Patrick French, historian and author with an India connect, dies in London

World-renowned biographer and historian Patrick French, who was the inaugural Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University, passed away in London on Thursday, after a four-year battle with cancer. “He was, without doubt, one of the finest biographers of our times,” historian Ramchandra Guha, who had a long association with Mr. French, told The Hindu. Born in London in 1966, Mr. French was sent to a strict Catholic school in remote Yorkshire, where he was close friends with another famous British author and historian who moved to India, William Dalrymple. “He was always sceptical of the establishment,” said Mr. Dalrymple, explaining Mr. French’s decision to turn down the Order of the British Empire in 2003. Above all, fellow-biographers and young authors alike pointed to Mr. French’s “generosity with his time” to read manuscripts and guide others with their work.