Iris Murdoch

Novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin and brought up in London and Bristol where she attended Badminton College. After completing a degree in Classics, Ancient History, and Philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford, Murdoch pursued postgraduate studies in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. She taught Philosophy at St Anne's College, Oxford from 1948 until 1963, when she retired to devote her time to writing. Murdoch's first novel, Under the Net, appeared in 1954 and was to be followed by 25 others. Her awards include the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Dark Prince (1973) and the Booker Prize for The Sea, the Sea, a retelling of The Tempest, in 1978. In 1987, Murdoch was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Iris Murdoch died from Alzheimer's disease on 8 February 1999.