| Edgar Allan Poe 19th January 1809 - 7th October 1849)
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Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19th, 1809. Poe was raised by a Richmond merchant, John Allan, after the early death of his parents. Later, he took Allan as his middle name. The family moved to England, and Poe went to school in Stoke Newington from 1815-1820. Poe completed his schooling in the USA and entered the University of Virginia in 1826, he was expelled soon after due to his gambling debts. This led to a quarrel with Allan, who refused to pay Poe’s debts and later disowned him. In 1827 he joined the army under an assumed name and in 1830 entered West Point, he was dismissed for intentional neglect of his duties the following year. In 1833 he lived in Baltimore with his father’s sister and won a prize of $50 for a short story. It was during these years that Poe wrote some of his best-known stories.
In 1836 he married his 13-year old cousin Virginia Clemm. She burst a blood vessel in 1842, and remained a virtual invalid until her death in 1847. Poe had struggled with a drink and drugs problem and after the death of his wife this problem became much worse, and was further complicated by poverty and nervous disorder. Nevertheless Poe managed to produce a steady stream of reviews, critical essays, poems and short stories.
Poe suffered from severe bouts of depression and madness, and he attempted suicide in 1848. In 1849, after a period of heavy drinking, he disappeared for three days. He was found in a delirious condition in a Baltimore gutter and died on October 7th, 1849.
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