The Resume

(December 6, 1892-May 4, 1969)
Born in London, United Kingdom
Birth name was Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell
Brother of Dame Edith Sitwell
Wrote the poetry collections 'Argonaut and Juggernaut' (1919), 'At the House of Mrs. Kinfoot' (1921) and 'Selected Poems' (1943)
Wrote the novels 'Before the Bombardment' (1926), 'The Man Who Lost Himself' (1929), 'Miracle on Sinai' (1934) and 'Those Were the Days' (1937)
Wrote the libretto for William Walton's opera 'Belshazzar's Feast' (1931)
Wrote a five-volume autobiography: 'Left Hand, Right Hand' (1943), 'The Scarlet Tree' (1946), 'Great Morning' (1948), 'Laughter in the Next Room' (1949) and 'Noble Essences' (1950)

Why he might be annoying:

He twice flunked the entrance exam to Sandhurst military academy.
He sucked up to royalty.
He was anti-semitic.
He was a closeted homosexual who kvetched about flamboyantly gay people.
He praised Franco and Mussolini and said that fascism would 'give the people what they really wanted.'
Evelyn Waugh described him as 'hypersensitive.'
Virginia Woolf complained about his 'childish vanity.'
Critic F.R. Leavis said that the Sitwells 'belonged to the history of publicity rather than that of poetry.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He started writing poetry while serving in the trenches in WWI.
He and his brother Sacheverell sponsored a then-controversial art exhibit by Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani and Utrillo (1918).
He was described as 'a warm and witty (and endlessly extravagant) host.'
'Life' wrote that his and Edith's tour of America 'gave the New York literary set its biggest thrill in years.' (1948)
Despite having been a spendthrift in his youth, he proved an adept handler of the family's finances.
One critic called his career 'a triumph of willpower over the limitations set by mere talent.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Poets
• Allegedly Gay Men
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 43]
• I am an Anti-Semite
• I Attended Eton
• I Died in 1969 (Ranked: 76)
• I Have Parkinson Disease
• Knights
• Known By a Middle Name
• Look at My Book Cover
• Poets
• Profiles 33001-33250 (Ranked: 33208)
• Served in World War I
• Tim Curry 'I Do the Rock' References

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 92.86% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 61.11% Annoying