The Eric Liddell Papers (埃里克 利德尔 档案) found here comprise a digital collection drawn from the personal papers of Eric Liddell, a much larger collection in the SOAS Archives & Special Collections.
Eric Liddell (16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) achieved fame as an Olympic athlete whose life is chronicled in the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire. Liddell’s spiritual convictions had a significant impact on his athletic career. As a member of the British Olympic Team for the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, he refused to run in the qualifying heats because they were held on a Sunday, with the consequence that he was forced to withdraw from his best event, the 100 metres race. He went on to win bronze and gold medals in the 200 and 400 metres events respectively, setting a world record for the 400 metres and causing sensational news headlines, becoming known as the "Flying Scotsman".
In 1925, at the peak of his athletic career, Liddell chose to join the London Missionary Society and went to serve in Northern China. There, he served as a teacher at an Ango-Chinese college. During a furlough from his work in China in 1932, he was ordained a minister. In 1934, he married Florence Mackenzie, the daughter of Canadian missionaries in China; and, the couple had three children. In 1941, the British government advised its nationals to leave China. Mrs. Liddell and their children evacuted to Canada. Eric Liddell and his brother remained behind to continue their work.
Liddell was interned by the advancing Japanese army. Though he had an opportunity to leave the camp and China, he chose to remain: part of a prisonner exchange that allowed a pregnant woman to go free. Liddell died in the Weihsien Internment Camp in Japanese occupied China, in 1945. He had suffered from an inoperable brain tumour, a condition exaccerbated by malnourishment and overwork.
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