Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965

Dates

• Existence: 1888 - 1965

Biography

T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-English poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic is considered to be one the twentieth century's most influential authors. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Eliot was educated in philosophy at Harvard, the Sorbonne, and Merton College, Oxford. After settling in England, Eliot worked for a time as a schoolmaster and a bank clerk, and eventually literary editor for the publishing house Faber & Faber -of which he later became a director. In 1922 he founded and edited the exclusive literary journal the Criterion but chose to cease production in 1939 due to the onset of World War Two and paper shortages. In 1927, Eliot became a naturalized British citizen and converted the Anglican Church. Eliot’s experimental use of diction, style, and versification in works such as The Waste Land (1922) and Four Quartets (1943)  revitalized English poetry and marked him as a leading member of the Modernist Movement. The publication of Four Quartets was widely praised, and in 1948 Eliot was awarded both the Order of Merit and the Nobel Prize for Literature.

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