Edgar Allan Poe, Biography Of A Mysterious Writer

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest geniuses of universal literature. Around his rather unusual life, legends were born that threatened to obscure the enormous value of his work. He was, in particular, an extraordinary storyteller gifted with infinite creativity.

After him, mystery literature was never the same again. This great American writer is considered the inventor of the detective genre. He was also a great innovator of Gothic literature and gave the horror genre a refined psychological component.

He led a life characterized by difficult and even tragic experiences. And some critics are known to have been interested in describing him as a depraved and disordered being. And in part they also succeeded. However, while he was certainly not a model of equilibrium, he was not the monstrous being they claimed to show either.

Edgar Allan Poe, biography of a mysterious writer

A difficult childhood

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston (United States) on January 19, 1809. His parents were traveling theater actors who died when he was just 2 years old. He and his two brothers were adopted by different families.

Edgar was adopted by John Allan, a wealthy businessman who welcomed him into the house out of a spirit of charity. The death of his mother and the traumatic relationship he had with his stepfather were recurring themes in his life and in his works.

With his adoptive family he lived for a few years in England and Scotland. It seems that it was from those experiences that he took the gothic atmosphere so characteristic of his work. Later, they returned to the United States, where Poe studied in the best schools.

A turbulent youth

Poe’s earliest writings date back to when he was 14. At that time, he fell madly in love with the mother of one of his classmates. That platonic love lasted until she suddenly died.

In his youth, he was also a great sportsman and an avid amateur astronomer. He studied languages ​​at the University of Virginia. There he became addicted to gambling and alcohol, which led to his expulsion. His stepfather hired him as an employee in one of his companies, but it didn’t last long.

In 1827 he secretly published his first book Tamerlane and other poems . He later joined the army, where he remained for two years. Later, his stepfather helped him get a new job, but he was fired again. Meanwhile, he published two other books of poetry. In 1832 he moved to Baltimore and married his 13-year-old cousin there.

Edgar Allan Poe, a cursed writer

Edgar Allan Poe was disinherited by his adoptive parents. To survive, he began working for several newspapers, writing art criticism articles. His edgy and elegant style gave him a certain notoriety. In the meantime, he continued to publish his works. The golden scarab and The Crow and other poems consecrated him to literature.

His young wife died of tuberculosis in 1847. The painful illness intensified Poe’s addiction to alcohol and drugs. It is said that around the same time he began to take laudanum, a strong opiate, and to suffer from the first health problems.

He began to look anxiously, if not almost desperately, for a new mate. He passed from one relationship to another without concretizing anything. It is said that at that time he even attempted suicide with laudanum, but was overcome by a strong bout of vomiting which prevented him from doing so.

Edgar Allan Poe’s last years

In those years he resumed dating a fleeting love of youth: Sarah Elmira Royster. The flame was rekindled between the two and they decided to get married on October 17, 1849. However, shortly after the wedding, the writer mysteriously disappeared.

He was found on the street on October 3, confused and wearing clothes that did not belong to him. One of his friends took him to the hospital, where he died on 7 October. We never knew what happened in the days of that strange disappearance.

Even the results of the autopsy disappeared and the exact cause of his death is still unknown. In any case, it can be safely said that Poe’s work, so moving, powerful and profound, has influenced all the great writers who have succeeded him.