Samuel Johnson

Born in Lichfield, England, in 1709, Samuel Johnson became one of the most influential writers of his age. He worked across many forms—poetry, essays, criticism, biography, editing, and translation—but he is especially remembered as a master of English prose and as the creator of A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), a landmark work in literary history.

Johnson’s career was built through persistence as much as brilliance. After a brief time at Oxford and an early struggle to make a living, he moved to London and wrote for magazines and publishers while steadily building his reputation. Major works such as The Rambler, Rasselas, his edition of Shakespeare, and Lives of the Poets showed the same qualities readers still admire: clarity, intelligence, sympathy, and a gift for memorable judgment.

He was also one of the great conversational figures in English letters, and much of his personality survives through the famous biography written by his friend James Boswell. Johnson died in London in 1784, but his influence has lasted far beyond his century: as a critic, a man of letters, and a writer who brought strength and precision to nearly every page he touched.