Welcome to the Athenaeum

Alan Titchmarsh

Gardener, broadcaster, author

'The Athenaeum has become a valued part of my life. Its members are almost without exception bright and companionable, its talks are second to none, its library is enviable and the hospitality exceptional. It is, in short, my London haven.'

Timothy Gosling

Interior and Furniture Designer

’Being a member of the Athenaeum allows me to continue to learn and debate ideas, to be able to explore the design fascination I have for the Regency world and its continued influence on contemporary art and design that still surrounds the club today.'

Dame Carol Black

Physician and Academic

'A haven of enjoyment, companionship, events, debate and, at times, inspiration. I also use it as a place to meet and interact with work colleagues, to study and somewhere I can retreat to. To add to all of this, the staff are unfailingly helpful.'

Lady Hale

Judge and former Supreme Court President

‘The Club is a wonderful place to meet friends for lunch, afternoon tea or dinner, with good food and a relaxing atmosphere. But it is also a stimulating place, with many interesting events and activities, taking me down avenues I would not have thought of by myself.’

Trevor Phillips

Broadcaster

'If you like being surrounded by clever people who bring both joy and curiosity to every conversation, and who will surprise you with the things they’ve seen and done, this is the place for you. The Athenaeum isn’t just a beautiful, conveniently-located dining room and bar; it’s a home from home for the inquiring mind.'

Timothy Gosling

Interior and Furniture Designer

’Being a member of the Athenaeum allows me to continue to learn and debate ideas, to be able to explore the design fascination I have for the Regency world and its continued influence on contemporary art and design that still surrounds the club today.'

Dame Carol Black

Physician and Academic

'A haven of enjoyment, companionship, events, debate and, at times, inspiration. I also use it as a place to meet and interact with work colleagues, to study and somewhere I can retreat to. To add to all of this, the staff are unfailingly helpful.'

Deborah Saunt

Architect

'Along with the Athenaeum’s architecture, interiors and gardens, what I most enjoy is sharing this convivial environment with members from diverse walks of life and a unique breadth of knowledge. Even a passing conversation can help spark new ideas and open up fresh insights; so for me, it’s a place of constant inspiration.'

Ernest Rutherford

Physicist

The New Zealand-born physicist is regarded as the father of nuclear physics. Like the Club's first Secretary Michael Faraday, he was a great experimentalist who received the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his "investigation into the disintegration of the elements and the chemistry of the radio-active substances".

Sir Noel Coward

Composer, Playwright, Actor

Elected to the Club in 1937, Noel Coward was already one of the country's most celebrated playwrights, having penned hit comedies like Hay Fever, Blithe Spirit and Private Lives. Known for his wit and flamboyant style, he also wrote around 300 songs, with Mad Dogs and Englishmen and A Room With A View among the most notable.

Eva Maria Kohner

Medical consultant

A holocaust survivor, Eva Maria Kohner came to England in 1949 as a refugee from Soviet-run Hungary. She worked first as a nurse, qualified as a doctor and became the first female expert on diabetic retinopathy. In 2013, she wrote: "Becoming a member of the Athenaeum was a highlight in my life because it indicated to me that I had been accepted and was now fully British.”

Charles Dickens

Author, Journalist, Editor

Dickens was 26 when elected to the Club on 21 June 1838. He was one of 40 people - including Charles Darwin - who were fast-tracked to membership on the same day and were later affectionately dubbed the 'Forty Thieves'. Regarded as the greatest author of the Victorian era, Dickens created some of the world's best known fictional characters.

Charles Darwin

Naturalist, geologist, biologist

Charles Darwin was elected to the Club in 1838 – two years after his return from the HMS Beagle expedition that inspired his theory of evolution through natural selection. One of the foremost scientists of his generation, he wrote that he was "full of admiration at the Athenaeum, one meets so many people there that one likes to see".

Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Peel

Politician and Prime Minister

Robert Peel was elected at the first meeting of the Club on February 16 1824 when he was the UK’s Home Secretary. Often described as the founder of modern Conservatism, he went on to serve as Prime Minister twice. He also proposed younger brother William, a Tory politician, for membership.

JMW Turner

Artist and painter

Artist and Royal Academy professor Joseph Turner became a Club Member in 1824. His membership (until 1851) coincided with his artistic peak, when he painted masterpieces like The Fighting Téméraire and Rain, Steam and Speed.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Civil Engineer

A leading engineering designer of the Victorian age, Isambard Brunel followed his civil engineer father (Marc) Isambard Brunel into Club membership in 1830. Three years later he began work as chief engineer on the Great Western Railway – one of his many revolutionary engineering feats, which also included the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the world’s largest steamship.

Henry James

American-born writer

Henry James was elected to the Club in 1882 – a year after the publication of his ‘masterpiece’ novel, Portrait of a Lady. It was one of 20 novels he wrote, many of which centred on a clash of cultures between America and Europe. His later works heralded the modern 20th century novel. He attended many Club dinners and sponsored Rudyard Kipling's membership.

Yehudi Menuhin

Musician

Considered one of the great violinists of the 20th century, Yehudi Menuhin joined the Club in 1969. He described the Athenaeum as the setting for "productive leisure: the spaces between duties, the borderlines between people... Then, in conversation, cross-fertilisation occurs quite naturally as the blissful fulfilment of an effortless higher duty - to the future, to our fellow man, colleagues, society".

Seamus Heaney

Poet, Playwright and Critic

Seamus Heaney became a Club Member in 1996 - a year after he received the Nobel prize for literature. A portrait of the Irish poet, who was a Professor at both Oxford and Harvard Universities, hangs in the Clubhouse. It was painted by fellow Member Fiona Graham-Mackay after they met at Heaney's 2012 Poetry Evening at the Athenaeum.

Sir Noel Coward

Composer, Playwright, Actor

Elected to the Club in 1937, Noel Coward was already one of the country's most celebrated playwrights, having penned hit comedies like Hay Fever, Blithe Spirit and Private Lives. Known for his wit and flamboyant style, he also wrote around 300 songs, with Mad Dogs and Englishmen and A Room With A View among the most notable.

Eva Maria Kohner

Medical consultant

A holocaust survivor, Eva Maria Kohner came to England in 1949 as a refugee from Soviet-run Hungary. She worked first as a nurse, qualified as a doctor and became the first female expert on diabetic retinopathy. In 2013, she wrote: "Becoming a member of the Athenaeum was a highlight in my life because it indicated to me that I had been accepted and was now fully British.”

(Louis) Fernando Henriques

Social Anthropologist

One of six children, he travelled by boat with his family from Jamaica to London in 1919 in pursuit of an English education. He secured an open scholarship to study modern history at Oxford and became president of the Oxford Union. A career in British academia led to him being appointed the first black dean. He was elected to the Club in 1967.