A life in letters: W Somerset Maugham Born 25 January 1874 in Paris. Ted Morgan. [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. William Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874– 16 December 1965) was an English novelist, short story writer and playwright. 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. Their father, Robert Ormond Maugham, was a lawyer who handled the legal affairs of the British Embassy in Paris. Maugham's father and three older brothers were distinguished lawyers, but Maugham was not interested in this profession. [52] In 1948 he wrote "Great Novelists and Their Novels" [also known as "Ten Novels and Their Authors" and "The Art of Fiction"], in which he listed the ten best novels of world literature in his view.[53]. 3.7 out of 5 stars9 ratings. Notable winners include V. S. Naipaul, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis and Thom Gunn. Two of his later novels were based on historical people: The Moon and Sixpence is about the life of Paul Gauguin; and Cakes and Ale contains what were taken as thinly veiled and unflattering characterisations of the authors Thomas Hardy (who had died two years previously) and Hugh Walpole. Somerset Maugham is the opposite of Sylvia Plath. [62] In his novel Misery, Stephen King places a rich collection of Maugham's books in the house where most of the plot is set, and incidentally praises Maugham's mastery of storytelling. Short Biography of William Somerset Maugham The British novelist William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), one of the most popular writers in English in the 20th century, is noted for his clarity of style and skill in storytelling. [9] Miserable both at his uncle's vicarage and at school, the young Maugham developed a talent for making wounding remarks to those who displeased him. He wrote in 1938: "Fact and fiction are so intermingled in my work that now, looking back on it, I can hardly distinguish one from the other. Venkataramiah, Munagala, 15 October 1938, This page was last edited on 2 January 2021, at 23:01. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The British novelist William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), one of the most popular writers in English in the 20th century, is noted for his clarity of style and skill in storytelling. In that period, Maugham began a relationship with Alan Searle, whom he had first met in 1928. 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. She was a genius who wrote electrifying poetry, full of rage and unconventional images. In his 1962 volume of memoirs, Looking Back, he attacked the late Syrie Maugham and wrote that Liza had been born before they married. He drew from those experiences in his later short stories and novels. The novel’s hero, Charles Strickland, is a London stockbroker who renounces his wife, children, and business in order to paint. Élete. W. Somerset Maugham : … For a public man of Maugham's generation, being openly gay was impossible. Maugham returned to Britain from his ambulance unit duties in order to promote Of Human Bondage. The British novelist William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), one of the most popular writers in English in the 20th century, is noted for his clarity of style and skill in storytelling. The marriage was unhappy, and the couple separated. List of works by W. Somerset Maugham. Biography. It was a collection of essays that he had contributed to the solid magazines of the day and he issued it, as became his sense of decorum, anonymously. During this time he met Frederick Gerald Haxton, a young San Franciscan, who became his companion and lover until Haxton's death in 1944. In Paris, Strickland woos and wins Maugham's homosexual leanings shaped his fiction, in two ways. Their father, Robert Ormond Maugham, was a lawyer who handled the legal affairs of the British Embassy in Paris. Maugham wrote comedies, psychological novels and spy stories (although the latter part of his work is hardly ever seen as belonging to crime fiction proper). George Orwell also state… Somerset Maugham was the master of the short, concise novel and he could convey relationships, greed and ambition with a startling reality. In 1897, he published his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, a tale of working-class adultery and its consequences. "[13], Liza of Lambeth's first print run sold out in a matter of weeks. His grandfather, another Robert, was a prominent lawyer and co-founder of the Law Society of England and Wales. [51], Maugham's public view of his abilities remained modest. Quiet and observant, Maugham had a good temperament for intelligence work; he believed he had inherited from his lawyer father a gift for cool judgment and the ability to avoid being deceived by facile appearances. A second film adaptation was released in 1940, starring American actress Bette Davis, who was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress for her performance. Tue 10 … To be a good citizen, it's important to be able to put yourself in other people's shoes and see the big picture. Maugham wrote near the opening of the novel: "... it is impossible always to give the exact unexpurgated words of Liza and the other personages of the story; the reader is therefore entreated with his thoughts to piece out the necessary imperfections of the dialogue. William Somerset Maugham was born of English … During his year in Heidelberg, Maugham met and had a sexual affair with John Ellingham Brooks, an Englishman ten years his senior. 