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- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA005736/00001
Notes
- Abstract:
- Born in 1902 in Edmonton, North London, Gladys Aylward was working as a housemaid when she decided to become a missionary. Rejected by the China Inland Mission for her lack of education, she went to China as an independent missionary in 1931. With virtually no money, she managed to travel all the way to the province of Shansi in North West China, via the Trans-Siberian Railway. Having become a Chinese citizen in 1936, she was to achieve international fame when, in 1940, against the background of civil war and the Japanese invasion, she led a large group of orphans on a perilous journey to safety in Sian. Her life story was the basis of the 1959 film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, in which Gladys, nicknamed the ‘London Sparrow’ because of her tiny stature, was played by the statuesque Ingrid Bergman (Text by Susannah Rayner, from the exhibition catalogue: Objects of instruction : treasures of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Anna Contadini, Editor. London : SOAS, University of London, 2007.) ( en )
- General Note:
- Gladys Aylward was born on 24 February 1902 in Edmonton, North London. Following service as a housemaid, and rejection by the China Inland Mission, she went to China as an independent missionary. Travelling on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Tientsin she then continued to the province of Shansi in North-West China, where she worked from 1931. She became a Chinese citizen in 1936. In 1940, against the background of civil war between Nationalist government troops and the Communists, Japanese invasion, and the threat of bandits, she led a group of orphans on a perilous journey to Sian. She returned to England during the Second World War, but returned to work with children at the Gladys Aylward Children's Home in Taiwan from the late 1940s until near her death on the 3rd January 1970.
Her life was the basis of the 1959 film 'The Inn of the Sixth Happiness' starring Ingrid Bergman. A number of books have also been written about her life including: Gladys Aylward, One of the Undefeated by R O Latham (1950); The Small Woman by Alan Burgess (1957); London Sparrow by Phyllis Thompson (1989); and Gladys Aylward: the Courageous English Missionary by Catherine Swift (1989).
- General Note:
- VIAF (name authority) : Aylward, Gladys, 1902-1970 : 18013094
- General Note:
- The 'Objects of instruction : the treasures of SOAS' exhibition was funded through a generous gift from the Foyle Foundation and with the support of the Arts & Humanities Research Council.
- General Note:
- Source: A. Contadini (ed.), Objects of instruction : treasures of the School of Oriental and African Studies. London : SOAS, University of London, 2007. Listed as item number: 10
- General Note:
- From the Gladys Aylward collection
- General Note:
- Photograph dated to May 1936.
- General Note:
- H8.5 x W6cm; comb H4.5 x W9.5cm; large slippers L27 x W7.5cm x D5.5cm; small slippers L21.5 x W7.5 x D5cm.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- SOAS, University of London
- Holding Location:
- Brunei Gallery
- Rights Management:
- All applicable rights reserved by the source institution and holding location.
- Resource Identifier:
- MS 291571 ( soas manuscript number )
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