Work
Acton's non- historical works include four volumes of poetry, three novels, two novellas, two volumes of short stories, two volumes of autobiography and a memoir of his friend Nancy Mitford, who was his exact contemporary. His historical works include The Last Medici, a study of the later Medici Grand Dukes, and two large volumes on the House of Bourbon, rulers of the Kingdom of Naples in the 18th and earlier 19th century, which together may be said to constitute his magnum opus.
In 1974 he was named a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE). When he died he left Villa La Pietra to New York University.
Following his death, DNA testing confirmed the existence of an illegitimate half-sister, whose heirs have gone to court to challenge Acton's $500 million bequest to New York University.
Acton was buried beside his parents and brother in the Roman Catholic section of the Cimitero Evangelico degli Allori in the southern suburb of Florence, Galluzzo (Italy).
Read more about this topic: Harold Acton
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