George Mikes

Though George Mikes (pronounced 'me-kesh') started life as a Hungarian, he became a humorist as English as they come. Born in 1912, he moved to London in 1938 to become the correspondent for a Hungarian newspaper, and then he never left. A keen observer of the behaviour and misbehaviour of foreigners and natives in Britain, he is frequently cited by later authors including Kate Fox and Jeremy Paxman. He died in London in 1987.