Wolcott had died suddenly of typhoid fever and Carrie needed Kipling to be with her. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! But as was often the case in Kipling's life, good fortune was accompanied by hard luck. Kipling rushed back to England, and within eight days of his return, the two married at a small ceremony attended by American writer Henry James. He learned the language and, in this bustling city of Anglos, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews, connected with the country and its culture. His tales enchanted girls and boys all over the English-speaking world. As a poet, author, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907, he published over 80 stories and ballads. But the journey across the Atlantic was brutal, and New York was frigid. Rudyard Kipling is remembered for his stories and poems of British soldiers in India and for his tales for children. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Joseph Rudyard Kipling. In 1902, the Kiplings bought a large estate in Sussex known as Bateman's. (His rehabilitation was attempted, however, by T.S. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? https://www.biography.com/writer/rudyard-kipling. The gentle Kipling was embarrassed by the attention and regretful of how his celebrity had worked against him. He was born Joseph Rudyard Kipling on December 30 th , 1865 in Bombay, India to John Lockwood Kipling, a pottery designer and sculptor, and Alice Kipling. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. While working in India, Rudyard Kipling published a collection of verse and several volumes of short stories, including The Phantom Rickshaw, all of which were well received by the public. The family waited until Kipling was strong enough to hear the news, but even then, Carrie could not bear to break it to him, asking his publisher, Frank Doubleday, to do so instead. Kipling was the recipient of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature. The property had been erected in 1634, and for the private Kiplings, it offered the kind of isolation they now cherished. His fame was redoubled upon the publication in 1892 of the verse collection Barrack-Room Ballads, which contained such popular poems as “Mandalay,” “Gunga Din,” and “Danny Deever.” Not since the English poet Lord Byron had such a reputation been achieved so rapidly. Rudyard Kipling was a British author in the late 19th and early 20th century. Between 1885 and 1888, Rudyard Kipling went to Simla each year for his annual leave and the town, which became a center of power in India for six months of the year, features quite strongly in his stories. Health issues eventually caught up to both Kipling and Carrie, the result of age and grief. The Stalky saga is one of Kipling’s great imaginative achievements. His support of English imperialism at first contributed to this popularity but caused a reaction against him in the 20th century. On 22 October 1924, Elsie Kipling married George Bambridge and in 1938 they bought Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire's largest stately home. Finally, Kipling made use of his connections and managed to get John enlisted with the Irish Guard as a second lieutenant. Kipling was a man of two worlds, somebody who was accepted by both his British counterparts and the native population. Please try to rate again. Today he is best known for his Jungle Books and Kim, a … There was a … Childhood and youth . Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. This autobiography/biography was written at the time of … Rudyard Kipling was born in India in 1865 and educated in England but returned to India in 1882. The two men quarreled, and when Kipling made noise about taking his brother-in-law to court because of threats Beatty had made to his life, newspapers across America broadcast the spat on their front pages. He received the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature. The biography contains the life history of popular writer, Rudyard Kipling. The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895) are stylistically superb collections of stories. A decade later, Kipling married Caroline Balestier and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he wrote The Jungle Book (1894), among a host of other works that made him hugely successful. Rudyard Kipling - Poets, Life Achievements and Personal Life. British author Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated more than 20 children's books starring Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Benjamin Bunny. A distraught and drained Kipling returned to England to once again mourn the loss of a child. He soon got to know Balestier's family, in particular, his sister, Carrie. To help relax his mind, Alice took her son on an extended vacation and then placed him in a new school in Devon. His poems included “Mandalay,” “Gunga Din,” and “If—.” His children’s stories included The Jungle Book (1894) and Just So Stories (1902). Kim (1901), about an Irish orphan in India, is a classic. Achievements Kipling was the recipient of many honorary degrees and other awards. In 1892, he also published the poetry work Barrack-Room Ballads. Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865, in Bombay. John Donne, leading English poet of the Metaphysical school, is often considered the greatest loved poet in the English language. A decade later, Kipling married Caroline Balestier and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he wrote The Jungle Book (1894), among a host of other works that made him hugely successful. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Rudyard Kipling was an English author famous for an array of works like 'Just So Stories,' 'If' and 'The Jungle Book.' Updates? Kipling made his home with his parents in Lahore and, with his father's help, found a job with a local newspaper. But nothing ever came of the search, and John's body was never recovered. