T.S. Eliot

T.S. Elliot

By: Devlin Smith

Born: September 26th, 1888inSt. Louis, Missouri

His family was from the New England area. His grandfather moved to St. Louis to establish a Unitarian Church. He was named after his grandfather Thomas Stearns.

Family Lineage

He was born with a double hernia. This sparked

Early Life

he was alone, and began to love the works of

Mark Twain, or stories of the Wild West. He

also credited St.Louis with fueling his literary vision

his love for literature. He would often read when

Education

He studied at Smith Academy from 1898 to 1905. He began writing poetry during this time. From 1906 to 1909 he studied at Harvard College and earned his Bachelor's Degree in three years. He worked as an assistant at Harvard from 1909 to 1910.From 1910 to 1911 he studiedin Paris and from 1911 to 1914he studied again at Harvard.He went to Oxford in 1914.

Life Abroad

While studying at Oxford, hespent much of his time inLondon where he spent timewith many different affleuntpeople. In London he metVivienne High-Wood, soonafter they were married. Themarriage had some troublesin large part due to Vivienne'spoor health. During this timehe took several teaching jobsaround London. In 1932 heleft his wife and traveled backto be a professor at Harvard.In 1938 she was admitted to amental house and he never visited her until her death.

From 1946 to 1957 Eliot shared a flatwith his friend, John Davy Hayward.Hayward managed Eliots papers, andwhen they stopped living together, retained Eliots paper. He later donatedthem to King's College in Cambridge.In January of 1957, at the age of 68,Eliot married Esme Valerie Fletcher.She was 30 at the time. In the early '60's Eliot was in failing health and he worked as an editor for WesleyanUniversity Press until he died. He diedof emphysema due to his heavysmoking. His body was creamated.

Late Life