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Last edited by bitnapper
February 29, 2024 | History

William Somerset Maugham

25 January 1874 - 16 December 1965

William Somerset Maugham was born at the British Embassy in Paris, France, where his father was an English lawyer handling the legal affairs of the British embassy. His mother died of tuberculosis while he was young, a death which traumatized him for life. Two years later, his father died of cancer, and he was sent to England to be cared for by his uncle, Henry MacDonald Maugham, the Vicar of Whitstable, in Kent. His uncle was cold and cruel, and the boarding school he attended, The King's School in Canterbury, was also miserable for him. At sixteen, he refused to continue at The King's School and he was allowed to travel to Germany, where he studied literature, philosophy and German at Heidelberg University. In Germany, he wrote his first book, a biography of opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer, and he met John Ellingham Brooks, with whom he had an affair.

On his return to England he worked in an accountant's office for a month, then returned to Whitstable. His uncle sent him to King's College London to study medicine, although he had been writing since the age of 20 and intended to become an author. He continued writing nightly, and in 1897, he finished his second book, Liza of Lambeth. It was published in 1897, and it became so popular that Maugham, who by this time had qualified to be a doctor, dropped medicine and began writing full-time. He travelled and wrote, and in 1907 began to experience great success with plays as well as novels. In World War I he served in France as a member of the British Red Cross's "Literary Ambulance Drivers." During the war he met Frederick Gerald Haxton who became his companion and lover until Haxton's death in 1944. In 1915, he became a British agent operating in Switzerland against the Berlin Committee while posing as a writer. In 1916, he and Haxton travelled to the Pacific to research his novel The Moon And Sixpence, based on the life of Paul Gauguin. In May of 1917, he married Syrie Wellcome, with whom he had had a daughter. In June of 1917 he went to Russia for the British Secret Intelligence Service, to counter German pacifist propaganda and keep the provisional government in power, a mission which failed. In 1927-8 he and Syrie divorced. In 1928 he bought Villa Mauresque in Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera, and made it into a great literary and social salon as well as his home. In 1940, as France fell to German occupation, he fled to the United States, first to Hollywood, where he became a screenwriter. He later moved to the South. When Haxton died in 1944, he returned to England, then in 1946 to his villa in France, where he lived until his death. Alan Searle became his companion until his death in 1965.

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  • Cover of: Of human bondage

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  • Cover of: The moon and sixpence

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  • Cover of: The magician
    First published in 1908 290 editions in 4 languages — 8 previewable Cover of edition magiciananovelt00mauggoog Cover of edition magician0000maug Cover of edition magiciannoveltog0000maug Cover of edition isbn_9785897630028 Cover of edition magiciannovel0000maug Cover of edition magician00wsom Cover of edition dermagiereinpara00maug

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  • Cover of: The razor's edge

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  • Cover of: Ashenden, or: The British agent

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  • Cover of: The complete short stories of W. Somerset Maugham.

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  • Cover of: Cakes and ale: or, The skeleton in the cupboard.

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  • Cover of: Liza of Lambeth
    First published in 1897 33 editions in 1 language — 3 previewable Cover of edition lizaoflambeth00maug Cover of edition lizalambethpengu00maug

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  • Cover of: The summing up
    First published in 1938 33 editions in 4 languages — 2 previewable Cover of edition summingup0000maug

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  • Cover of: The narrow corner
    First published in 1932 30 editions in 5 languages — 2 previewable Cover of edition narrowcorner0000maug_b4y4

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  • Cover of: The Painted Veil
    First published in 1925 29 editions in 4 languages — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: The explorer: a melodrama in four acts

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  • Cover of: Mrs Craddock
    First published in 1902 26 editions in 2 languages — 3 previewable Cover of edition mrscraddock0000maug_u1i6 Cover of edition mrscraddock00maug

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  • Cover of: Theatre: a novel
    First published in 1937 24 editions in 6 languages — 2 previewable Cover of edition theatre0000maug_r2r5

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  • Cover of: A  writer's notebook.
    First published in 1949 20 editions in 2 languages — 3 previewable Cover of edition writersnotebook0000maug_b8r3 Cover of edition writersnotebook0000maug

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  • Cover of: Ah King
    First published in 1933 20 editions in 3 languages — 2 previewable Cover of edition ahking00maug

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  • Cover of: The trembling of a leaf
    First published in 1921 19 editions in 2 languages — 3 previewable Cover of edition tremblingofleaf0000unse_m8s6 Cover of edition tremblingofleaf0000maug

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  • Cover of: The merry-go-round
    First published in 1904 19 editions in 1 language — 7 previewable Cover of edition merrygoround00mauggoog Cover of edition merrygoroundbyws0000maug Cover of edition merrygoround0000maug_j8z1 Cover of edition bwb_P8-BNZ-828 Cover of edition merrygoround0000maug_d3t2 Cover of edition merrygoround0000maug

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  • Cover of: Catalina
    First published in 1948 18 editions in 3 languages — 4 previewable Cover of edition catalinaromance0000maug Cover of edition catalinaromance0000maug_g2v6 Cover of edition catalina0000maug

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  • Cover of: Then and now: a novel
    First published in 1900 17 editions in 3 languages — 2 previewable Cover of edition thennownovel0000maug_f2a6

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February 29, 2024 Edited by bitnapper Edited without comment.
February 29, 2024 Edited by bitnapper merge authors
February 28, 2024 Edited by Miguel Edited without comment.
January 21, 2023 Edited by tmanarl merge authors
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import