Pritchett, V(ictor) S(awdon) (1900–1997)

English short-story writer, novelist, and critic. His style was often witty and satirical. Many of his short stories were set in London and southeast England, among them The Spanish Virgin (1930), Blind Love (1969), and The Camberwell Beauty (1974). His critical works included The Living Novel (1946) and biographies of the Russian writers Turgenev (1977) and Chekhov (1988).

His first volume of stories, The Spanish Virgin was published in 1930. Although he had published his first novel as early as 1929, Pritchett discovered his métier in the short story, as a chronicler, in the tradition of Chekhov (with whom he has often been likened), of the ordinary and uneventful in a style that is both witty and perceptive of human behaviour.

His The Complete Stories was published in 1990 and The Complete Essays in 1991. He was knighted in 1975.

Pritchett was born in Ipswich and educated at Alleyn's School. He spent much of his early life on the Continent, taught in many US universities, and became a director of the New Statesman and Nation. His novels and collections of short stories include Clare Drummer (1929), Shirley Sanz (1932), Nothing Like Leather (1935), Dead Man Leading (1937), and Mr Beluncle (1951). His criticism includes George Meredith (1970) and Balzac (1973) A Cab at the Door (1968) and Midnight Oil (1971) are autobiographies.