Eric Gill

AKA Arthur Eric Rowton Gill

Born: 22-Feb-1882

Birthplace: Brighton, Sussex, England

Died: 17-Nov-1940

Location of death: Uxbridge, Middlesex, England

Cause of death: Complications of Surgery

Remains: Buried



Gender: Male

Religion: Roman Catholic

Race or Ethnicity: White

Sexual orientation: Bisexual

Occupation: Typographer, Sculptor

Nationality: England

Executive summary: Typographer, Gill Sans

Military service: British Royal Air Force (1918)

Studied calligraphy with Edward Johnston, author of the font used on London Underground signage, upon which Gill's ubiquitous Gill Sans is based. Gill also authored the seriffed fonts Perpetua and Joanna.

Lived in a bohemian artists' community in Ditchling, Sussex, from 1907-24. Numbered among its residents was author G. K. Chesterton. Gill founded two other such communities in his lifetime.

The Fiona McCarthy biography of Gill alleges, based on study of his meticulous diary, that Gill committed incest with both of his sisters and two of his daughters; Gill also mentions tersely that he "continued experiment with dog after and discovered that a dog will join with a man."

Father: Arthur Tidman Gill (non-conformist minister)

Mother: Cicely Rose King Gill

Brother: Cecil Ernest Gaspar Gill (physician)

Brother: Kenneth Gill (d., plane crash)

Brother: Vernon Gill

Brother: Evan R. Gill

Brother: MacDonald Gill (cartographer)

Sister: Angela

Sister: Gladys

Sister: Enid Clay

Sister: Cicely (d. 18-Jan-1897)

Wife: Mary Gill (Ethel Hester Moore, b. 1878, m. 6-Aug-1904, d. 1961, 3 daughters)

Daughter: Betty (b. 1905)

Daughter: Petra (b. 1906)

Daughter: Joanna (b. 1910)

Son: Gordian Gill (adopted 1917)

Mistress: May Reeves



High School: Technical and Art School, Chichester, England

University: Calligraphy, Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, England (1902)



Fabian Society 1905

Royal Academy of Arts Associate (1937)

Royal Institute of British Architects Honorary Associate (1935)

Royal Society of British Sculptors Honorary Associate (1937)

Society of Wood-Engravers

Converted to Catholicism 22-Feb-1913

Nervous Breakdown 1930

Risk Factors: Smoking, Lung Cancer



Is the subject of books:

The Life of Eric Gill, 1966 , BY: R. Speaight

Eric Gill, 1966 , BY: R. Brewer

Eric Gill, The Man Who Loved Letters, 1973 , BY: R. Brewer

The Letter Forms and Type Design of Eric Gill, 1976 , BY: R. Harling

Eric Gill: A Lover's Quest for Art and God, 1989 , BY: Fiona MacCarthy



Author of books:

Essay on Typography ( 1931 , typography)

Autobiography ( 1940 , memoirs)







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