David Kindersley (1915-1995)
Born in Codicote, Hertfordshire, in 1915, Kindersley was educated at St. Cyprians and Marlborough College and then went to Paris to study French.
At 18, he received an apprenticeship to work with Eric Gill and worked with him up until 1939 when at 21, he set up his own workshop in Cambridge. He gained a variety of commissions including alphabets for street signs, work with the Ministry of Transport, and the lettering for the American War Cemetery in Madingley, near Cambridge.
Though not formally religious, David Kindersley had a contemplative side and was deeply influenced by the writings of the Russian philosopher P.D.Ouspensky, and was for a time a member of the Walker Group, an Ouspenskyist self-help discussion group in London. His view of the workshop was always to remain essentially spiritual.
"What is a Workshop? It is a place where workers work and build a microcosm of life. It is in many ways like a temple, a place of rethinking and dedication, echoing each passing day and adjusting to the demands of its hitherto unknown clientele." David Kindersley 'Letters Slate Cut'
Following his death in 1995, Kindersley's Cambridge workshop has been run by his widow, Lida Lopes Cardozo-Kindersley, who was born in Holland where she trained at the Royal Academy in the Hague under Gerrit Noordzij. She joined the Cambridge workshop, initially as an apprentice, then running it with Kindersley.
[SLC]
