British poet, philosopher and historian
Nicholas Hagger (born 1939, London) is a British poet, man of letters, cultural historian and commentator, and philosopher. He has been a proponent of philosophical Universalism.[1]
Hagger was educated at Oaklands School in Loughton, Essex and at Chigwell School, Essex, where he read Classics. He attended Worcester College, Oxford, where he read English Literature under Christopher Ricks.[2]
Espionage career
Hagger worked with British Intelligence in the 1960s and early 1970s. He was talent spotted by John Cecil Masterman, provost of Worcester College while Hagger was there. He was interviewed by Charles Woodhouse at MI6's "front office" in 3 Carlton Gardens.[3][4] In his two volume memoirs, My Double Life he says he declined permanent involvement with MI6, but describes periodic involvement with intelligence assignments spying on Muamar Gaddafi and African national liberation movements such as UNITA, ZANU, ZAPU, and the MPLA.[4]
Academic career
He was sponsored by the British Council[5] as a lecturer at the University of Baghdad, Iraq, from 1961 to 1962 and then at the University of Tokyo (1964 to 1965), Tokyo University of Education (now University of Tsukuba) and Keio University, a combined post (1963 to 1967), where he was also Visiting Foreign Professor. From 1968 to 1970 he was at the University of Libya, Tripoli [6][7][8] He was also tutor to Emperor Hirohito’s second son, Masahito, Prince Hitachi from 1964 until 1967.[9] He wrote for The Times and taught in London. Hagger acquired four schools and set up the Oak-Tree Group of Schools.[10]
Otley Hall
In 1997 he bought Otley Hall in Otley, Suffolk and for seven years ran it as a historic house.
Literary output
Hagger is the author of 57 books, including 2,000 poems and 1,200 short stories.[11] Hagger's philosophical Universalism seeks to reflect the universe as a whole in seven disciplines. His books present the fundamental theme of all world literature (A New Philosophy of Literature), history (The Rise and Fall of Civilizations), philosophy (The New Philosophy of Universalism, which also covers the sciences), mysticism and religion (The Light of Civilization), international politics and statecraft (World State and World Constitution) and world culture (The Secret American Destiny).
He lives in Essex and now devotes the greater part of his life to writing. In November 2016 Hagger was awarded the Gusi Peace Prize for Literature.[12] In 2019, he also received the Golden Phoenix medal of the Russian Ecological Foundation.[13] He is on the Board of Advisors of the recently established Galileo Commission, which seeks to expand the scope of science.[14]
The University of Essex has Hagger's archive of literary works (manuscripts and papers) on permanent deposit as a Special Collection in the Albert Sloman Library.[15]