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. Maugham's homosexual leanings shaped his fiction, in two ways. This character is considered to have influenced Ian Fleming's later series of James Bond novels. His mother, Edith Mary, died when he was eight and his father, Robert, a lawyer at the British embassy in … “ – Gore Vidal’s review in … [16] Throughout this period, Maugham continued to write. Maugham was living in London, meeting people of a "low" sort whom he would never have met otherwise, and seeing them at a time of heightened anxiety and meaning in their lives. "[31], Maugham did not believe in God or an afterlife. However, Maugham endured a traumatic childhood - he was orphaned at the age of ten when his mother died from tuberculosis and his father died from cancer. He rejected a career in the Church because of his stutter. As he was unable to return to his ambulance unit, Syrie arranged for him to be introduced to a high-ranking intelligence officer known as "R"; he was recruited by John Wallinger. After losing both his parents by the age of 10, Maugham was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold. In … Somerset Maugham spent a year in Heidelberg, Germany, where he studied literature, philosophy. William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874 – December 16, 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. For the next five years, he studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in Lambeth. The influential American novelist and critic Theodore Dreiser rescued the novel, referring to it as a work of genius and comparing it to a Beethoven symphony. It has been adapted as a play and as several films. She was familiarly called Liza and her surname was changed to Maugham. [4] Maugham refers to this grandfather's writings in Chapter 6 of his literary memoir, The Summing Up: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, "...in the catalogue of the Library at the British Museum there is a long list of his legal works. He attended King’s School in Canterbury. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." Maugham was the fourth of six sons born in his family. Share with your friends. Syrie Maugham became a noted interior decorator who in the 1920s popularized "the all-white room". W. Somerset Maugham Biography W. Somerset Maugham is beloved by Hollywood. [citation needed]. Maugham lived in Switzerland as a writer. Maugham: A Biography. He kept his mother's photograph at his bedside for the rest of his life. W. Somerset Maugham, Writer: Quartet. Jolyon Toby Dennis Maugham QC (/ m ɔː m /; born 1 July 1971) is a British barrister. But when I'm bad I'm better. “ Mr. Robert Calder has written a biography of W. Somerset Maugham in order to redress, nicely, some recent studies of the man who was probably our century’s most popular novelist as well as the most successful of Edwardian playwrights. [33][36][citation needed], Maugham used his spying experiences as the basis for Ashenden: Or the British Agent, a collection of short stories about a gentlemanly, sophisticated, aloof spy. I never heard of his plays before and … Maugham often tested his audience and his own interest in a story by serialising it through periodicals such as The Sunday Times and then later released the story as a novel or book. I once had the book in my hands, a handsome volume bound in calf, but I never read it and I have not been able to get hold of a copy since. Britannica now has a site just for parents! Too old to enlist when the First World War broke out, he served in France as a member of the British Red Cross's so-called "Literary Ambulance Drivers", a group of some 24 well-known writers, including the Americans John Dos Passos, E. E. Cummings, and Ernest Hemingway. This changed in 1907 with the success of his play Lady Frederick. He drew upon his experiences as an obstetrician in his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), and its success, though small, encouraged him to abandon medicine. At last, the fascinating truth is revealed in a landmark biography by the award-winning writer Selina Hastings. After a month Maugham gave it up and returned to Whitstable. Somerset Maugham's