Writer, born in West Hartlepool, Co Durham, NE England, UK, the brother of Fay Compton. He studied at Oxford, and began on the stage, but turned to literature, publishing his first novel in 1911. He served at Gallipoli in World War 1, and in 1917 became director of the Aegean Intelligence Service in Syria. He wrote a large number of novels, notably Sinister Street (191314) and Whisky Galore (1947). He lived in Scotland after 1928, and became a strong nationalist. He was knighted in 1952.
Sir (Edward Montague) Compton Mackenzie, (born January 17, 1883 in West Hartlepool, England;
He wrote the novels The Passionate Elopement in 1911, Carnival in 1912, Sinister Street in 1913/1914, Extremes Meet in 1928, Whisky Galore in 1947, Rockets Galore in 1957 and autobiography My Life and Times between 1963 and 1971.
Mackenzie went to great lengths to trace the steps of his ancestors back to his spiritual home in the Highlands, and displayed a deep and tenacious attachment to Gaelic culture throughout his long and very colourful life.
He served with British Intelligence in the Eastern Mediterranean during World War I, later publishing four books on his experiences.
Best known perhaps for his Hebridean comedies Whisky Galore and Monarch of the Glen (sources of a successful film and a television miniseries respectively), Sir Compton Mackenzie published almost a hundred books on different subjects, including ten volumes of autobiography.
Among his many other achievements, he was the co-founder in 1923 (with Christopher Stone) of The Gramophone, the still-influential British classical music magazine.
Mackenzie was married three times and aside from his writing also worked as an actor, political activist, and broadcaster.
A co-founder of the Scottish National Party, Mackenzie built a house on the Isle of Barra in Scotland in the 1930s, just one of the islands in Europe where he established a temporary residence.
Such was Sir Compton Mackenzie's love of the Scottish Highlands that he is buried in Barra, where he is still very fondly remembered.
User Comments Add a comment…