BIOGRAPHY AND PERSONALITY OF A FAMOUS AQUARIUS: LORD BYRON

Poet, born in London, UK. His first 10 years were spent in poor surroundings in Aberdeen, but then he inherited the title of his great-uncle, and went on to Dulwich, Harrow, and Cambridge, where he led a dissipated life. An early collection of poems, Hours of Idleness (1807) was badly reviewed, and after replying in satirical vein, he set out on his grand tour, visiting Spain, Malta, Albania, Greece, and the Aegean. He then published the popular Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812), and several other works, becoming the favourite of London society, and giving to Europe the concept of the ‘Byronic hero’. He married Anne Isabella (Annabella) Milbanke (1792–1860) in 1815, but was suspected of an incestuous love for his half-sister, Augusta Leigh and was ostracized. He left for Europe, where he met Shelley, and spent two years in Venice. Some of his best works belong to this period, including Don Juan (1819–24). He gave active help to the Italian revolutionaries, and in 1823 joined the Greek insurgents who had risen against the Ottoman Turks. He died of malaria at Missolonghi. In 2006, a librarian at University College, London discovered the only known manuscript of a 12-line poem by Byron, dated 12 April 1812, written for his friend, poet Samuel Rogers.