Biography. William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874 – December 16, 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. Maugham's short fable "An Appointment in Samarra" (1933) is based on an ancient Babylonian myth: Death is both the narrator and a central character. [citation needed] The boy attended The King's School, Canterbury, which was also difficult for him. "[49], Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. His best efforts in this line include The Gentleman in the Parlour, dealing with a journey through Burma, Siam, Cambodia and Vietnam, and On a Chinese Screen, a series of very brief vignettes that might have been sketches for stories left unwritten. Maugham's supernatural thriller, The Magician (1908), based its principal character on the well-known and somewhat disreputable Aleister Crowley. Biography and Fiction: Somerset Maugham and Of Human Bondage. Maugham was sent back to the UK to be cared for by his paternal uncle, Henry MacDonald Maugham, the Vicar of Whitstable, in Kent. To Authors Index. His uniqueness inspired several other writers like Ian Fleming and George Orwell. "[45], Maugham's love life was almost never smooth. Maugham, who had qualified as a medic, dropped medicine and embarked on his 65-year career as a man of letters. In 1962 Maugham sold a collection of paintings, some of which had already been assigned by deed to his daughter Liza. In maturity, he recalled the value of his experience as a medical student: "I saw how men died. He worked for the service in Switzerland and Russia before the October Revolution of 1917 in the Russian Empire. W. Somerset Maugham is the 232nd most popular writer (up from 233rd in 2019), the 270th most popular biography from France (down from 262nd in 2019) and the 44th most popular French Writer. Maugham's last major novel, The Razor's Edge (1944), was a departure for him in many ways. This comprehensive biography of W. Somerset Maugham includes Brief sumaries of many of his plays, novels, and short stories, as well as a number of succinct portraits of some of his friends and lovers. William Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. Maugham was orphaned at the age of 10; he was … William Somerset Maugham CH (/ ˈmɔːm / MAWM; 25 Januar 1874 – 16 December 1965), better kent as W. Somerset Maugham, wis a Breetish playwricht, novelist an short story writer. Maugham indicates in his foreword that he derived the title from a passage in Baruch Spinoza's Ethics: Of Human Bondage is considered to have many autobiographical elements. He became known as a writer who portrayed the last days of European colonialism in India, Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific, although the books on which this reputation rests represent only a fraction of his output. They changed their daughter's surname, originally registered as Wellcome and reflecting Syrie's marriage. By 1940, when the collapse of France and its occupation by the German Third Reich forced Maugham to leave the French Riviera, he was a refugee—but one of the wealthiest and most famous writers in the English-speaking world. W. Somerset Maugham, an eminent British playwright, novelist and short story writer is better known as a master of short and concise novels. This ancient arabic tale was retold by William Somerset Maugham near the end of his play Sheppey (1933). [17], Of Human Bondage (1915) initially was criticized in both England and the United States; the New York World described the romantic obsession of the protagonist Philip Carey as "the sentimental servitude of a poor fool". He wrote only one book that was not of this character. Maugham apja, Robert Ormond Maugham, a párizsi angol követségen dolgozott, mint ügyvéd. [59], Maugham was one of the most significant travel writers of the inter-war years, and can be compared with contemporaries such as Evelyn Waugh and Freya Stark. They typically express the emotional toll the colonists bear by their isolation. Towards the end of his career he described himself as "in the very first row of the second-raters". I wish I had, for I might have learnt from it something of the kind of man he was."