Sara Banerji

Sara Banerji
Born
Sara Ann Mostyn

(1932-06-06)6 June 1932
Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, England
Died2 November 2025(2025-11-02) (aged 93)
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
OccupationsAuthor, artist, sculptor
SpouseRanjit Banerji (1957–2022)
Parent(s)Anita Mostyn
Sir Basil Mostyn
RelativesHenry Fielding

Sara Banerji (née Mostyn; 6 June 1932 – 2 November 2025) was a British author, artist and sculptor. She was born in England, but lived in Southern Rhodesia and then in India for many years. She later lived in Oxford with her family.

Early life

Banerji was born on 6 June 1932, eldest of four children (two sons, two daughters) of Sir Basil Mostyn, 13th Baronet, and Anita Mary, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Rowland Charles Feilding, of the Coldstream Guards. Anita Mostyn was a novelist, writing as Anne Mary Fielding (sic) in the 1950s. She was a great-granddaughter of the Basil Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh, a courtier;[1] one of her relatives was Henry Fielding, whose grand-uncle was the 3rd Earl of Denbigh (note: the family surname varied in spelling).[2][3]

In 1939, when Banerji was seven, World War II began, and she was evacuated to various large and old country mansions. Her father, Basil Mostyn, fought in the war, becoming a lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps.[4]

After the war was over, Banerji emigrated with her family to Southern Rhodesia,[3] where her father grew tobacco. The family lived in a single mud rondavel with no electricity or running water.[3]

Career

Banerji later travelled around Europe, working as an au pair and attending art school in Austria. She worked as an artist, holding exhibitions of her oil paintings in India. She also worked in sculpture. In India, she taught riding and rode as a jockey.

Whilst working in a coffee house in Oxford, one of her customers was her future husband, Ranjit Banerji, an undergraduate from India. They married and moved to India, where they lived for 17 years. Banerji attempted to run a dairy farm, but was defeated by seasons of heavy rain. The Banerji family returned to England in 1973. The family's total available funds were £10, Ranjit and Sara having £5 each. Banerji borrowed money, bought some ponies at auction and gave riding lessons. She subsequently started a gardening business in Sussex.

Banerji lived in Oxford, where she taught writing in the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education until her death. She and her husband, who died in 2022,[5] practised meditation and yogic flying every day. Banerji frequently held exhibitions of her work.

Banerji died on 2 November 2025, at the age of 93.[6]

Personal life

On 4 March 1957, she married Ranjit Banerji. They had three daughters and five grandchildren.[7]

Bibliography

  • Cobwebwalking (1986)
  • The Wedding of Jayanthi Mandel (1987)
  • The Tea Planter's Daughter (1988)
  • Shining Agnes (1991)
  • Absolute Hush (1991)
  • Writing on Skin (1993)
  • Shining Hero (2002)
  • The Waiting Time (2006)
  • Blood Precious (2007)

References

  1. ↑ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1087
  2. ↑ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1084
  3. 1 2 3 "Sara Banerji: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)". www.bloomsbury.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  4. ↑ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 2795
  5. ↑ "Ranjit Banerji". The Times. 11 October 2022. BANERJI Ranjit. Passed away peacefully at home on 29th September, surrounded by his wife and daughters after a long illness. Tea planter, dairy farmer, economist, privatisation consultant, philosopher and scholar
  6. ↑ Goldsworthy, Joanna (31 December 2025). "Sara Banerji obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  7. ↑ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 2795

Sources

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