Author. Compton MacKenzie received recognition as a prolific 20th century author, but also as a commentator of the Gaelic culture telling folklore and politically a lifelong Scottish nationalist. He wrote fiction, biographies, histories, poetry, children’s books, and memoirs. He was one of the co-founders in 1928 of the Scottish National Party and was knighted in 1952. Born in England as one of the five children of Scottish actor Edward Compton , he settled in Scotland in 1928. “Mackenzie” was his family’s surname, but the family had used the stage name of Compton for three generations. He was educated at Magdalen College before entering Oxford University, where he studied law, which he abandoned in 1907 to write his first play, “The Gentleman in Gray.” After publishing two successful novels, “The Passionate Elopement” in 1911 and “Carnival” in 1912, it was his third novel, ”Sinister Street,” in 1913 that he received the highly-sought approval of literary critics, yet the novel was banned in most public libraries for its “sexual frankness.” During World War I, he served in the Royal Marines, with some “spy” assignments in the Mediterranean. After the war, he returned to Scotland where he and his political colleagues formed the National Party of Scotland in 1928. Using background from his World War I experience, he published in 1932 “Greek Memories,” an account of a MI6 officer and for revealing “too much,” he was fined for breaching the Official Secret Act. This was one of four books based on his World War I experience. He went to the Hebridean Island of Barra, where he built a huge home and wrote what is considered his best, the six-volume novel, “The Four Winds of Love,” between 1937 and 1945. In 1941 he published “The Monarch of the Glen,” which is a Scottish comic farce novel, which was adapted into a television series between 2000 through 2005. This led to him becoming one of Scotland’s best-known authors. In 1947 he published “Whisky Galore,” a fictionalized account of the true incident of the “SS Politician,” which ran aground, sinking with a cargo of 28,000 cases of Scotch Whisky. The novel was adapted into a film the next year. His 1956 novel, “Thin Ice,” was based on the much-public life of a homosexual politician. His ten-volume autobiography, “My Life and Times,” was published between 1963 and 1971. In 1905 he married Faith Stone, and after being married for over fifty years, he married twice again as a widower each time. His sister, Fay Compton, became a well-known actress, known for the role in “Peter Pan.” He was the rector of the University of Glasgow from 1931 to 1934. Enjoying his Scottish genealogy, he did detailed research. He wrote the histories of two fifth-century battles, ”Battle of Marathon” and “Battle of Salamis.” In 1943 he published his FDR biography, “Mr. Roosevelt.” In 1923, Mackenzie co-founded the classical music magazine "The Gramaphone.” He converted to Catholicism in 1914. As a passionate Jacobite, he became the third Governor-General of the Royal Stuart Society. He died from complications of prostate cancer and was buried in an ancient graveyard not far from his home.