J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien

Born in Bloemfontein on January 3, 1892, and raised in England, Tolkien became both a distinguished academic and a hugely influential storyteller. He studied at Oxford, served in the First World War, and went on to teach for many years at the University of Oxford, where he specialized in Old and Middle English.

Alongside his scholarly work, he built the rich imaginative world that became Middle-earth. He first won wide attention with The Hobbit in 1937, then transformed modern fantasy with The Lord of the Rings in 1954–55. His deep knowledge of language, legend, and medieval literature helped give his fiction an unusual sense of history and depth.

Tolkien died on September 2, 1973, but his work continued to grow in reach after his death. Books published posthumously, including The Silmarillion, revealed even more of the vast mythology behind his fiction and helped confirm his place as one of the defining writers of the twentieth century.