Jump to content

Alex Comfort: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m →External links: add category
m →Personal life: correctly spelt hemorrhage.
 
(35 intermediate revisions by 25 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|British academic and physician (1920–2000)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2014}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
Line 6: Line 7:
| honorific_suffix =
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Alex Comfort.jpg
| image = Alex Comfort.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| alt =
| caption =
| caption =
Line 17: Line 17:
| resting_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| residence =
| nationality =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| other_names =
Line 27: Line 26:
| employer =
| employer =
| organization =
| organization =
| agent =
| known_for = Research and study of human sexual behaviour
| known_for = Research and study of human sexual behaviour
| notable_works = {{unbulleted list|''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' (1972)|''More Joy of Sex'' (1974)|''The New Joy of Sex'' (1991)}}
| notable_works = {{unbulleted list|''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' (1972)|''More Joy of Sex'' (1974)|''The New Joy of Sex'' (1991)}}
Line 41: Line 39:
| website = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} -->
| website = <!-- {{URL|Example.com}} -->
}}
}}

'''Alexander Comfort''' (10 February 1920&nbsp;– 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his [[Sexual revolution#Nonfiction sex manuals|nonfiction sex manual]], ''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a [[gerontologist]], [[anarchist]], [[pacifist]], and [[conscientious objector]].<ref name="dg">[[David Goodway]], "Introduction" to ''Writings Against power and death: the anarchist articles and pamphlets of Alex Comfort''. London : Freedom Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0900384719}} (pp. 7–30)</ref>
'''Alexander Comfort''' (10 February 1920&nbsp;– 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his [[Sexual revolution#Nonfiction|nonfiction sex manual]], ''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a [[gerontologist]], [[Anarchism|anarchist]], [[Pacifism|pacifist]], and [[conscientious objector]].<ref name="dg">[[David Goodway]], "Introduction" to ''Writings Against power and death: the anarchist articles and pamphlets of Alex Comfort''. London: Freedom Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0900384719}} (pp. 7–30)</ref>


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Comfort was educated at [[Highgate School]] in London. While a student there, he attempted to develop a improved mix of [[gunpowder]]. During his experiments he inadvertently blew up his left hand, of which only the thumb remained. (Later in life, he claimed that his left hand proved "very useful for performing [[uterine inversion]]s".) This story is used as evidence of his single-mindedness.<ref name=newyorker>{{cite news|last=Levy|first=Ariel|title=Doing It: A new edition of "The Joy of Sex."|url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/01/05/090105crbo_books_levy?currentPage=all|accessdate=2 July 2012|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=5 January 2009}}</ref>
Comfort was educated at [[Highgate School]] in London. While he was a student there he tried to develop an improved compound of [[gunpowder]]. During his experiments he inadvertently blew up his left hand, of which only the thumb remained. Later he claimed that his left hand proved "very useful for performing [[uterine inversion]]s".<ref name=newyorker>{{cite news|last=Levy|first=Ariel|title=Doing It: A new edition of "The Joy of Sex."|url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/01/05/090105crbo_books_levy?currentPage=all|access-date=2 July 2012|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=5 January 2009}}</ref>


⚫
Comfort had a passion for [[Mollusca|molluscs]], and joined the [[Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland]] when he was eighteen years old. He made many contributions to the literature.<ref name=Dance>{{cite journal|last1=Dance|first1=S Peter|title=Comfort and Joy Among the Snails of Chaldon|journal=Mollusc World|date=2010|issue=24|page=12|url=http://www.conchsoc.org/MolluscWorld24/6|access-date=17 September 2015}}</ref>
⚫
He matriculated at [[Cambridge University]]'s [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] to study medicine, qualifying during 1944 with both the [[Conjoint]] diplomas of Licentiate of the [[Royal College of Physicians]]&nbsp;(LRCP) London, [[Member of the Royal College of Surgeons]]&nbsp;(MRCS) England and the Cambridge Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery or [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery|MB BChir]] degrees.<ref name="dg" /> All in all, he accrued six degrees.


