Author, Surgeon. A writer of picaresque and satirical novels, poems, and other works which particularly influenced Charles Dickens, Tobias George Smollett was a surgeon by profession, but prioritized his literary career throughout his life. A scion of Scotland's landed gentry, he was educated at the Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen, and had served as a wartime surgeon in the Royal Navy before establishing a practice in London's Downing Street. In 1747 he married a wealthy Jamaican heiress, Anne Lascelles, and by the mid-1700's was firmly established among the leaders of the British literati. His prolific works include "The Adventures of Roderick Random", "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle", "A Complete History of England", "Travels in France and Italy", and an English translation of Miguel de Cervantes "Don Quixote". He also served as the editor of "The Critical Review", and for a time, a prison sentence for libel, during which he wrote yet another work. Afflicted with an intestinal disorder, he first sought relief in Bath, then in Italy, where he died in Livorno at the age of 50. His grave in the city's English Cemetery subsequently became a place of pilgrimage for his literary admirers, including Charles Dickens.
Author, Surgeon. A writer of picaresque and satirical novels, poems, and other works which particularly influenced Charles Dickens, Tobias George Smollett was a surgeon by profession, but prioritized his literary career throughout his life. A scion of Scotland's landed gentry, he was educated at the Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen, and had served as a wartime surgeon in the Royal Navy before establishing a practice in London's Downing Street. In 1747 he married a wealthy Jamaican heiress, Anne Lascelles, and by the mid-1700's was firmly established among the leaders of the British literati. His prolific works include "The Adventures of Roderick Random", "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle", "A Complete History of England", "Travels in France and Italy", and an English translation of Miguel de Cervantes "Don Quixote". He also served as the editor of "The Critical Review", and for a time, a prison sentence for libel, during which he wrote yet another work. Afflicted with an intestinal disorder, he first sought relief in Bath, then in Italy, where he died in Livorno at the age of 50. His grave in the city's English Cemetery subsequently became a place of pilgrimage for his literary admirers, including Charles Dickens.
Bio by: Nikita Barlow
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