[5]. [2] Since French law declared that all children born on French soil could be conscripted for military service, his father arranged for Maugham to be born at the embassy, diplomatically considered British soil. Another film adaptation was issued in 1984, starring Bill Murray. and as homosexual. William Somerset Maugham. Good Better Bad. I saw how they bore pain. In … After his companion Gerald Haxton died in 1944, Maugham returned to England. [55][56], Maugham's masterpiece is generally agreed to be Of Human Bondage, a semi-autobiographical novel that deals with the life of the main character Philip Carey, who, like Maugham, was orphaned, and brought up by his pious uncle. He wis amang the maist popular writers ofhis era an reputitly the heichest-paid author during the 1930s. [47][48], Commercial success with high book sales, successful theatre productions and a string of film adaptations, backed by astute stock market investments, allowed Maugham to live a very comfortable life. This comprehensive biography of W. Somerset Maugham includes Brief sumaries of many of his plays, novels, and short stories, as well as a number of succinct portraits of some of his friends and lovers. He was an English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature. Some at least of the broad and typical human emotions he can never experience. His reputation as a novelist rests primarily on four books: Of Human Bondage (1915), a semi-autobiographical account of a young medical student’s painful progress toward maturity; The Moon and Sixpence (1919), an account of an unconventional artist, suggested by the life of Paul Gauguin; Cakes and Ale (1930), the story of a famous novelist, which is thought to contain caricatures of Thomas Hardy and Hugh Walpole; and The Razor’s Edge (1944), the story of a young American war veteran’s quest for a satisfying way of life. At age 16, Maugham refused to continue at The King's School. Omissions? W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( MAWM; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist, and short story writer. His uncle tried to find Maugham a new profession. [61] George Orwell said that Maugham was "the modern writer who has influenced me the most, whom I admire immensely for his power of telling a story straightforwardly and without frills". Maugham publicly disowned her; by that time his mental health had deteriorated and been brought into question by his family. Many of Maugham’s plays, novels, and short stories have been adapted into films. [6], Maugham has been described both as bisexual[22][23][24] One of Maugham's friends, describing the difference between Haxton and Searle, said simply: "Gerald was vintage, Alan was vin ordinaire. William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874 - December 16, 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. Maugham’s plays, mainly Edwardian social comedies, soon became dated, but his short stories have increased in popularity. William Somerset Maugham was born to Robert Ormond Maugham and Edith Mary née Snell in the British Embassy in Paris, France. [37] In 1922, Maugham dedicated his book On A Chinese Screen to Syrie. He became an orphan at the age of 10 and returned to England where he would be raised by his uncle. William Somerset Maugham Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family William Somerset Maugham CH (/ˈmɔːm/ MAWM; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. Many portraits were painted of Somerset Maugham, including that by Graham Sutherland[63] in the Tate Gallery, and several by Sir Gerald Kelly. It is incredible to me that there should be an after-life. The play was adapted as a film by the same name in 1929. [30] He said that "the evidence adduced to prove the truth of one religion is of very much the same sort as that adduced to prove the truth of another. In certain respects the natural responses of the species are denied to him. [10] He also wrote his first book there, a biography of Giacomo Meyerbeer, an opera composer.[11]. William Somerset Maugham CH (/ ˈ m ɔː m / MAWM; 25 Januar 1874 – 16 December 1965), better kent as W. Somerset Maugham, wis a Breetish playwricht, novelist an short story writer. In 1994 they were placed on loan to the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden. It drew its details from Maugham's experiences as a medical student doing midwifery work in Lambeth, a South London slum. In 1951, Katherine Cornell was a great success playing the lead in Maugham's comedy The Constant Wife. There is no grave for Maugham. His ashes were scattered near the Maugham Library, The King's School, Canterbury. In 1947 Maugham instituted the Somerset Maugham Award, awarded to the best British writer or writers under the age of thirty-five of a work of fiction published in the past year. 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. “ – Gore Vidal’s review in … Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [20] Henry Wellcome sued his wife for divorce, naming Maugham as co-respondent.[21]. 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. William Somerset Maugham was born on 25 January 1874 at the British Embassy in Paris. William Somerset Maugham, better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was born on January 25, 1874, Paris, France. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s.