⚫
He matriculated at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] and studied medicine, qualifying in 1944 with the [[conjoint]] diplomas of Licentiate of the [[Royal College of Physicians]]&nbsp;(LRCP) London, [[Member of the Royal College of Surgeons]]&nbsp;(MRCS) England, and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery or [[Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery|MB BChir]].<ref name="dg" />
⚫
Comfort had a passion for [[Mollusca|molluscs]] and joined the [[Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland]] when he was eighteen years old and made many contributions to the literature.<ref name=Dance>{{cite journal|last1=Dance|first1=S Peter|title=Comfort and joy among the snails of Chaldon|journal=Mollusc World|date=2010|issue=24|page=12|url=http://www.conchsoc.org/MolluscWorld24/6|accessdate=17 September 2015}}</ref>


==Life and work==
==Life and work==
[[File:Alex Comfort appearing on After Dark on 1 July 1989.jpg|thumb|Appearing (centre) on ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'' in 1989]]
Comfort served as a House Physician for the [[London Hospital]] and later became a lecturer in physiology at the London Hospital Medical College. During 1945 he obtained the Conjoint Board's Diploma in Child Health, and progressed to a PhD during 1950 and a DSc of [[University College, London]] during 1963.<ref>{{Cite book |title = The Medical Directory 1969 |publisher = J & A Churchill | year = 1969 | location = London | edition = 125 | page = 356 | isbn =978-0-7000-1400-2 }}</ref>
Comfort served as a house physician at the [[London Hospital]] and later became a lecturer in physiology at the London Hospital Medical College. During 1945 he obtained the Conjoint Board's Diploma in Child Health, and progressed to a PhD in 1950 and a DSc of [[University College, London]] in 1963.<ref>{{Cite book |title = The Medical Directory 1969 |publisher = J & A Churchill | year = 1969 | location = London | edition = 125 | page = 356 | isbn =978-0-7000-1400-2 }}</ref>


A pacifist, Comfort considered himself "an aggressive anti-militarist", and he believed that pacifism rested "solely upon the historical theory of anarchism".<ref name="Obituaries">{{cite news | last = Rayner | first = Claire | title = News: Obituaries: Alex Comfort | publisher = The Guardian | date = 28 March 2000 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/mar/28/guardianobituaries | accessdate = 23 August 2008| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080918054049/http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/mar/28/guardianobituaries| archivedate= 18 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>For discussions of Comfort's political views, see ''[[Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism]]'' (1992) by [[Peter Marshall (author)|Peter Marshall]], and ''[[Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow]]'' (2006) by [[David Goodway]].</ref> During World War Two, Comfort wrote a letter to the ''[[Tribune (magazine)|Tribune]]'' magazine (2 April 1943) denouncing the Allied bombing of civilians:
A pacifist, Comfort considered himself "an aggressive anti-militarist", and he believed that pacifism rested "solely upon the [[Anarcho-pacifism|historical theory of anarchism]]".<ref name="Obituaries">{{cite news | last = Rayner | first = Claire | title = News: Obituaries: Alex Comfort | work = The Guardian | date = 28 March 2000 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/mar/28/guardianobituaries | access-date = 23 August 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080918054049/http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/mar/28/guardianobituaries| archive-date= 18 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>For discussions of Comfort's political views, see ''[[Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism]]'' (1992) by [[Peter Marshall (author)|Peter Marshall]], and ''[[Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow]]'' (2006) by [[David Goodway]].</ref> During World War Two, Comfort wrote a letter to the ''[[Tribune (magazine)|Tribune]]'' (2 April 1943) denouncing the Allied bombing of civilians:


<blockquote>
<blockquote>
The bombardment of Europe is not the work of soldiers nor of responsible statesmen. It is the work of bloodthirsty fools.... Night after night those Europeans who risk their liberty to listen can hear the emetic threatenings and boastings of bloody-minded and reactionary civilians. They contrast the alacrity and satisfaction which attend each contemptible operation with the subterfuge and sloth which we have displayed in such tasks of constructive policy as the admission to sanctuary of the Jewish refugees.<ref name="dg" />
The bombardment of Europe is not the work of soldiers nor of responsible statesmen. It is the work of bloodthirsty fools. ... Night after night those Europeans who risk their liberty to listen can hear the emetic threatenings and boastings of bloody-minded and reactionary civilians. They contrast the alacrity and satisfaction which attend each contemptible operation with the subterfuge and sloth which we have displayed in such tasks of constructive policy as the admission to sanctuary of the Jewish refugees.<ref name="dg" />
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


