Doris Lessing (1919 – 2013)

She was born to British parents in Iran, where she spent the early years of her childhood. Her family moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she remained until 1949, when she moved to London. Her novels include The Grass Is Singing (1950), the sequence of five novels collectively called Children of Violence (1952–1969), The Golden Notebook (1962), The Good Terrorist (1985), and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos: Archives (1979–1983).

She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007. The Swedish Academy described Lessing as "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny".

Lessing was awarded the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime's achievement in British literature in 2001. The Times ranked her fifth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".