Eliot, George |
| WRITER, POET, CRITIC, TRANSLATOR (ENGLAND) |
|
BORN 22 Nov 1819, Arbury Farm, Astley (near Nuneaton), Warwickshire - DIED 22 Dec 1880, London: 4. Cheyne Walk, Chelsea BIRTH NAME Evans, Mary Ann CAUSE OF DEATH kidney infection GRAVE LOCATION London: Highgate Cemetery East, Swain's Lane, Highgate |
|
George Eliot was born as Mary Ann Evans. She was the daughter of Robert Evans, the estate agent for the Earl of Lonsdale. After her mother died in 1836 she acted as housekeeper for her father. After her father retired in 1841 they moved to Coventry, where she met intellectuals like Charles Bray. She also read a lot and she became sceptical of the religion of her father. She quarreled with him, but she took care of him until he died in 1849. An annuity enabled her to travel to the continent with the Bray family in 1850. Back in England she started writing for the Westminster Review. In 1851 she became assistent editor and she started a relationship with the editor, G.H. Lewes, who lived apart from his wife. Lewes encouraged her to write fiction and edited her works. She used the pseudonym George Eliot and her book "Adam Bede" was a success. In "The Mill on the Floss" she wrote about the reaction of her friends to her relationship with Lewes. In 1861 she published "Silas Marner" and in 1872 "Middlemarch", seen by many as her best work. She lived with Lewes until his death in 1878. In 1880 she married her admirer John Wolter Cross, but she died a few months after the marriage of a kidney infection. Cross became her first biographer. There is a memorial plague for her at Westminster Abbey. She was buried near Lewes at Highgate CemeteryEast in London. Related persons • met Beecher Stowe, Harriet • was published by Blackwood, John • was written about by Blind, Mathilde • knew Collins, Wilkie • was the lover of Lewes, George Henry • admired Liszt, Franz • was a friend of Trollope, Anthony • met Williams, Jane Events |
| 20/8/1880 | Dostoevsky's delivers his Pushkin Speech in Moscow. He held it at the unveiling of the Pushkin monumentin Moscow. He deeply impressed with his speech but some observed that it was probably more about Russia and about himself than about Pushkin. His old enemy Turgenev was present and held a speech as well. Alfred Tennyson and George Eliot were invited but both weren't present. Turgenev read aloud a telegram by Eliot. Tolstoy had declined as well. |
| 29/12/1880 | George Eliot is buried at Highgate Cemetery East, London. Oscar Browning was among the mourners. |
| Images | ||
 The grave of George Eliot at Highgate Cemetery (East), London. Picture by Androom (18 Mar 2006) |
 The grave of George Eliot at Highgate Cemetery (East), London. Picture by Androom (18 Mar 2006) |
 Plaque for George Eliot in Florence. Picture by Androom (07 Feb 2011) |
 The house where George Eliot died at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea London. Picture by Androom (26 May 2014) |
 Plaque for George Eliot at the Rue de la Pélisserie in Genève. Picture by Androom (23 Aug 2019) |
Sources • Oscar Browning - Wikipedia (EN) |