In a letter to ''[[Horizon (magazine)|Horizon]]'', Comfort claimed that a Nazi victory over the United Kingdom would lead to a literary renaissance, for which he was fiercely criticized by George Orwell in the ''Partisan Review''.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/pacifism/english/e_patw | title=George Orwell: Pacifism and the War}}</ref> Comfort was an active member of the [[Peace Pledge Union]]&nbsp;(PPU) and [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]], and a [[conscientious objector]] in [[World War&nbsp;II]]. In 1951 Comfort was a signatory of the [[Authors' World Peace Appeal]], but later resigned from its committee, claiming the AWPA had become dominated by Soviet sympathisers.<ref>Carissa Honeywell, ''A British Anarchist Tradition: Herbert Read, Alex Comfort and Colin Ward'', Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011 {{ISBN|1441190171}} (p. 112).</ref> Later in the decade he actively endorsed both the [[Direct Action Committee against Nuclear War]], 1957, and the [[Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)|Committee of 100]], 1960. Comfort was imprisoned for a month, with [[Bertrand Russell]] and other leading members of the Committee of 100, for refusing to be bound not to continue organising the Parliament Square/Trafalgar Square protest of 17 September 1961.
In a letter to ''[[Horizon (British magazine)|Horizon]]'' in 1942 Comfort claimed that a Nazi victory over the United Kingdom would lead to a literary renaissance, for which he was fiercely criticised by [[George Orwell]] in the ''[[Partisan Review]]''.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/pacifism/english/e_patw | title=George Orwell: Pacifism and the War}}</ref> Comfort was an active member of the [[Peace Pledge Union]]&nbsp;(PPU) and [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]], and a [[conscientious objector]] in [[World War&nbsp;II]]. In 1951 Comfort was a signatory of the Authors' World Peace Appeal, but later resigned from its committee, claiming the AWPA had become dominated by Soviet sympathisers.<ref>Carissa Honeywell, ''A British Anarchist Tradition: Herbert Read, Alex Comfort and Colin Ward'', Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011 {{ISBN|1441190171}} (p. 112).</ref> Later in the decade he actively endorsed both the Direct Action Committee against Nuclear War, 1957, and the [[Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)|Committee of 100]], 1960. Comfort was imprisoned for a month, with [[Bertrand Russell]] and other leading members of the Committee of 100, for refusing to be bound not to continue organising the Parliament Square/Trafalgar Square protest of 17 September 1961.


Among the publications by Comfort concerning anarchism is ''Peace and Disobedience'' (1946), one of many pamphlets he wrote for ''[[Peace News]]'' and PPU, and ''Authority and Delinquency in the Modern State'' (1950).<ref name="Obituaries"/> He exchanged public correspondence with [[George Orwell]] defending pacifism in the open letter/poem, "Letter to an American Visitor", under the pseudonym "Obadiah Hornbrooke".<ref name="obadiah">''Complete Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell'' volume II, pg. 294–303</ref>
Among the publications by Comfort concerning anarchism are ''Peace and Disobedience'' (1946), one of many pamphlets he wrote for ''[[Peace News]]'' and PPU, and ''Authority and Delinquency in the Modern State'' (1950).<ref name="Obituaries"/> He exchanged public correspondence with [[George Orwell]] defending pacifism in the open letter/poem, "Letter to an American Visitor", under the pseudonym "Obadiah Hornbrooke".<ref name="obadiah">''Complete Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell'' volume II, pg. 294–303</ref>