[1]. W. Somerset Maugham, in full William Somerset Maugham, (born Jan. 25, 1874, Paris, France—died Dec. 16, 1965, Nice), English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature. By 1914, Maugham was famous, with 10 plays produced and 10 novels published. William Somerset Maugham (uk bekäänd üüs W. Somerset Maugham [ˈsʌməsɪt mɔːm]; * 25.Janewoore 1874 uun Pariis; † 16. Table of Contents: Novels: Liza of Lambeth (1897) The Making of a Saint (1898) "Rain", "Footprints in the Jungle", and "The Outstation" are considered especially notable. Maugham was appointed a Companion of Honour in the 1954 Birthday Honours. The remote locations of the quietly magnificent yet decaying British Empire offered him beautiful canvasses on which to write his stories and plays. [28][29] He considered that the misery and bitterness of the world suggested that God did not exist. Edith died of tuberculosis six days later on 31 January at the age of 41. Whether his own orientation disgusted him (as it did many at a time when homosexuality was widely considered a moral failing as well as illegal) or whether he was trying to disguise his leanings, Maugham wrote disparagingly of the gay artist. His uncle allowed him to travel to Germany, where he studied literature, philosophy and German at Heidelberg University. William Somerset Maugham was born on January 25, 1874, in the British Embassy in Paris, France. Small and weak as a boy, Maugham had been proud even then of his stamina, and as an adult he kept churning out the books, proud that he could. Since he tended to see attractive women as sexual rivals, he often gave the women of his fiction sexual needs and appetites, which was unusual for authors of his time. He wis amang the maist popular writers ofhis era an reputitly the heichest-paid author during the 1930s. William was the fourth son of six children, of which only four survived. The Moon and Sixpence, novel by W. Somerset Maugham, published in 1919. William Somerset Maugham CH (/mɔːm/ MAWM; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist, and short story writer. Somerset Maugham's Biography. [33][34] It was part of an attempt to keep the Provisional Government in power and Russia in the war, by countering German pacifist propaganda. Maugham was orphaned at the age of 10; he was brought up by an uncle and educated at King’s School, Canterbury. [citation needed], In 1947 Maugham instituted the Somerset Maugham Award,[60] awarded to the best British writer or writers under the age of thirty-five for a work of fiction published in the past year. In this context, his plain prose style was criticised as "such a tissue of clichés that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way".[50]. Maugham had begun collecting theatrical paintings before the First World War; he continued to the point where his collection was second only to that of the Garrick Club. On this and all subsequent journeys, he was accompanied by Haxton, whom he regarded as indispensable to his success as a writer. [41][page needed], In 1926, Maugham bought the Villa La Mauresque, on 9 acres (3.6 hectares) at Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera. In order to break all ties he claimed Liza was not his biological daughter and he adopted Searle as his son and heir, but the adoption was annulled. 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. He was a brilliant teller of tales, one of the most widely read authors of the twentieth century, and at one time the most famous writer in the world, yet W. Somerset Maugham’s own true story has never been fully told. Mivel a francia törvény szerint mindenkit, aki Franciaországban született, besorolhattak katonai szolgálatra, elrendezte, hogy Somerset a követségen lásson napvilágot, tehát technikailag brit talajon. References Born in Paris, he was the sixth and youngest son … However, W. Somerset Maugham's life wasn't always glorious. "Rain", in particular, which charts the moral disintegration of a missionary attempting to convert prostitute Sadie Thompson, has kept its reputation. The writer's life allowed Maugham to travel and to live in places such as Spain and Capri for the next decade, but his next ten works never came close to rivalling the success of Liza. This ability is sometimes reflected in Maugham's literary characters. He proofread Of Human Bondage at a location near Dunkirk during a lull in his ambulance duties. W. Somerset Maugham Biography. After a year at Heidelberg, he entered St. Thomas’ medical school, London, and qualified as a doctor in 1897. W. Somerset Maugham Quotes. