who was ian fleming?

Born in 1908 to Evelyn St Croix and Valentine Fleming, an MP, he was educated at Eton but was withdrawn early by his mother, who was concerned that his poor academic results would bring shame on the family. He went on to Sandhurst but withdrew after a year (he is said to have contracted gonorrhoea from a prostitute) and was sent to the Tennerhof, an Austrian school for the wealthy and problematic, run by former MI6 member Ernan Forbes Dennis, who fuelled his interest in espionage. He went on to work as a journalist, stockbroker and naval intelligence officer, yet his lasting legacy is his 13 James Bond novels about a spy whose tastes for strong liquor, violence and beautiful women were remarkably similar to Fleming’s own. The women in his lfe 1. Monique Panchaud de Bottens was the daughter of a Swiss landowner. She met Fleming at a ball in Geneva. They were inseparable for the summer of 1931 and briefly engaged. She was said to have been the inspiration for Bond’s mother (a Swiss woman, Monique). 2. Edith von Morpurgo was an Austrian with whom he exchanged racy love letters in the 1930s, some about bondage, whips and sado-masochism. 3. Muriel Wright, a noted polo player, had a relationship with Fleming for nine years until her death during an air raid in 1944, aged 35. 4. Maud Russell, the wealthy socialite, 17 years his senior, known for hosting parties attended by leading politicians, writers, artists and aristocrats. 5. Fleming married Ann Charteris, the former Lady Rothermere, who has previously been married to Lord O’neill, in 1952. Their son, Caspar, was born later that year.