Comfort's book ''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' (1972) earned him worldwide fame and $3&nbsp;million. But he was unhappy to become known as "Dr.&nbsp;Sex" and to have his other works given so little attention.<ref>{{cite news | last = Martin | first = Douglas | title = Alex Comfort, 80, Dies; a Multifaceted Man Best Known for Writing 'The Joy of Sex' | work = The New York Times | date = 20 March 2000 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E4DD173CF93AA15750C0A9669C8B63 | accessdate = 23 August 2008}}</ref>
Comfort's book ''[[The Joy of Sex]]'' (1972) earned him worldwide fame and $3&nbsp;million. But he was unhappy about becoming known as "Dr.&nbsp;Sex" and having his other works given little attention.<ref>{{cite news | last = Martin | first = Douglas | title = Alex Comfort, 80, Dies; a Multifaceted Man Best Known for Writing 'The Joy of Sex' | work = The New York Times | date = 20 March 2000 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E4DD173CF93AA15750C0A9669C8B63 | access-date = 23 August 2008}}</ref>


Comfort devoted much of the 1950s and 1960s studying the biology of ageing ([[biogerontology]]) and popularised the subject. He could be termed an early biomedical gerontologist ([[life extension]]ist) on the basis of his opinion that science could extend human lifespan. During 1969 he suggested that [[life expectancy]] (not simply [[maximum life span]]) could be extended to 120 years of age within the next 20&nbsp;years.<ref name="Obituaries"/> Although Comfort believed that ageing could be postponed, he did not believe that it could be eliminated, and he did not write about [[Rejuvenation (aging)|rejuvenation]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Gerontology A Good Age by Alex Comfort | publisher = Trivia-Library.com | date = 1975–1981 | url = http://www.trivia-library.com/b/gerontology-a-good-age-by-alex-comfort.htm | accessdate = 23 August 2008 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080720020906/http://www.trivia-library.com/b/gerontology-a-good-age-by-alex-comfort.htm| archivedate= 20 July 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>
Comfort devoted much of the 1950s and 1960s to studying the biology of ageing ([[biogerontology]]) and popularised the subject. During 1969 he suggested that [[life expectancy]] (not simply [[maximum life span]]) could be extended to 120 years of age within the next 20&nbsp;years.<ref name="Obituaries"/> Although Comfort believed that ageing could be postponed, he did not believe that it could be eliminated, and he did not write about [[Rejuvenation (aging)|rejuvenation]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Gerontology A Good Age by Alex Comfort | publisher = Trivia-Library.com | date = 1975–1981 | url = http://www.trivia-library.com/b/gerontology-a-good-age-by-alex-comfort.htm | access-date = 23 August 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080720020906/http://www.trivia-library.com/b/gerontology-a-good-age-by-alex-comfort.htm| archive-date= 20 July 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>


In 1989 Comfort made an extended appearance on the television discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'', alongside, among others, [[Baron McColl of Dulwich|Ian McColl]] and [[David Widgery]].
⚫
One of Comfort's final letters was to ''[[The Guardian]]'' during 1989, protesting against the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] government's introduction of the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|poll tax]].<ref name="dg" />

⚫
One of Comfort's final letters was to ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 1989, protesting against the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] government's introduction of the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|poll tax]].<ref name="dg" />


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
[[File:Dr Alex Comfort's memorial stone.jpg|thumb|The memorial stone of Dr Alexander Comfort and his wife Jane (née) Henderson]]
⚫
''The Joy of Sex'' made Comfort known internationally as "Dr.&nbsp;Sex" and soon thereafter he and his wife of thirty years divorced. A few months later, during 1973, Comfort married his mistress (and ex-wife's best friend) Jane Henderson, with whom he had been having an affair for more than a decade. The book's illustrations were based on photographs that Comfort and Henderson had taken together. The [[Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions]], a liberal [[think tank|research institute]], offered Comfort a job, and so, during 1973, the couple relocated to [[Santa Barbara, California]], where it was located.<ref name=newyorker />

⚫
''The Joy of Sex'' made Comfort known internationally as "Dr.&nbsp;Sex" and soon thereafter he and his wife of thirty years divorced. A few months later, during 1973, Comfort married his mistress (and ex-wife's best friend) Jane Henderson, with whom he had been having an affair for more than a decade. The [[Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions]], a liberal [[think tank|research institute]], offered Comfort a job, and so, during 1973, the couple relocated to [[Santa Barbara, California]], where it was located.<ref name=newyorker />


