
Учи слова по фразам из фильмов

МЕНЮ САЙТА

Главная>Биографии на английском>Биография Вальтера Скотта

Биография Вальтера Скотта на английском языке

Здесь вы можете прочитать биографию Вальтера Скотта на английском языке.

Walter Scott (15.08.1771 - 21.09.1832) - British writer.

Walter Scott was a famous British writer, poet, historian and the founder of historical novel. During his life he combined writing with being a legal administrator and a member of Tory fraction. He was born in Scotland, on August 15th, 1771. His family was rather rich and noble. His father was a successful lawyer and his mother was the daughter of a professor of medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He was the ninth child in the family. When he was little, he had polio, which left him lame. This condition had a significant effect on his further life and writing.

As a child, he spent lots of time at his grandfather’s farm at Sandyknowe, which was close to Scottish Borders. Despite his poor health, he was an active boy with lively mind and phenomenal memory. Starting from 1779 he studied at the Royal High School. Prior to that, he received private education. At the age of 14, he entered the Edinburgh College, where he became popular among the peers for his excellent storytelling. As a student, he got interested in mountaineering. This activity helped him to become physically fit and healthier. At his free time he liked reading books, including the works of ancient authors.

He was fond of novels, poetry, ballads and legends of Scotland. For that reason, together with his peers he organized a poetic society. In 1792, he passed the most important exam in his life and became a lawyer. Since then he practiced law and became a respectable man in Edinburgh. It was then that he visited the Scottish Highlands for the first time and was highly impressed. He started his literature career in 1796. Soon, he published a three-volume set of collected ballads. His narrative poem “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” (1805) became was very popular not only in Scotland, but in England. Writing his first novel “Waverley” (1814), he preferred to hide his real name and did so for the subsequent 10 years.

In 1820, the writer was awarded the title of a baronet. During the 1820s and 1830s he wrote many other outstanding novels, including “Ivanhoe”, “Quentin Durward”, “Count Robert of Paris”. At the same time he was leading a series of historical studies. In 1829-1830, he published the two volumes of “History of Scotland”. The art of writing has brought Walter Scott financial independence and fame. However, at some point of his life he was trapped in debts and had to work day and night to pay them. He worked at the limit of his intellectual and physical abilities. In 1830, he suffered a stroke, which left his right hand paralyzed. It was followed by another two strokes and the writer died of a heart attack in September, 1832.