Robert Graves

Born in Wimbledon, London, on July 24, 1895, Robert Graves grew into one of the most wide-ranging literary figures of his time: poet, novelist, critic, translator, and classical scholar. He served in the First World War with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, an experience that marked his life and helped shape some of his best-known early writing.

Graves wrote across many forms, but he remains especially remembered for his poetry and for historical fiction such as I, Claudius and Claudius the God. He also wrote memoir, criticism, and studies of myth, showing an unusual ability to move between imaginative storytelling and serious literary scholarship.

Much of his later life was spent in Deià, on the island of Mallorca, where he continued to write prolifically for decades. He died there on December 7, 1985, leaving behind a body of work that is both intellectually adventurous and highly readable.