They frequented the [[Sandstone Retreat]], a [[Naturism|clothing-optional community]] in California espousing "open sexuality", or swinging. In his 1981 nonfiction publication concerning sexuality in America, ''[[Thy Neighbor's Wife (book)|Thy Neighbor's Wife]]'', [[Gay Talese]] noted, "Often the nude biologist Dr.&nbsp;Alex Comfort, brandishing a cigar, traipsed through the room between the prone bodies with the professional air of a [[Lepidopterology|lepidopterist]] strolling through the fields waving a butterfly net".<ref name=newyorker />
They frequented the [[Sandstone Retreat]], a [[Naturism|clothing-optional community]] in California espousing "open sexuality", or swinging. In his 1981 nonfiction publication concerning sexuality in America, ''[[Thy Neighbor's Wife (book)|Thy Neighbor's Wife]]'', [[Gay Talese]] noted, "Often the nude biologist Dr.&nbsp;Alex Comfort, brandishing a cigar, traipsed through the room between the prone bodies with the professional air of a [[Lepidopterology|lepidopterist]] strolling through the fields waving a butterfly net".<ref name=newyorker />


Jane Henderson, however, eventually became tired of the "open love" community and Comfort became involved in lawsuits with his employer concerning a claimed [[breach of contract]]. During 1985, the couple returned to England, where they lived the remainder of their lives in [[Kent]]. During 1991, Comfort suffered a severe [[Intracerebral hemorrhage|cerebral haemorrhage]], after which his son from his first marriage acted as his caretaker and business manager. His second wife Jane Henderson died soon after the haemorrhage. He died on 26 March 2000; he was eighty years old.<ref name=newyorker />
Jane Henderson, however, eventually became tired of the "open love" community and Comfort became involved in lawsuits with his employer concerning a claimed [[breach of contract]]. During 1985, the couple returned to England, where they lived the remainder of their lives in [[Kent]].
During 1991, Comfort suffered a severe [[Intracerebral hemorrhage|cerebral hemorrhage]], after which his son from his first marriage acted as his caretaker and business manager. His second wife Jane Henderson died soon after the haemorrhage. He died on 26 March 2000; he was eighty years old.<ref name=newyorker />

{{clear}}

== Collections ==
In 1973 Comfort deposited his archive to [[University College London]]; it was supplemented by a second donation in 1992 by his son Nicholas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=UCL Special Collections |title=Comfort Papers |url=https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=COMFORT |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=UCL Archive Collections}}</ref> The Comfort Papers span over 80 boxes of material and primarily focus on Comfort's career and research.<ref name=":0" />


==Partial bibliography==
==Partial bibliography==
Line 108: Line 119:
* ''Process of Ageing'' (1965)
* ''Process of Ageing'' (1965)
* ''The Nature of Human Nature''&nbsp;– non-fiction (US edition Harper & Row 1966)
* ''The Nature of Human Nature''&nbsp;– non-fiction (US edition Harper & Row 1966)
⚫
* ''The anxiety makers: some curious preoccupations of the medical profession''. Nelson (1967)
* ''[[The Joy of Sex|The Joy of Sex: a Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking]]'' (1972)
* ''[[The Joy of Sex|The Joy of Sex: a Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking]]'' (1972)
* ''More Joy of Sex: a Lovemaking Companion to The Joy of Sex'' (1973)
* ''More Joy of Sex: a Lovemaking Companion to The Joy of Sex'' (1973)
Line 114: Line 126:
* ''Poems for Jane'' (1979)
* ''Poems for Jane'' (1979)
* ''The Facts of Love: Living, Loving and Growing Up'' Crown Publishers (1980)
* ''The Facts of Love: Living, Loving and Growing Up'' Crown Publishers (1980)
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20101217074313/http://www.alexcomfort.com/IandThat.html ''I and That: Notes on the Biology of Religion'']'' (1980)
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20101217074313/http://www.alexcomfort.com/IandThat.html I and That: Notes on the Biology of Religion]'' (1980)
* ''Tetrarch'' (1981)-a fantasy novel inspired by [[William Blake]]
* ''Tetrarch'' (1981)-a fantasy novel inspired by [[William Blake]]
* ''Reality And Empathy: Physics, Mind, and Science in the 21st Century'' (1984)
* ''Reality And Empathy: Physics, Mind, and Science in the 21st Century'' (1984)
Line 123: Line 135:
|}
|}


