Ben Jonson

Born in London around June 11, 1572, he was educated at Westminster School under the historian and scholar William Camden. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked in a range of roles, including as a soldier and actor, experiences that fed the toughness and range of his writing.

He became famous for comedies that exposed greed, vanity, and fraud, especially Every Man in His Humour, Volpone, and The Alchemist. Alongside his plays, he wrote poems, court masques, and criticism, and his strong classical interests gave his work a distinctive precision and intellectual edge.

His career brought both acclaim and controversy, but his influence lasted well beyond his lifetime. He died in London in 1637, and he is still widely regarded as one of the most important English dramatists after Shakespeare.