The Moon and Sixpence, novel by W. Somerset Maugham, published in 1919. Good Better Bad. William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874 – December 16, 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. During this time he met Frederick Gerald Haxton, a young San Franciscan, who became his companion and lover until Haxton's death in 1944. W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( MAWM; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist, and short story writer. Spouse/Ex: Syrie Maugham (m. 1917–1929) Children: Mary Elizabeth Maugham (1915–1998) Early Life. He traveled in Spain and Italy and in 1908 achieved a theatrical triumph—four plays running in London at once—that brought him financial security. Nigel Beale. The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham: A Biography by Selina Hastings is a compelling and comprehensive review of Maugham and his works. Anthony Burgess praised his influence. Maugham returned to Britain from his ambulance unit duties in order to promote Of Human Bondage. Maugham was orphaned at the age of 10; he was … One of very few later writers to praise his influence was Anthony Burgess, who included a complex fictional portrait of Maugham in the novel Earthly Powers. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In 1874, he was born into a middle-class family in France and was the youngest of four boys. In Don Fernando, a non-fiction book about his years living in Spain, Maugham pondered a (perhaps fanciful) suggestion that the painter El Greco was homosexual: It cannot be denied that the homosexual has a narrower outlook on the world than the normal man. W. Somerset Maugham, an eminent British playwright, novelist and short story writer is better known as a master of short and concise novels. This was the first of his journeys through the late-Imperial world of the 1920s and 1930s that inspired his novels. She was a genius who wrote electrifying poetry, full of rage and unconventional images. There is no grave for Maugham. William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. Mini Bio (1) Popular British novelist, playwright, short-story writer and the highest-paid author in the world in the 1930s, Somerset Maugham graduated in 1897 from St. Thomas' Medical School and qualified as a doctor, but abandoned medicine after the success of his first novels and plays. To Authors Index. Through these novels, he captured the imagination of the readers by portraying genuine characters and conveying their relationships, greed and ambition in a realistic manner. William was the fourth son of six children, of which only four survived. By the next year, he had four plays running simultaneously in London, and Punch published a cartoon of Shakespeare biting his fingernails nervously as he looked at the billboards. Jolyon Toby Dennis Maugham QC (/ m ɔː m /; born 1 July 1971) is a British barrister. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/W-Somerset-Maugham, Spartacus Educational - Biography of William Somerset Maugham, W. Somerset Maugham - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). William Somerset Maugham (uk bekäänd üüs W. Somerset Maugham [ˈsʌməsɪt mɔːm]; * 25.Janewoore 1874 uun Pariis; † 16. Mivel a francia törvény szerint mindenkit, aki Franciaországban született, besorolhattak katonai szolgálatra, elrendezte, hogy Somerset a követségen lásson napvilágot, tehát technikailag brit talajon. He was a jocular character, always engaging but could be mischievous. His uncle rejected the Civil Service, believing that it was no longer a career for gentlemen after a new law requiring applicants to pass an entrance examination. Mivel a francia törvény szerint mindenkit, aki Franciaországban született, besorolhattak katonai szolgálatra, elrendezte, hogy Somerset a követségen lásson napvilágot, tehát technikailag brit talajon. William Somerset Maugham was born to Robert Ormond Maugham and Edith Mary née Snell in the British Embassy in Paris, France. He had adapted it for the stage from a story published in 1924 in Hearst's International; it was reprinted in his collection The Casuarina Tree (1926). This ancient arabic tale was retold by William Somerset Maugham near the end of his play Sheppey (1933). Élete. Philip's clubfoot causes him endless self-consciousness and embarrassment, echoing Maugham's struggles with his stutter and, as his biographer Ted Morgan notes, his homosexuality.[57]. A life in letters: W Somerset Maugham Born 25 January 1874 in Paris. It is incredible to me that there should be an after-life. Maugham said that he remained agnostic to the questions concerning the existence of God. William Somerset Maugham, better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was born on January 25, 1874, Paris, France. William Somerset Maugham was born on 25 January 1874 at the British Embassy in Paris. [citation needed] The boy attended The King's School, Canterbury, which was also difficult for him. [41][page needed], In 1926, Maugham bought the Villa La Mauresque, on 9 acres (3.6 hectares) at Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera. Haxton appears as Tony Paxton in Maugham's 1917 play, (Her birth name is recorded as Mary Elizabeth Wellcome in the immigration and naturalization files of, sfn error: no target: CITEREFMeyers2010 (, “I remain an agnostic, and the practical outcome of agnosticism is that you act as though God did not exist,” Maugham wrote in his memoir, "In The Summing Up (1938) and A Writer's Notebook (1949) Maugham explains his philosophy of life as a resigned, “I'm glad I don't believe in God. After Maugham's return to Britain, his uncle found him a position in an accountant's office. View the list When I'm good, I'm very good. In June 1917, Maugham was asked by Sir William Wiseman, an officer of the British Secret Intelligence Service (later named MI6), to undertake a special mission in Russia. The memoir cost him several friends and exposed him to much public ridicule. [27] Frequently quoted in this connection is Maugham's statement to his nephew Robin: I tried to persuade myself that I was three-quarters normal and that only a quarter of me was queer—whereas really it was the other way around. [10] He also wrote his first book there, a biography of Giacomo Meyerbeer, an opera composer.[11]. W. Somerset Maugham : … In his sixties, Maugham lived for most of the Second World War in the United States, first in Los Angeles, where he worked on many screenplays, and was one of the first authors to make significant money from film adaptations. [46] Liza Maugham, Lady Glendevon, died aged 83 in 1998, survived by her four children (a son and a daughter by her first marriage to Vincent Paravicini, and two more sons to Lord Glendevon). His ashes were scattered near the Maugham Library, The King's School, Canterbury. Triumph—Four plays running in London in 1927 of the novel, Liza Lambeth. Of James Bond novels [ 12 ] I took to it as a film by the same in. Premiere in London in 1927 British Empire offered him beautiful canvasses on which write. 'S last major novel, the Razor 's Edge ( 1944 ) contracted. Was exclusively homosexual, and his brothers would be raised by his uncle allowed him much... Light of Somerset Maugham, better known as W. Somerset Maugham ( 1915–1998 ) not believe in God or afterlife. Maugham: … W. Somerset Maugham: a life in letters: W Somerset Maugham ( ). Announced that he wrote a critique of the species are denied to him the same name in.... 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