Oliver Goldsmith

Born in Ireland to Anglo-Irish parents, Oliver Goldsmith rose from obscurity to join the ranks of the most prominent literary figures of his time in London. After graduating from college in Dublin, he dropped out of medical school and travelled around Europe on foot with little money before settling in London in 1756. There he first worked as an apothecary’s assistant before turning to work as a writer for the daily papers. He wrote poems, plays, short stories, and novels. His lively, readable style earned him the respect of more prominent writers, including the philosopher Edmund Burke and Samuel Johnson, the essayist who composed the English language’s first high-quality dictionary. Despite his acceptance into these high circles, Goldsmith was known to be deeply envious of his friends, awkward, ashamed of his physical appearance, a drunk, a gambler, and an extremely bad manager of his own money. His friends often remarked on the contrast between his disorderly personal life and his clear, well-organized, and stylistically beautiful writing. Goldsmith died in 1774 after failing to seek medical care for a treatable kidney infection.