George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, where he grew up in something close to genteel poverty. His father, George Carr Shaw, was in the wholesale grain trade. Lucinda Elisabeth (Gurly) Shaw, his mother, was the daughter of an impoverished landowner. George Carr was a drunkard—his example prompted his son to become a teetotaller. When […]
Faiz Ahmed Faiz was born in Sialkot in the Punjab, then a part of India under British rule. His family were well-to-do landowners. Faiz’s father was a prominent lawyer, who was interested in literature, and whose friends included several prominent literary figures, including Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1873-1938), the national poet of Pakistan. Faiz received his
Emile Zola was born in Paris. His father, François Zola, was an Italian engineer, who acquired French citizenship. Zola spent his childhood in Aix-en-Provence, southeast France, where the family moved in 1843. When Zola was seven, his father died, leaving the family with money problems—Emilie Aubert, his mother, was largely dependent on a tiny pension.
Ernest Hemingway was born inn Oak Park, Illinois. His mother Grace Hall, whom he never forgave for dressing him as a little girl in his youth, had an operatic career before marrying Dr. Clarence Edmonds Hemingway; he taught his son to love out-door life. Hemingway’s father took his own life in 1928 after losing his
Born on December 25, 1926 in Allahabad to Chiranji Lal (an architact) and Chanda Devi (Later Principal Kanya Gurukul, Hatharas). The only other sibling he had was his younger sister, Dr. Veerbala. The family underwent considerable financial hardships after the father died early.Dr. Dharamvir Bharati did his M.A. in Hindi from Allahabad University in 1946
The greatest Italian poet and one of the most important writers of European literature. Dante is best known for the epic poem Commedia, c. 1310-14, later named La Divina Commedia. It has profoundly affected not only the religious imagination but all subsequent allegorical creation of imaginary worlds in literature. Dante spent much of his life
Charles Dickens was born in Landport, Hampshire, during the new industrial age, which gave birth to theories of Karl Marx. Dickens’s father was a clerk in the navy pay office. He was well paid but often ended in financial troubles. In 1814 Dickens moved to London, and then to Chatham, where he received some education.
Bhisham Sahni, born on Aug 8, 1915 at Rawalpindi in present day Pakistan, is a distinguished Hindi fiction writer, playwright, translator, teacher and polyglot. His works reflect his unflinching commitment to India’s pluralist ethos and secular foundations. Tamas, his magnum opus, translated into English in 1988, gained worldwide acclaim for its sensitive and anguished portrayal
Bhartendu Harish Chandra was born on 9 September 1850 in a distinguished and opulent Agarwal family of Varanasi. From his grand- father and father he inherited material prosperity, Vaishnava traditions and literary talents. Harish Chandra showed love for devotional music and aptitude for composing poetry even at the age of five.Today Bhartendu Harish Chandra is
Bertrand Russell was born in Trelleck, Gwent, the second son of Viscount Amberley. His mother, Katherine, was the daughter of Baron Stanley of Aderley. She died in 1874. Her husband died twenty months later, after a long period of gradually increasing debility. At the age of three Russell was an orphan. He was brought up
Barbara Cartland was born in Edgbaston, West Midlands, into a wealthy family. She attended Malvern Girls’ College and Abbey House, Netley Abbey, Hampshire. Her grandfather committed suicide when he went bankrupt and father was killed in Flanders in 1918. Cartland was reared by her strong mother, who moved the family to London and opened her
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was born on 27th June 1838 in the village Knathalpara of the 24 Paraganas District of Bengal. He belonged to a family of Brahmins. The family was well known for the performance of yajnas (sacrifices). Bankim Chandra’s father Yadav Chandra Chattopadhyaya was in government service. In the very year of his son’s
Arundhati Roy is a famous Indian novelist and social activist. Arundhati Roy came into limelight in 1997 when she won the Booker Prize for her first novel ‘The God of Small Things’. She was awarded Sydney Peace Prize in 2004.Arundhati Roy was born November 24, 1961 in Assam. Her mother was a Keralite Christian and
Arthur Conan Doyle was born at Picardy Place, Edinburgh, as the son of Charles Altamont Doyle, a civil servant in the Edinburgh Office of Works, and Mary (Foley) Doyle. Both of Doyle’s parents were Roman Catholics. To increase his income Charles Altamont painted, made book illustrations, and also worked as a sketch artist on criminal
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in the small seaport of Taganrog, southern Russia, as the son of a grocer and grandson of a serf, who had bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught himself to read and write. Chekhov’s mother was Yevgenia Morozov, the daughter of a