Eliot was born in 1888 in St. Louis, MO. He is described asone of the most distinguished literary figures of the 20thcenturey. Eliot studied at Harvard, the Sorbonne, and Oxford. In1914 he established residence in London. After working as ateacher and a bank clerk, he began a publishing career; he wasassistant editor of the Egoist (1917-1919) and edited his ownquarterly, the Criterion (1922-1939). In 1925 he was employed bythe publishing house of Faber and Faber, eventually becoming oneof its directors. His first marriage, to Vivien Haigh-Wood wastroubled and ended with their separation. His early poetical works-Prufrock and Other Observations(1917), Poems (1920), and The Waste Land (1922)-express theanguish of modern life and the isolation of the individual,particularly as reflected in the failure of love. The Waste Landcompelled imediate critical attention. In his later poetry,notably Ash Wednesday (1930) and the Four Quartets (1935-1942),Eliot turned from spiritual desolation to hope for humansalvation. He became Anglo-Catholic in 1927. Eliot’s playsinclude Murder in the Cathedral (1935), The Family Reunion(1939), The Cocktail Party (1950), The Confidential Clerk (1954)and The Elder Statesman (1959). His complet poems and playsappeared in 1969 and his letters in 1988.Thomas Stearns Eliot died in 1965 in London....
