Hetta Empson

Crouse was born in Kroonstad, South Africa^[1] on 18 September 1915.^[3] She attended Bloemfontein University and also studied art in Germany.^[1]

She returned to South Africa where she worked on a newspaper. Crouse returned to Europe with her then-fiancé Rene Graetz [de]. After touring France and Switzerland, she went on, by herself to England. She stayed there throughout World War II, working as an ambulance driver and then at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). At the BBC she met her future husband William Empson, the literary critic, with whom she had two sons.^[1]

The couple married and they moved to China in 1947. They stayed there until 1952, when they returned to England. William Empson moved to Sheffield to teach English at the University of Sheffield while Hetta Empson lived in London.^[1]

In 1956^[1] she gave birth to her third son with her lover, the poet Peter Duval Smith.^[2]

In 1979 William Empson was knighted and Hetta became Lady Empson.^[1] She died on 22 December 1996.^[3]