Lawrence, with whom Huxley would develop a lasting friendship. Perhaps more important to his literary aspirations, however, was the time during this period that he spent at Garsington Manor, the home of socialite Lady Ottoline Morrell and a gathering place for intellectuals and writers such as Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell, T. He also began to write poetry, and in 1916 he published his first book, a collection of poems titled The Burning Wheel, the same year in which he graduated with honors. Burgeoning WriterĪ brilliant student despite the obstacles of his youth, Huxley earned a scholarship to Balliol College at Oxford University, where he studied English literature, reading with the aid of a magnifying glass and eye drops that dilated his pupils. Fate struck Huxley one more blow in 1914 when his brother Noel committed suicide after struggling with an extended period of depression. As a result, while attending the prestigious prep school Eton, Huxley abandoned his dreams of becoming a scientist and decided to focus on a literary career. Although Huxley did regain some of his sight, he would remain partially blind for the rest of his life and read with great difficulty. In 1908 his mother died of cancer, and in 1911 he was struck blind by the disease keratitis punctata. In adulthood, Huxley’s older brothers, Julian and Andrew, would both become accomplished biologists, and Huxley himself envisioned a future career in science from an early age.īut while he was still a boy, Huxley’s life would be upended by tragedy.

Huxley, an early proponent of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution his father, Leonard, was a teacher and writer and his mother, Julia, was a descendant of the English poet Matthew Arnold. The fourth child in a family with a deep intellectual history, his grandfather was the noted biologist and naturalist T. Early LifeĪldous Huxley was born in Godalming, England, on July 26, 1894.

Huxley moved to the United States in 1937 and for the rest of his life maintained a prolific output of novels, nonfiction, screenplays and essays. A dark vision of the future, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. He followed with several more equally successful satirical novels before publishing the work for which he is best known, Brave New World. Five years later he published his debut novel Crome Yellow, which brought him his first taste of success. In 1916 he graduated with honors from Balliol College at Oxford University and published a collection of poems. After a serious illness left him partially blind as a youth, Aldous Huxley abandoned his dreams of becoming a scientist to pursue a literary career.

Huxley novel