TS Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965), known by his pen name T.S. Eliot, was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, and literary and social critic from the United States who later became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39. He is considered one of the twentieth century's major poets.

Early life

Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to an old New England family. He attended Harvard University, where he studied philosophy. After Harvard, he moved to Paris, where he wrote his first major work, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

Career

Eliot's best-known works include The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday, and Four Quartets. He is also known for his seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

Influence

Eliot's work has had a profound influence on 20th-century literature. His poems and essays changed the way that people thought about language, culture, and society. His complex, often allusive works were a departure from the more straightforward style of his contemporaries.

Personal life

Eliot converted to Anglicanism in 1927 and became a British citizen the same year. He was married twice, first to Vivienne Haigh-Wood and later to Valerie Fletcher.

Death

Eliot died of emphysema in London in 1965. His ashes were taken to East Coker, the village from which his ancestors had emigrated to America.

Legacy

Eliot's influence extends beyond poetry and includes his work in drama, criticism, and religion. He is remembered as a pioneering figure in Modernism and one of the greatest poets in the English language.

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