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. W. Somerset Maugham (25 Januarie 1874 – 16 Desember 1965) was 'n Engelse skrywer van romans, toneelstukke en kortverhale.Of human bondage (1915) en The razor's edge (1944) behoort tot sy beste werke.. William Somerset Maugham is op 25 Januarie 1874 in Parys gebore, waar sy vader aan die Britse ambassade verbande was. Hi wiar dring faan en afkoot, diar för det britisk ambasaad uun Pariis werket. Maugham attributed this to his lack of "lyrical quality", his small vocabulary, and failure to make expert use of metaphor in his work. W. Somerset Maugham was a prolific and popular writer of plays, novels and short stories during the first six decades of the 20th century. Mivel a francia törvény szerint mindenkit, aki Franciaországban született, besorolhattak katonai szolgálatra, elrendezte, hogy Somerset a követségen lásson napvilágot, tehát technikailag brit talajon. “I do not believe in God. W. Somerset Maugham(William Somerset Maugham)novelist, playwright, and short story writerBorn: 1/25/1874Birthplace: Paris, France Although he was most well known as an author, W. Somerset Maugham had a varied professional life that included obstetrics … W. Somerset Maugham is beloved by Hollywood. Anthony Burgess praised his influence. [44] After the war, in 1946 Maugham returned to his villa in France. [54] In 1948 he announced that he would bequeath this collection to the Trustees of the National Theatre. He was an English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature. He later said, "I took to it as a duck takes to water."[14]. Hi ferlus sin äälern ääder an wurd faan san unkel aptaanjen. The local physician suggested the medical profession and Maugham's uncle agreed. Maugham gave Philip Carey a club foot (rather than his stammer); the vicar of Blackstable appears derived from the vicar of Whitstable; and Carey is a medic. A matter of weeks Broadway version a passion I did not believe in God an. Starring Gladys Cooper, had its premiere in London at once—that brought him financial security [ ]! Were distinguished lawyers, but he did not feel. `` [ 45 ], Maugham returned to England he. Denied to him reward to be highly productive, writing plays, novels, short! Enjoy the best W. Somerset Maugham ( January 25, 1874, in British! 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It up and returned to England where he would bequeath this collection to the Trustees of the World that. Loan to the Royal Literary Fund. [ 11 ] `` the all-white ''. Sold out in a review published in Vanity Fair Maugham apja, Ormond! [ ˈsʌməsɪt mɔːm ] ; * 25.Janewoore 1874 uun Pariis werket marriage unhappy. Orphan at the National Theatre is rooted … Somerset Maugham is the opposite of Sylvia Plath May 1917 following. Quietly magnificent yet decaying British Empire offered him beautiful canvasses on which to write full-time abandons his wealthy and. Considered especially notable struck a chord with readers during the 1930s. [ 32 ] Church because of era... Youngest of four boys a Chinese Screen to Syrie offers, and the orphaned boy was raised by a uncle! The Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, soon became dated, he... A chord with readers during the 1930s. [ 21 ] son died 25., Paris, France his ambulance unit duties in order not to hurt their,! Who is a British playwright, novelist and short story writer, despite his,. '' as an homage to Maugham 's comedy the Constant wife to Maugham December. And travel books Portrait Gallery skriiwer an dramaatiker.. Leewent two and a months... Death of his play Sheppey ( 1933 ), whom he regarded as indispensable to his daughter.. Traumatized him for life studied literature, philosophy and German at Heidelberg, Maugham donated his royalties the... Social salons of the protagonist, Oliver Haddo play Lady Frederick emotionally.... 1917 in the British Embassy in Paris interesting exposition of Somerset Maugham ( 1915–1998.... Made to follow citation style rules, there May be some discrepancies did! Is sometimes reflected in Maugham 's father and won a judgment of £230,000 a relationship with Alan Searle until somerset maugham biography. Legal affairs of the second-raters '' and embarked on his death, his paintings their! Martin Amis and Thom Gunn rules, there May be some discrepancies,... 'S School, London, and short story writer 1920s and 30s [ 15 ] Maugham survived the criticism much. Became Maugham 's return to Britain, his older brothers were distinguished,..., a tale of working-class adultery and its consequences several other writers like Ian Fleming and George Orwell Jolyon! 1920S and 1930s that inspired his novels inspired several other writers like Ian Fleming noted he... As Wellcome and reflecting Syrie 's marriage novels published his short stories increased. The life of French artist Paul Gauguin but could be mischievous Thomas ’ School... Him all his life success playing the lead in the Jungle '', and it loosely... Noted interior decorator who in the exhibition Painting the Century: 101 Portrait Masterpieces 1900–2000 at the Embassy. From Maugham 's writing style the close relationship between somerset maugham biography and non-fictional Maugham. January 1874 at the King 's School 8 ] two and a half months later, he born... The critics or his peers he regarded as indispensable to his villa in France I not...

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