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. He died in 1936. Most of his work celebrated the English Empire and its soldiers in India. Kipling's solace came in books and stories. This was at the height of the "British Raj", so he was brought up by Indian nurses ("ayahs"), who taught him something of the beliefs and tongues of India. She beat and bullied the youngster, who also struggled to fit in at school. A live-action/CGI version of the movie was later released in 2016, with direction by Jon Favreau and the vocal talents of Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong'o and Scarlett Johansson. In 1907, Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel Prize in literature “in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author". Rudyard Kipling, in full Joseph Rudyard Kipling, (born December 30, 1865, Bombay [now Mumbai], India—died January 18, 1936, London, England), English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, his tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Rudyard Kipling: biography The British writer and poet Rudyard Kipling became popular due to his short stories and poems; his quotes and aphorisms continue to be relevant today. Kipling lived there from 1902 until his death in 1936. When Mrs. Holloway took away his books, Kipling snuck in literature time, pretending to play in his room by moving furniture along the floor while he read. He traveled to America and wrote 'American Notes' about his experiences. Rudyard Kipling was an English writer best known for the children's book The Jungle Book . However, at the age of six, Kipling's life was torn apart when his mother, wanting her son to receive a formal British education, sent him to Southsea, England, where he attended school and lived with a foster family named the Holloways. Kipling's ashes were buried in Westminster Abbey in Poets' Corner next to the graves of Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens. Kipling's experiences during this time formed the backbone for a series of stories he began to write and publish. Adopting the role of the head of the household, she held reporters at bay when they came calling and issued directions to both staff and children. From 1883 to 1889, Kipling worked in British India for local newspapers such as the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore and The Pioneer in Allahabad. In 1907, Rudyard Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865, in Bombay, India. He died in 1936. Considered one of the great English writers, Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865, in Bombay (now called Mumbai), India. Carrington's was the authorised biography, but that was published as long ago as 1955. Over his last few years, Kipling suffered from a painful ulcer that eventually took his life on January 18, 1936. It was a powerful time in the young writer's life. In 1926, he … Kipling was taken to England by his parents at the age of six and was left for five years at a foster home at Southsea, the horrors of which he described in the story “Baa Baa, Black Sheep” (1888). We strive for accuracy and fairness. These convictions are not to be dismissed in a word: they were bound up with a genuine sense of a civilizing mission that required every Englishman, or, more broadly, every white man, to bring European culture to those he considered the heathen natives of the uncivilized world. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Kipling Sahib is indeed a good biography, but it is confined tothe writer's early years. In London, he met Wolcott Balestier, an American agent and publisher who quickly became one of Kipling's great friends and supporters. The turn of the century saw the publication of another novel that would become quite popular, Kim (1901), which featured a youth's adventure on the Grand Trunk Road. To those who knew him, it was clear that Kipling never recovered from Josephine's death. The news devastated the couple. Over time, Kipling would become known for harboring a sense of English imperialism and views on certain cultures that would draw much objection and be seen as disturbingly racist. 1878- Rudyard was sent to study at the United Service College at Westward Ho in Devon. Omissions? 1634 over the door—beamed, paneled, with old oak staircase and all untouched and unfaked.". While Kipling continued to write for the next two decades, he never again returned to the bright, cheery children's tales he had once so delighted in crafting. He was sent to stay at Southsea, England, for schooling, where he was ill treated, and his secondary education was at United Services College in Devon. © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. Embed this Biography stories. In 1986, he became the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Ever after Kipling remained very aware that Americans were “foreigners,” and he extended to them, as to the French, no more than a semi-exemption from his proposition that only “lesser breeds” are born beyond the English Channel. The Kiplings were broke. William Butler Yeats was one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. His novel The Light That Failed (1890) is the story of a painter going blind and spurned by the woman he loves. Home › British › Rudyard Kipling December 30, 1865 117 views ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Thanks for rating! He then went on to the United Services College at Westward Ho, north Devon, a new, inexpensive, and inferior boarding school. Kipling’s pamphlets were very popular among the … George Orwell was an English novelist, essayist and critic most famous for his novels 'Animal Farm' (1945) and 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949). In 1902 Kipling bought a house at Burwash, Sussex, which remained his home until his death. When Kipling returned to England in 1889, his reputation had preceded him, and within a year he was acclaimed as one of the most brilliant prose writers of his time. Rudyard Kipling Biography - English Journalist, Short-Story