Vivien Noakes (née Langley; 16 February 1937 – 17 February 2011)[1] was a British biographer, editor and critic, an expert on Edward Lear and the literature of the First World War. She was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
She was born Vivien Mary Langley, daughter of aeronautical engineer Marcus Langley[2] and educated at Dunottar School, leaving with A-levels. It was not until later in life that she took her degree at Manchester College, Oxford, and Somerville College, Oxford, where she was subsequently lecturer.[3]
She lectured at Harvard University and at the Yale Center for British Art. She was a leading authority - per her Times obituary, "the world's leading authority" - on Edward Lear and on the literature of World War I.[4][5][6][7]
She was married to the painter Michael Noakes, in collaboration with whom she produced The Daily Life of The Queen: An Artist's Diary (2000); the couple had three children.[1]
She died of cancer the day after her 74th birthday, a month after suffering a stroke.[8] She left copies of many of Lear's letters to Somerville College Library.[9]