Isaiah Berlin: A Life — 14: Late Awakening

1. 1. Isaiah Berlin translated Turgenev's 'First Love' as a way to explore his own unrequited feelings for Patricia Douglas.
2. 2. At age 41, Berlin began his first adult sexual relationship with Jenifer Hart, a married woman and historian.
3. 3. Berlin's affair with Jenifer Hart made him less priggish and more respectful of the power of emotion.
4. 4. Berlin fell in love with Aline Halban, a married French aristocrat, and they began a clandestine affair in 1954.
5. 5. Berlin's father Mendel died of leukemia in December 1953, causing a deep emotional crisis.
6. 6. Berlin proposed to Aline in April 1954, but she initially rejected him after her husband threatened divorce.
7. 7. Berlin convinced Halban to allow weekly meetings by arguing that keeping someone in prison only makes them want to escape.
8. 8. Aline chose to stay in Oxford when Halban was offered a position in Paris, ending the marriage.
9. 9. Berlin remained lovers with Jenifer Hart sporadically even after his marriage to Aline.
10. 10. Berlin's essay 'The Hedgehog and the Fox' was retitled and published for a general audience, boosting his public reputation.
11. 11. Berlin remained skeptical of the Khrushchev thaw, seeing it as a temporary 'zig' in the Soviet pattern of repression.
12. 12. Berlin described 1955 as the most triumphant year of his life, feeling happily in love and transformed.