Robert Graves facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Graves
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Graves in 1929
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| Born | 24 July 1895 Wimbledon, Surrey, England |
| Died | 7 December 1985 (aged 90) Deià, Majorca, Spain |
| Occupation |
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| Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford |
| Spouse |
Nancy Nicholson
(m. 1918; div. 1949)Beryl Hodge née Pritchard
(m. 1950) |
| Children | 8, including Lucia and Tomás |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
British Army |
| Years of service | 1914–19 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Royal Welch Fusiliers |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
Robert Graves (born 24 July 1895 – died 7 December 1985) was an English poet and writer. He wrote many books, including poems, historical novels, and essays. His father, Alfred Perceval Graves, was a well-known Irish poet.
Robert Graves wrote over 140 works during his life. Some of his most famous books include Good-Bye to All That, which is about his early life and his experiences in World War I. He also wrote The White Goddess, a book about poetry and myths. His historical novels like I, Claudius are very popular. He also translated old Classical Latin and Ancient Greek texts, making them fun and easy to read. Graves won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1934 for his novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon, England, which is now part of south London. He was the third of five children. His father, Alfred Perceval Graves, was an Irish school inspector and a scholar of Gaelic culture. His mother, Amalie Elisabeth Sophie von Ranke, was related to a famous historian.
When Robert was seven, he became very ill with pneumonia after having measles. Doctors thought he might not survive. He also got sick during World War I and later caught the Spanish flu.
At school, he was known as Robert von Ranke Graves. This name sometimes caused problems for him, especially during the First World War, because "von Ranke" sounded German. There was even a false rumor that he was related to a German spy. His older half-brother, Philip Graves, became a successful journalist, and his younger brother, Charles Patrick Graves, was also a writer.
School Days
Robert Graves went to several different schools when he was young. In 1909, he earned a scholarship to Charterhouse School. There, he started writing poetry and also became good at boxing, winning school championships. He said he took up boxing because he was picked on for his German-sounding name, for speaking his mind, and for being serious about his studies.
One of his teachers, George Mallory, was a big influence. Mallory introduced him to modern books and took him on mountain climbing trips. After Charterhouse, Robert won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford, but he didn't go there until after the war.
Serving in World War I
When First World War started in August 1914, Robert Graves joined the army right away. He became an officer in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He was quickly promoted to captain. In 1916, he published his first book of poems, Over the Brazier. He became known as a "war poet" because he wrote realistic poems about what it was like to fight on the front lines.
During the Battle of the Somme, he was seriously wounded by a shell. Everyone thought he had died, and it was even officially reported. But he slowly got better. He spent the rest of the war in England, except for a short time back in France.
One of his close friends during the war was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in his regiment. They both recovered from injuries at Somerville College, Oxford, which was used as a hospital for officers.
In 1917, Siegfried Sassoon spoke out against the war. Robert Graves was worried Sassoon might be punished by the army. He stepped in and convinced the military leaders that Sassoon was suffering from stress due to the war. Because of Graves's help, Sassoon was sent to a military hospital instead of facing a court martial. There, Sassoon met another famous poet, Wilfred Owen. Robert Graves also received treatment at this hospital. Their friendship is shown in Graves's letters and in the novel Regeneration.
Robert Graves's army career ended in late 1918. He was in Limerick, Ireland, when he felt the first signs of the Spanish flu. He decided to leave quickly to get to an English hospital. He managed to get his release papers with the help of another officer he met by chance.
After the War
In 1919, Robert Graves went to University of Oxford. He studied English Language and Literature. He lived outside Oxford, where many other writers lived, like John Masefield. One of his good friends at Oxford was T. E. Lawrence, who was also a famous writer and adventurer. They talked about poetry and planned jokes together.
He tried to open a grocery shop near Oxford, but it didn't do well. He also didn't pass his first university degree, but he was allowed to earn a different degree by writing a long paper. This helped him become a teacher.
In 1926, he became a Professor of English Literature at Cairo University in Egypt. He went there with his wife and children, and another poet named Laura Riding. Graves later said that one of his students was Gamal Abdel Nasser, who would become a leader of Egypt.
After returning to London, his relationship with Laura Riding changed, and they later separated. He then moved to Deià, Majorca, with Riding. They started a publishing company called Seizin Press and wrote important books about literary criticism together.
Writing Career
In 1927, Robert Graves wrote Lawrence and the Arabs, a successful book about T. E. Lawrence. His autobiography, Good-Bye to All That (first published in 1929), was also a big success.
In 1934, he published his most famous book, I, Claudius. This novel tells the story of the Roman emperor Claudius, using old Roman writings. He wrote a sequel, Claudius the God, in 1935. These books were later made into a very popular TV series called I, Claudius in the 1970s. Another historical novel he wrote was Count Belisarius (1938), about a general from the Byzantine Empire.
Graves and Laura Riding left Majorca in 1936 because of the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, they moved to the United States. Their relationship ended, and Graves later returned to Britain.
He then started a relationship with Beryl Hodge. They lived in England for a while before moving back to Deià, Majorca, in 1946 with their three children. Their house in Majorca is now a museum. In 1946, he published another historical novel, King Jesus. In 1948, he published The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, which explores where poetic ideas come from, using old Greek and Celtic myths. He also wrote a science fiction book, Seven Days in New Crete (1949), and a book about Greek myths called The Greek Myths (1955).
In 1956, he published a book of short stories called ¡Catacrok! Mostly Stories, Mostly Funny. From 1961 to 1966, he was a Professor of Poetry at Oxford University.
In 1968, Robert Graves received the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry from Queen Elizabeth II. A BBC film showed his meeting with the Queen. He also exchanged many letters with the comedian Spike Milligan, which were later collected in a book.
On 11 November 1985, Robert Graves was honored in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner along with other poets from World War I. He was the only one of the 16 poets still alive at the time.
Government documents released in 2012 showed that Graves turned down an award called a CBE in 1957. He was also considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.
Later Life and Death
In the early 1970s, Robert Graves began to have problems with his memory. By his 80th birthday in 1975, he had stopped writing. He lived for another ten years, needing more and more care. He died on 7 December 1985, at the age of 90, from heart failure. He was buried the next morning in a small churchyard in Deià, Majorca. His second wife, Beryl Graves, died in 2003 and was buried in the same grave.
Memorials
Three of the houses where Robert Graves lived have special blue plaques on them to remember him. These are in Wimbledon, Brixham, and Islip.
His Children
Robert Graves had eight children. With his first wife, Nancy Nicholson, he had Jennie, David, Catherine, and Sam. With his second wife, Beryl Pritchard, he had William, Lucia, Juan, and Tomás. Many of his children also became writers or artists.
See also
