Rolfe, Frederick (William) (1860–1913)

English writer. He claimed to be Baron Corvo. A Roman Catholic convert, frustrated in his desire to enter the priesthood, he wrote the novel Hadrian VII 1904, in which the protagonist rises from being a poor writer to become pope.

Rolfe was born in London and, after being dismissed as unsuitable for the priesthood, followed a roving life. He published two collections of short stories, Stories Toto Told Me 1898 and In His Own Image 1901. The novel Don Tarquinio appeared 1905 and the colourful historical study Chronicles of the House of Borgia 1901. In 1908 he moved to Venice, where he remained for the rest of his life. In the posthumously published work The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole 1934, he wrote about his homosexual fantasies and friends, earning the US poet W H Auden's description of him as ‘a master of vituperation’.