Victoria Mary Sackville-West, also known as Vita, was born on March 9th, 1892, at Knole in Kent, the ancestral home of her aristocratic family, who held the title of Earl of Dorset. Her family had a rich literary heritage, with two of her ancestors, Thomas Sackville (1536-1608) and Charles Sackville (1638-1706),being distinguished poets.
Vita was educated at home and went on to become a prolific writer, publishing work across various genres. Her literary output includes family histories, such as 'Knole and Sackvilles', which was first published in 1922, and verse. Her poem 'The Land' won the prestigious Hawthornden Prize in 1927.
On October 1st, 1913, Vita married the writer and diplomat Harold Nicolson, with whom she had two sons, Ben, born on August 6th, 1914, and Nigel, born on January 19th, 1917. In 1930, Vita and Harold purchased Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, where they created their famous garden.
Vita's personal life was marked by a romantic relationship with Violet Trefusis, and she was also a close friend of the novelist Virginia Woolf. Virginia used Vita as the inspiration for the eponymous protagonist of her 1928 novel 'Orlando'. Vita's own novels include 'The Edwardians' (1930) and 'All Passion Spent' (1931),the latter of which was dramatized for television by the BBC in 1986, with Wendy Hiller playing the part of Lady Slane.
Vita's last novel, 'No Signposts in the Sea', was published in 1961 and takes the form of a journal written by Edmund Carr, a Fleet Street journalist taking an ocean cruise. Vita Sackville-West passed away on June 2nd, 1962, at Sissinghurst.
