Malcolm Muggeridge was a well-known English novelist and journalist in his day. ‘The Earnest Atheist,’ ‘Affairs of the Heart,’ ‘Jesus Rediscovered,’ and ‘A Third Testament,’ are just a few of his well-known writings. He was a teacher in India and Egypt in addition to writing. He began as a left-wing partisan before evolving into a fiery anti-communist. He was also credited with spreading Mother Teresa’s writings as well as the Roman Catholic faith. At the onset of World War II, he joined the Intelligence Corps and served with the MI5 in a variety of countries, including Mozambique, France, and Italy. He became a daily writer after the war and contributed pieces to a variety of publications, including the ‘Daily Telegraph’ and ‘The Evening’. During this time, he also produced a number of notable BBC religious documentaries, including ‘In the Footsteps of St. Paul.’ He became a religious and moral activist towards the end of his life.
Early Years and Childhood
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was born on March 24, 1903, in Sanderstead, South Croydon, to H.T. Muggeridge and Annie Booler. He was reared in Croydon with his four other siblings. He attended Selhurst High School and subsequently Selwyn College, where he graduated in 1924 with a pass degree in natural sciences. He also taught English Literature for a brief time in India and at the John Ruskin Central School in Croydon during this time.
In 1927, he returned to the United Kingdom and worked as a teacher before moving to Egypt for six months to teach English Literature.
Career of Malcolm Muggeridge
On the basis of Arthur Ransome’s recommendation, he gained his first job in journalism with ‘The Guardian.’ In 1932, he started writing a column for the Manchester Guardian. ‘Three flats: a drama in three acts’ was written at this time.
He wrote ‘Winter in Moscow’ in 1934, portraying conditions in the communist Shangri-La and criticizing the other journalists’ blind faith in Joseph Stalin’s regime. He also contributed to a book called ‘Picture Palace.’ In 1936, he published ‘The Earnest Atheist: A Study of Samuel Butler,’ which catapulted him to stardom. He was also working on ‘The Thirties’ at the time, which was published just four years later.
In May 1940, as World War II broke out, he enlisted in the Corps of Military Police. Two years later, he was transferred to the Intelligence Corps as a lieutenant. In 1946, he became a reporter for the ‘Daily Telegraph’ when the war ended. He wrote ‘Affairs of the Heart’ three years later. After that, I worked as an editor for ‘Punch Magazine’ for a short time.
He also worked for ‘Panorama’ as a television journalist in 1953. After a contentious piece about the Queen in the U.S. magazine ‘The Saturday Evening Post,’ he became the target of disdain four years later for his criticism of the British monarchy.
Around this period, he penned the introduction to Nicholas Bentley’s ‘How Can You Bear to Be a Human?’ Despite the fact that he had been skeptical of religion for much of his life, his spiritual ideas began to take shape in the 1960s.
In 1969, he released ‘Jesus Rediscovered,’ a compilation of articles, sermons, and essays on religion, which became his most important work. This became a best-seller after that.
Muggeridge wrote two volumes of autobiography, the first of which, titled ‘The Green Stick,’ was released in 1972. The next year, he released ‘Chronicles of Wasted Time,’ which was followed by ‘Chronicles of Wasted Time,’ which was published the following year.
In 1975, he published ‘Jesus: The Man Who Lives,’ which was followed two years later by ‘Christ and the Media.’ His latter works were influenced by Mother Teresa’s services and reflected his religious convictions. ‘The End of Christendom,’ ‘Like it was: The Diaries of Malcolm Muggeridge,’ and ‘Conversion: The Spiritual Journey of a Twentieth Century Pilgrim,’ were all published between 1980 and 1988.
Major Works One of his most major works, ‘A Third Testament,’ was written in 1976. Augustine of Hippo, Blaise Pascal, William Blake, S ren Kierkegaard, Leo Tolstoy, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were all included. This work was a best-seller, and it was reprinted in 2002. The novel was also turned into a television miniseries with the same name.
Achievements and Awards
In 2008, he was posthumously honored with the ‘Ukrainian Order of Freedom.’
Life and Legacy of an Individual
In 1927, he married Katherine ‘Kitty’ Dobbs. After a lengthy period of agnosticism, he and his wife Kitty converted to Roman Catholicism in 1982, at the age of 79. He died in the East Sussex town of Roberstbridge. A number of his publications, including ‘Chronicles of Wasted Time: An Autobiography,’ ‘A Third Testament,’ and ‘Conversion: The Spiritual Journey of a 20th Century Pilgrim,’ were reissued after his death. On the occasion of his centennial in 2003, an eponymous Literary Society was created. In order to spread his writings, the Malcolm Muggeridge Society was founded.
Estimated Net Worth
The estimated net worth of Malcolm Muggeridge is $1.5 Million.
Trivia
‘Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream,’ stated this great author of the ‘A Third Testament,’ which is also one of his famous quotes.