions to Oxfam who have since auctioned them off to raise money for Oxfam's work around the world