Author. He was born in London, England to Sir Harold Nicolson and his wife, Lady Victoria "Vita" Sackville-West Nicolson. He also had a brother. Nigel was the author of the 1973 controversial book, The Portrait of A Marriage about the unusual relationship between his parents. His mother inspired one of her lovers, Virginia Woolfe, to write about her in Orlando. Both his parents had mostly gay extramarital affairs but always came back to each other. Nigel said " Both loved people of their own sex, but not exclusively. Their marriage not only survived infidelity, sexual incompatibility, and long absences, but it became stronger and finer as a result. Each came to give the other full liberty without inquiry or reproach...Their marriage succeeded because each found permanent and undiluted happiness only in the company of the other. If their marriage is seen as a harbor, their love affairs were mere ports of call. It was to the harbor that each returned; it was there that both were based."Nigel's parents colorful marriage was nearly destroyed by one of Vita's lovers, Violet Trefusis but the marriage endured anyway. Their family moved to Sissinghurst, Kent and restored the estate and its gardens. Nigel had a privileged upbringing too by attending Eton and Balliol College at Oxford University and served the British Army in World War II serving in the Tunisian and Italian campaigns as a member of the Grenadier Guards. Nigel would be awarded an M.B.E. for his services during the war. After the war, Nigel founded a publishing house, Weidenfeld & Nicolson with George Weidenfield. Nigel remained there until 1992 in some capacity. They were both responsible for bringing Nabokov's novel, Lolita in 1959 despite threat of prosecution under Britain's Obscene Publication Act. Nigel served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1952 to 1959. He was also involved in maintaining the preservation of Sissinghurst where he lived after it became part of England's National Trust. Nigel wrote many books, compiled, and edited books about Virginia Woolf and her writings with 6 volumes between 1975 and 1980. He also wrote non-fiction books such about the Life of Mary Curzon which won the Whitbread Prize in 1977. He also edited a collection of his father's diaries. Nigel was married in 1953 to Phillippa Tennyson d'Eyncourt and divorced in 1970. He was survived by their son, two daughters, and a niece. He was awarded the O.B.E.(Officer of the British Empire) in 2000 for his services to his country.