Felix at Oxford

[rachel5a]

Could u please tell me what did Felix study in Oxford??

[Annie]

He got a bachelor of arts degree, I don't know what he studied. He seemed to have more fun playing around than studying (not unusual for college guys!)

Have you read his memoirs?

http://www.alexanderpalace.org/LostSplendor

also read Greg King's "The Man Who Killed Rasputin" It's very good and informative and tells things that were not in his memiors. It also tells the places they lived in Paris, which you asked in your other thread.

Oh, welcome, and stick around, I like Felix fans

[rachel5a]

Thanks Ann, you must be really great person  

[Annie]

Thanks, you are nice too!

[helenazar]

I was wondering if anyone knows where Felix lived in Oxford while at the University? I am going to be there this May taking a summer course and I want to check it out  .

[Annie]

Felix lived on campus the first year, as it was a rule. He had to be in by 10PM and if you were late 3 times you were expelled. He helped classmates sneak in with a sheet out the window

After that, he lived in a flat in London which he decorated uniquely with various clashy colors and a meneigere' (sp) of animals in the foyer! He had several interesting episodes here. There is much on this in Lost Splendor, if you find the right chapter it might give the location. (of course it's online here at the AP!) Also Greg's book The Man Who Killed Rasputin tells something on this.

[helenazar]

Felix lived on campus the first year, as it was a rule. He had to be in by 10PM and if you were late 3 times you were expelled. He helped classmates sneak in with a sheet out the window

After that, he lived in a flat in London which he decorated uniquely with various clashy colors and a meneigere' (sp) of animals in the foyer! He had several interesting episodes here. There is much on this in Lost Splendor, if you find the right chapter it might give the location. (of course it's online here at the AP!) Also Greg's book The Man Who Killed Rasputin tells something on this.

Thanks, Annie. I remember reading about this in Lost Splendour but I forgot the details, and I don't own the book. I am surprised that he lived in London and commuted to classes as it's not that close to the Oxford campus, almost an hour these days, but probably took longer back then! But maybe not longer, since most likely a lot less traffic  .

[Annie]

Lost Splendor is no longer on the main page, this is the link:

http://alexanderpalace.org/lostsplendor

There were reports of his wreckless driving around London in his Delauny-Belleville, once with Prince George of Greece on the hood in costume!

I am not totally sure of this, but I believe his bachelor flat from his college days was maintained and used as a place to stay in London for the rest of his life.

[helenazar]

Thanks for this info!

[Lemma]

Hello there!

Just a quick note - there is no 'campus' at Oxford - the University is an association of independent colleges (some 30 or more now). Within each college students took a set of rooms, identified by the number of the staircase.  

Which college did he attend? Somehow I would be very surprised if it were not Christchurch (the largest, undoubtedly the most imposing and it does boast its own cathederal which is handy...). Once you know that, email the college whose archivist will be able to tell you which rooms were his.

Most colleges are open to visitors, to wander around, and are also very proud of their history. If you ask them nicely, they may let you peep inside - but someone may be living there.  

London was (and is) commutable (50 minutes to London Padington now, and 1 20' then) but no student would bother to travel - after all, there are only three terms of eight weeks each year - so you don't need to spend that much time in the place.

I do hope you enjoy your trip - it's a most beautiful place to spend any amount of time.

Take Evelyn Waugh's 'Brideshead' to read for 1920's period feel - and Dorothy L Sayer's 'Gaudy Night' if you love a 1930's detective romance with a noble sleuth.

[Lemma]

Just checked - he was at Univ (University College).

The email address of the college archivist is:

robin.darwall-smith@univ.ox.ac.uk

Do let us know how you get on - I almost e-mailed him myself, but didn't want to steal your thunder!

[helenazar]

Thank you, Lemma! I will be staying on the campus where the Bodleian (sp?) Library is located, in fact, part of the course will include introduction to their archives, so hopefully I will be able to get a lot of info that way, about many subjects I am interested in.

[Annie]

I've heard that his old dorm is now known as the Yusupov room, and it is considered an honor for a student to get it.

[Lemma]

Hope it's in a better state than it was when he had it! The description of the damp carpet  like walking through a marsh sounds pretty typical of how I remember the place. Certainly didn't need a fridge for the winter and spring terms...  

It would be a 'set', Annie, rather than a 'dorm'  

The Bodleian is a lot of library buildings, the main ones (and the original and most attractive) all right in the centre of town - opposite them is the New Bod, built in the sixties out of concrete and absolutley foul inside or out.  But there still ain't no campus...  

[Annie]

Oh yeah I remember that! He said the water in his wash basin often froze solid in the winter! I hope it has utililies now! It may not seem to be such a big deal to have those conditions back then, but he was rich and raised in places that had electricity and running water so it must have been a bad thing for him to deal with that.