Jan Gordon

author

Jan Gordon

1882–1944

A British writer and artist, he is best remembered with his wife Cora for vivid travel books and a free-spirited “tramp memoir” style that wandered across Europe and North Africa. His work also reflected wartime experience, from naval life to scenes shaped by the First World War.

2 Audiobooks

The Luck of Thirteen: Wanderings and Flight through Montenegro and Serbia

The Luck of Thirteen: Wanderings and Flight through Montenegro and Serbia

by Cora Gordon, Jan Gordon

Poor Folk in Spain

Poor Folk in Spain

by Cora Gordon, Jan Gordon

About the author

Jan Gordon was a British writer and painter born in 1882. Reliable sources identify him as Jan (Godfrey Jervis) Gordon, and his work is often remembered alongside that of his wife, Cora Gordon. Together they became known for travel writing and art that mixed observation, personality, and a strong sense of place.

The Gordons published lively accounts of their journeys and were associated with an adventurous, unconventional approach to travel writing. Their books and artwork drew on time spent in Europe and North Africa, and Jan Gordon also produced work connected to wartime subjects, including naval and hospital-ship scenes.

Although he is not as widely known today as some travel writers of his era, his partnership with Cora Gordon left a distinctive record of early twentieth-century travel and artistic life. He died in 1944.