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THE OPEN SOCIETY
AND ITS ENEMIES
by
Karl Popper
(1945)

 The philosopher Karl Popper died in Kenley in Croydon in 1994, his home for the last decade of his life.

He had been born in Vienna in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1902 and had immigrated to New Zealand in 1937 where he wrote The Open Society and its Enemies, his defence of liberal democracy.

The book was published in London where he moved to in 1945 to work at the London School of Economics, remaining in England for the rest of his life.

London | Croydon
The County of London was formed in 1889 from parts of the ancient counties of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey, with the City of London remaining an independent body.

In 1965 Greater London was formed, taking in the rest of Middlesex (which no longer existed as a county) together with parts of Essex and Hertfordshire and further areas of Kent and Surrey.



 Greater London is made up of 13 Inner and 19 Outer London boroughs together with the City of London.



 Croydon once lay in Surrey and is today one of the 19 boroughs making up Outer London. It lies on the southeast edge of the capital.

London Boroughs

Actors and Directors
 The director David Lean was born in Croydon (then in Surrey) in 1908. He made some of British cinema's greatest films ranging from Brief Encounter in 1945 to A Passage to India in 1984. In the intervening decades he directed his epic masterpieces: The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957, Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 - both winning Academy Awards - and in 1965 Doctor Zhivago.

David Lean

Famous People
 The philosopher Karl Popper died in Kenley his home in Croydon in 1994. Born in Vienna in 1902 he moved to England in 1945 after living in New Zealand for eight years. He worked at the London School of Economics and remained in the country for the rest of his life.

Karl Popper


We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than that only freedom can make security secure.
The Open Society and its Enemies (1945)

Writer and Poets
 The crime writer and creator of the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler lived in Upper Norwood from 1900 to 1905. Born in Chicago in 1888 Chandler's Irish mother moved to England with her son in 1900 for his schooling (he attended Dulwich College). He became a British citizen and although his first job was working in the Civil Service he soon left and became a reporter in London. In 1912 he returned to the USA, first to San Francisco and then the following year to Los Angeles. In 1939 The Big Sleep was published.

Raymond Chandler


It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.
Farewell, My Lovely (1940)

A big hard-boiled city with no more personality than a paper cup.
On Los Angeles - The Little Sister (1949)



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