==See also==
⚫
Comfort, Alexander. 1967. The anxiety makers: some curious preoccupations of the medical profession. Nelson
{{Portal|Biography}}
<ref>wikipedia</ref>
* [[Anarchism in the United Kingdom]]
* [[List of peace activists]]


==References==
==References==
Line 134: Line 148:
* ''See the Alex Comfort Page in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20040603120912/http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/ComfortAlex.htm Anarchist Encyclopedia]''
* ''See the Alex Comfort Page in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20040603120912/http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/ComfortAlex.htm Anarchist Encyclopedia]''
* [https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,3604,182379,00.html Guardian obituary]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,3604,182379,00.html Guardian obituary]
* [https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=COMFORT Comfort Papers] at [[University College London]]


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
Line 140: Line 155:
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
⚫
[[Category:20th-century British male writers]]
⚫
[[Category:20th-century British non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century British zoologists]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
⚫
[[Category:Anarchist writers]]
[[Category:Anarcho-pacifists]]
[[Category:Anarcho-pacifists]]
[[Category:Biogerontologists]]
[[Category:Biogerontologists]]
[[Category:British anarchists]]
[[Category:British anarchists]]
[[Category:British conscientious objectors]]
[[Category:British conscientious objectors]]
[[Category:British male writers]]
[[Category:British male non-fiction writers]]
⚫
[[Category:British non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:British pacifists]]
[[Category:British pacifists]]
⚫
[[Category:British scientists]]
[[Category:Conchologists]]
[[Category:Conchologists]]
⚫
[[Category:English anarchists]]
⚫
[[Category:English scientists]]
[[Category:Free love advocates]]
[[Category:Free love advocates]]
[[Category:Life extensionists]]
[[Category:Life extensionists]]
[[Category:People educated at Highgate School]]
[[Category:People educated at Highgate School]]
⚫
[[Category:20th-century zoologists]]

Latest revision as of 05:31, 28 August 2024

Alex Comfort
Born
Alexander Comfort

(1920-02-10)10 February 1920
London, England
Died26 March 2000(2000-03-26) (aged 80)
Oxfordshire, England, UK
EducationMedicine
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Author
  • British physician
  • Gerontologist
  • Psychiatry professor
Known forResearch and study of human sexual behaviour
Notable work
Spouses
  • Ruth Harris
  • Jane Henderson

Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his nonfiction sex manual, The Joy of Sex (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a gerontologist, anarchist, pacifist, and conscientious objector.[1]

Early life and education

[edit]

Comfort was educated at Highgate School in London. While he was a student there he tried to develop an improved compound of gunpowder. During his experiments he inadvertently blew up his left hand, of which only the thumb remained. Later he claimed that his left hand proved "very useful for performing uterine inversions".[2]

Comfort had a passion for molluscs, and joined the Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland when he was eighteen years old. He made many contributions to the literature.[3]

He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge and studied medicine, qualifying in 1944 with the conjoint diplomas of Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP) London, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) England, and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery or MB BChir.[1]

Life and work

[edit]
Appearing (centre) on After Dark in 1989

Comfort served as a house physician at the London Hospital and later became a lecturer in physiology at the London Hospital Medical College. During 1945 he obtained the Conjoint Board's Diploma in Child Health, and progressed to a PhD in 1950 and a DSc of University College, London in 1963.[4]

A pacifist, Comfort considered himself "an aggressive anti-militarist", and he believed that pacifism rested "solely upon the historical theory of anarchism".[5][6] During World War Two, Comfort wrote a letter to the Tribune (2 April 1943) denouncing the Allied bombing of civilians:

The bombardment of Europe is not the work of soldiers nor of responsible statesmen. It is the work of bloodthirsty fools. ... Night after night those Europeans who risk their liberty to listen can hear the emetic threatenings and boastings of bloody-minded and reactionary civilians. They contrast the alacrity and satisfaction which attend each contemptible operation with the subterfuge and sloth which we have displayed in such tasks of constructive policy as the admission to sanctuary of the Jewish refugees.[1]

In a letter to Horizon in 1942 Comfort claimed that a Nazi victory over the United Kingdom would lead to a literary renaissance, for which he was fiercely criticised by George Orwell in the Partisan Review.[7] Comfort was an active member of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and a conscientious objector in World War II. In 1951 Comfort was a signatory of the Authors' World Peace Appeal, but later resigned from its committee, claiming the AWPA had become dominated by Soviet sympathisers.[8] Later in the decade he actively endorsed both the Direct Action Committee against Nuclear War, 1957, and the Committee of 100, 1960. Comfort was imprisoned for a month, with Bertrand Russell and other leading members of the Committee of 100, for refusing to be bound not to continue organising the Parliament Square/Trafalgar Square protest of 17 September 1961.

Among the publications by Comfort concerning anarchism are Peace and Disobedience (1946), one of many pamphlets he wrote for Peace News and PPU, and Authority and Delinquency in the Modern State (1950).[5] He exchanged public correspondence with George Orwell defending pacifism in the open letter/poem, "Letter to an American Visitor", under the pseudonym "Obadiah Hornbrooke".[9]

Comfort's book The Joy of Sex (1972) earned him worldwide fame and $3 million. But he was unhappy about becoming known as "Dr. Sex" and having his other works given little attention.[10]

Comfort devoted much of the 1950s and 1960s to studying the biology of ageing (biogerontology) and popularised the subject. During 1969 he suggested that life expectancy (not simply maximum life span) could be extended to 120 years of age within the next 20 years.[5] Although Comfort believed that ageing could be postponed, he did not believe that it could be eliminated, and he did not write about rejuvenation.[11]

In 1989 Comfort made an extended appearance on the television discussion programme After Dark, alongside, among others, Ian McColl and David Widgery.

One of Comfort's final letters was to The Guardian in 1989, protesting against the Thatcher government's introduction of the poll tax.[1]

Personal life

[edit]
The memorial stone of Dr Alexander Comfort and his wife Jane (née) Henderson

The Joy of Sex made Comfort known internationally as "Dr. Sex" and soon thereafter he and his wife of thirty years divorced. A few months later, during 1973, Comfort married his mistress (and ex-wife's best friend) Jane Henderson, with whom he had been having an affair for more than a decade. The Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, a liberal research institute, offered Comfort a job, and so, during 1973, the couple relocated to Santa Barbara, California, where it was located.[2]

They frequented the Sandstone Retreat, a clothing-optional community in California espousing "open sexuality", or swinging. In his 1981 nonfiction publication concerning sexuality in America, Thy Neighbor's Wife, Gay Talese noted, "Often the nude biologist Dr. Alex Comfort, brandishing a cigar, traipsed through the room between the prone bodies with the professional air of a lepidopterist strolling through the fields waving a butterfly net".[2]

Jane Henderson, however, eventually became tired of the "open love" community and Comfort became involved in lawsuits with his employer concerning a claimed breach of contract. During 1985, the couple returned to England, where they lived the remainder of their lives in Kent.

