Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling (portrait)

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Rudyard Kipling 1865-1936 writer and Nobel Laureate lived here as a boy 1871-1877

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Lahore railway station1880s

Rudyard Kipling
Kipling in 1895
Born	Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-12-30)30 December 1865 Bombay, British India
Died	18 January 1936(1936-01-18) (aged 70) London, England
Occupation	Writer, poet, journalist
Nationality	British
Notable works	The Jungle Book, Kim, Just So Stories, If—
Spouse	Caroline Starr Balestier (m. 1892)
Children	3, including Elsie Bambridge
Signature	File:Rudyard Kipling Signature.svg

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was an English author, poet, and journalist. He is best known for his works of fiction, including The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). His poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He was born in Bombay, British India, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old.

Early Life

Kipling was born in Bombay, in the Bombay Presidency of British India, to Alice Kipling (née MacDonald) and John Lockwood Kipling. His father was a sculptor and pottery designer who became the principal of the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Bombay. Kipling's early years in India, where he was cared for by an Indian ayah (nanny), influenced much of his later writing.

Education

At the age of six, Kipling and his sister were sent to England to live with a foster family in Southsea. He attended the United Services College at Westward Ho!, a boarding school in Devon, which provided the setting for his schoolboy stories Stalky & Co. (1899). Kipling was not a particularly successful student, but he did develop a love for literature and writing.

Career

Kipling returned to India in 1882 to work as a journalist for the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore, and later for The Pioneer in Allahabad. His experiences in India provided material for many of his stories and poems. In 1889, he returned to London, where he quickly gained fame as a writer.

Major Works

• The Jungle Book (1894) – A collection of stories set in the Indian jungle, featuring the adventures of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves.
• Kim (1901) – A novel about an orphaned boy who becomes a spy for the British secret service in India.
• Just So Stories (1902) – A collection of origin stories for children, explaining how various animals came to be the way they are.
• If— (1910) – A poem offering advice on how to live a virtuous life.

Personal Life

In 1892, Kipling married Caroline Starr Balestier, the sister of his friend and fellow writer Wolcott Balestier. The couple had three children: Josephine, Elsie, and John. The family lived in the United States for several years before returning to England.

Later Years and Death

Kipling continued to write until his death in 1936. He was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, London. His legacy as a writer remains influential, though his views on imperialism and colonialism have been the subject of much debate.

Related Pages

• The Jungle Book
• Kim (novel)
• Just So Stories
• If—
• British India
• Poets' Corner