Early Life
Pyke's father, Lionel Edward Pyke, was a Jewish lawyer who died when Geoffrey was only five years old, leaving his family with no money. His mother quarrelled with relatives and made life "hell" for her children. She sent Pyke to Wellington, then a typical public school mainly for the sons of Army officers; there Pyke maintained the dress and habits of an Orthodox Jew. The persecution he suffered instilled him with a hatred of and contempt for the establishment. After two years at Wellington, he was withdrawn, tutored privately and then admitted to Pembroke College, Cambridge to study law.
Read more about this topic: Geoffrey Pyke
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Parents ... are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don’t fulfil the promise of their early years.”
—Anthony Powell (b. 1905)
“Consider his life which was valueless
In terms of employment, hotel ledgers, news files.
Consider. One bullet in ten thousand kills a man.
Ask. Was so much expenditure justified
On the death of one so young and so silly
Lying under the olive tree, O world, O death?”
—Stephen Spender (1909–1995)