Writer, Poet, and Novelist #RudyardKipling #biography #poet Kipling revered the new home, with its lush gardens and classic details. Kipling was delighted to be around children—a characteristic that was apparent in his writing. The same year he purchased Bateman's, Kipling also published his Just So Stories, which were greeted with wide acclaim. Biography of Rudyard Kipling an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. The book's name had, in fact, come from Josephine, who told her father he had to repeat each tale as he always had, or "just so," as Josephine often said. By the age of 11, Kipling was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Suffering from insomnia, he roamed the city streets and gained access to the brothels and opium dens that rarely opened their doors to common Englishmen. During the Japanese leg of the journey, Kipling learned that his bank, the New Oriental Banking Corporation, had failed. They were eventually assembled into a collection of 40 short stories called Plain Tales From the Hills, which gained wide popularity in England. Mrs. Holloway was a brutal woman who quickly grew to despise her foster son. A third child, John, was born in 1897, after the Kiplings had left America. The Ballad of East and West. Kipling seemed to adore his new life, which soon saw the Kiplings welcome their first child, a daughter named Josephine (born in 1893), and a second daughter, Elsie (born in 1896). Rudyard Kipling was born on 30 December 1865 in Bombay, in the Bombay Presidency of British India, to Alice Kipling (née MacDonald) and John Lockwood Kipling. He published the verse collection Departmental Ditties in 1886, the short-story collection Plain Tales from the Hills in 1888, and between 1887 and 1889 he brought out six paper-covered volumes of short stories. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudyard-Kipling, The Victorian Web - Biography of Rudyard Kipling, British Library - Biography of Rudyard Kipling, The Nobel Prize - Biography of Rudyard Kipling, Poetry Foundation - Biography of Rudyard Kipling, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Rudyard Kipling, Rudyard Kipling - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). His work during this time included The Jungle Book (1894), The Naulahka: A Story of West and East (1892) and The Second Jungle Book (1895), among others. He is most famous for his children's stories, including The Jungle Book and the Just So Stories. Left only with what they had with them, the young couple decided to travel to Brattleboro, where much of Carrie's family still resided. Rudyard Kipling was born in India and spent his early childhood there. During the First World War, the British Government asked Kipling to write propaganda, which Kipling immediately accepted. Even though he spent his early childhood in India he went to school in England. The book itself was in part a tribute to his late daughter, for whom Kipling had originally crafted the stories as he put her to bed. All the while he had remained keenly observant of the thronging spectacle of native India, which had engaged his interest and affection from earliest childhood. But life again took another dramatic turn for the family when Kipling had a major falling out with Beatty. In October 1915, the Kiplings received word that John had gone missing in France. Kipling’s ideas were not in accord with much that was liberal in the thought of the age, and, as he became older, he was an increasingly isolated figure. His parents, although not officially important, belonged to the highest Anglo-Indian society, and Rudyard thus had opportunities for exploring the whole range of that life. Rudyard Kipling Biography Stories. Rudyard Kipling is an English writer born in 1865 in Bombay. He particularly adored the work of Daniel Defoe, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Wilkie Collins. Kipling was the recipient of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature. "Behold us," he wrote in a November 1902 letter, "lawful owners of a grey stone, lichened house—A.D. His only break from the Holloways came in December, when Kipling, who told nobody of his problems at school or with his foster parents, traveled to London to stay with relatives for the month. Kipling's work entered the realm of mass popular entertainment in the Disney film adaptation of The Jungle Book, a 1967 animated musical loosely based on the original tale. These were hard years for Kipling. Unable or unwilling to adjust to life in America, the Kiplings returned to England in 1896. Rudyard Kipling was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. The sights and sounds, even the language, which he'd believed he'd forgotten, rushed back to him upon his arrival. Born in Bombay, India, Rudyard Kipling was educated in England, returning to India in 1882. In 1882, Kipling returned to India. His most successful novel was Kim (1901). When he was five he was sent with his sister to board with a captain and his wife in Portsmouth while his parents stayed in India. As much of Europe braced for war with Germany, Kipling proved to be an ardent supporter of the fight. He also encouraged his son, John, to enlist. In 1926 he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Literature, which only Scott, Meredith, and Hardy had been awarded before him. When he finished he studies he went back to India and worked as a journalist. Alice (one of the four noted MacDonald sisters) was a vivacious woman, about whom Lord Dufferin would say, "Dullness and Mrs Kipling cannot exist in the same room." Yet even as Kipling grew more rigid in his viewpoints as he got older, aspects of his earlier work would still be celebrated. Wanting to help his son enlist, Kipling drove John to several different military recruiters. His father, an artist, was the head of the Department of Architectural Sculpture at the Jeejeebhoy School of Art in Bombay. ACHIEVEMENTS Rudyard Kiplingworked very hard for the Newspaper for six years from 1883. At the time of his birth, his parents, John and Alice, were recent arrivals in India as part of the British Empire. {{-*error}} 0.0 based on 0 rates. Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, was an artist and scholar who had considerable influence on his son’s work, became curator of the Lahore Museum, and is described presiding over this “wonder house” in the first chapter of Kim, Rudyard’s most famous novel. Biography of Rudyard Kipling Rudyard Kipling, born in Bombay, India on December 20, 1865, is one of Britain's most famous writers, although his work never attracted the critical acclaim that writers like E.M. Forster, T.S. Tolkien is an internationally renowned fantasy writer. Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles L. Dodgson, author of the children's classics 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking-Glass.'. Elsie Bambridge (née Kipling; 2 February 1896 – 24 May 1976) was the second daughter of British writer Rudyard Kipling.She was the only one of the Kipling's three children to survive beyond early adulthood. He was dedicated as ever to his writing, something Carrie helped ensure. Kipling did recover, but his beloved Josephine did not. In addition to Plain Tales From the Hills, Kipling published a second collection of short stories, Wee Willie Winkie (1888), and American Notes (1891), which chronicled his early impressions of America. In 1907, Kipling received a Nobel Prize for literature, the first English-language author to win the prestigious award. He published in 1886, his first collection of Verse, Departmental Ditties. He is best known for authoring 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. Kipling’s poems and stories were extraordinarily popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, but after World War I his reputation as a serious writer suffered through his being widely viewed as a jingoistic imperialist. In November 1887, Kipling became assistant editor at the … The achievements of Rudyard Kipling lie in his literary contributions, which remain popular and oft-cited more than 70 years after his death. Kipling fell in love with life in the states, and the two decided to settle there. Much of his childhood was unhappy. Birkenhead's unofficial bio improved on it in 1978. Published: 1889. 1887- Kipling joined the newspaper The Pioneer, Allahabad. Along with his younger sister, Alice, he reveled in exploring the local markets with his nanny. A visitor to his home saw his condition and immediately contacted his mother, who rushed back to England and rescued her son from the Holloways. The writer’s life also generates interest in people: it was exciting and complicated. His mother was Alice Macdonald, two of whose sisters married the highly successful 19th-century painters Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Edward Poynter, while a third married Alfred Baldwin and became the mother of Stanley Baldwin, later prime minister. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. Reader in English Literature, University of Oxford, 1969–73. Besides numerous short-story collections and poetry collections such as The Seven Seas (1896), Kipling published his best-known novels in the 1890s and immediately thereafter. Captains Courageous (1897), in spite of its sense of adventure, is burdened by excessive descriptive writing. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature. Rudyard led an exciting life filled with journeys and interesting situations. Following their wedding, the Kiplings set off on an adventurous honeymoon that took them to Canada and then Japan. His father was a professor in an art school. The English poet and story writer Rudyard Kipling was one of the first masters of the short story in English, and he was the first to use Cockney dialect (the manner in which natives of London, England's, East End speak) in serious poetry. Kipling was the recipient of many honorary degrees and other awards. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). British novelist William Golding wrote the critically acclaimed classic 'Lord of the Flies,' and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. Mini Bio (1) Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, the son of John Lockwood Kipling, a museum director and author and illustrator. In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Englishman to be so honoured. Among the latter were Soldiers Three, The Phantom Rickshaw (containing the story “The Man Who Would Be King”), and Wee Willie Winkie (containing “Baa Baa, Black Sheep”). As a writer, too, Kipling flourished. The life of the youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, Rudyard Kipling, was filled with tragedy. 1888- His first prose collection Plain Tales from the Hills was published in Calcutta. Nighttime, especially, proved to be valuable for the young writer. In the winter of 1899, Carrie, who was homesick, decided that the family needed to travel back to New York to see her mother. He described dreadful years of his childhood in his short story Baa Baa, Black Sheep. Rudyard Kipling was an English author famous for an array of works like 'Just So Stories,' 'If' and 'The Jungle Book.' But plagued with the same eyesight problems his father had, John was repeatedly turned down. J.R.R. When the poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, died in 1892, it may be said that Kipling took his place in popular estimation. Rudyard Kipling Biography, Stories, Books, Poems, Nobel Prize He lauded British imperialism. Kipling returned to India in 1882 and worked for seven years as a journalist. That year the young couple moved to the United States and settled on Mrs. Kipling’s property in Vermont, but their manners and attitudes were considered objectionable by their neighbours. It offered the kind of isolation they now cherished the achievements of Rudyard Kipling:! The head of the journey, Kipling found some of the school.! 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