During 1991, Comfort suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage, after which his son from his first marriage acted as his caretaker and business manager. His second wife Jane Henderson died soon after the haemorrhage. He died on 26 March 2000; he was eighty years old.[2]

Collections

[edit]

In 1973 Comfort deposited his archive to University College London; it was supplemented by a second donation in 1992 by his son Nicholas.[12] The Comfort Papers span over 80 boxes of material and primarily focus on Comfort's career and research.[12]

Partial bibliography

[edit]
  • No Such Liberty (1941) – novel
  • Three New Poets (1942) – Alex Comfort, Roy McFadden, Ian Serraillier
  • A Wreath for the Living (1942)
  • Elegies (1944)
  • The Power House (1944) – novel
  • The Song of Lazarus (1945)
  • Outlaw of the Lowest Planet by Kenneth Patchen (1946) – Preface by Alex Comfort
  • Art and Social Responsibility (1946)
  • The Signal to Engage (1946)
  • Peace and Disobedience (1946) – pamphlet (reprinted in 1994 in Against Power and Death)[5]
  • Barbarism and Sexual Freedom (1948) – non-fiction
  • On This Side Nothing (1949) – novel, influenced by Albert Camus, whose work Comfort admired
  • Authority and Delinquency in the Modern State (1950)
  • Sexual Behaviour in Society (1950) – non-fiction
  • Hygromia cinctella (Draparnaud) in England. (1950) Journal of Conchology. 23: 99–100.
  • Biochemistry of molluscan shell pigments. Proc malac Soc London. 28: 79–85.
  • And All But He Departed (1951)
  • A Giant's Strength (1952) – novel
  • The Biology of Senescence (1956) – non-fiction
  • Come Out to Play (1961) – novel
  • Haste to the Wedding (1962)
  • Darwin and the Naked Lady (1962) – articles
  • Sex in Society (1963) – non-fiction
  • Ageing – the Biology of Senescence (1964)
  • Koka Shastra, being the Ratirahasya of Kokkota, and other medieval Indian writings on love (George Allen & Unwin, 1964; translator)
  • Process of Ageing (1965)
  • The Nature of Human Nature – non-fiction (US edition Harper & Row 1966)
  • The anxiety makers: some curious preoccupations of the medical profession. Nelson (1967)
  • The Joy of Sex: a Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking (1972)
  • More Joy of Sex: a Lovemaking Companion to The Joy of Sex (1973)
  • Come out to Play (1975)
  • A Good Age (1976)
  • Poems for Jane (1979)
  • The Facts of Love: Living, Loving and Growing Up Crown Publishers (1980)
  • I and That: Notes on the Biology of Religion (1980)
  • Tetrarch (1981)-a fantasy novel inspired by William Blake
  • Reality And Empathy: Physics, Mind, and Science in the 21st Century (1984)
  • Imperial Patient (1987) – a historical novel about Nero
  • The Philosophers (1989) – satire of Thatcher's Government set in the future.[13]
  • The New Joy of Sex: a Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking for the Nineties (1992)
  • Writings Against Power and Death (1994)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d David Goodway, "Introduction" to Writings Against power and death: the anarchist articles and pamphlets of Alex Comfort. London: Freedom Press, 1994. ISBN 0900384719 (pp. 7–30)
  2. ^ a b c d Levy, Ariel (5 January 2009). "Doing It: A new edition of "The Joy of Sex."". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  3. ^ Dance, S Peter (2010). "Comfort and Joy Among the Snails of Chaldon". Mollusc World (24): 12. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  4. ^ The Medical Directory 1969 (125 ed.). London: J & A Churchill. 1969. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-7000-1400-2.
  5. ^ a b c d Rayner, Claire (28 March 2000). "News: Obituaries: Alex Comfort". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  6. ^ For discussions of Comfort's political views, see Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism (1992) by Peter Marshall, and Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow (2006) by David Goodway.
  7. ^ "George Orwell: Pacifism and the War".
  8. ^ Carissa Honeywell, A British Anarchist Tradition: Herbert Read, Alex Comfort and Colin Ward, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011 ISBN 1441190171 (p. 112).
  9. ^ Complete Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell volume II, pg. 294–303
  10. ^ Martin, Douglas (20 March 2000). "Alex Comfort, 80, Dies; a Multifaceted Man Best Known for Writing 'The Joy of Sex'". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  11. ^ "Gerontology A Good Age by Alex Comfort". Trivia-Library.com. 1975–1981. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  12. ^ a b UCL Special Collections. "Comfort Papers". UCL Archive Collections. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  13. ^ Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, (1993). pg. 287.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Alex_Comfort&oldid=1242689263"