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William Somerset Maugham born in January 1874 on the premises of the British Embassy in Paris. The place for the birth was not chosen by chance. The embassy, ​​located actually on French soil, is legally part of the English state, and accordingly a child born on its territory receives British citizenship. This decision was made in order to protect William from French laws that stated mandatory mobilization to the front in case of war. William had an older brother, Frederick, who, unlike himself, made his parents' dreams come true and became a lawyer.

The boy lost his parents early - when he was eight, his mother died of consumption, and two years later, his father also died of cancer. At the same time, it was decided to send the orphaned William to relatives in England. It was extremely difficult for him - he did not know English at all, and after the stress he experienced and the move to Whitstable, he began to stutter altogether. Maugham recalled his own childhood without much enthusiasm. An awkward boy of small stature, with poor health and a speech impediment - this is how he describes himself as a small boy. He admitted more than once that the sport to which the British devoted so much time was alien to him, and he tried with all his might to isolate himself from society, and made new acquaintances rarely and reluctantly.

Education and further development

Having more or less settled into his new place, Maugham faced another test - admission to primary school. The institution was chosen without any problems - it became the Royal School in Canterbury. This choice was predictable - Henry Maugham, who raised the boy, served as an assistant to the bishop in one of the churches, and therefore a school at the monastery was an ideal option. After school, he continued his studies by entering the University of Heidelberg. Here he first showed his talent as a writer, creating his first work - a biography of the composer Meyerbeer. Unfortunately, the work suffered a sad fate - it was burned. And by William himself, after the publishing house refused to publish it. Since 1892, Maugham studied at medical school, where he continued to write as before. He later worked for almost five years in a hospital in Lambert, one of the poorest areas of London, which later influenced the formation of his political position. This period in the writer’s life was marked by the novel “Lisa of Lambeth” (1897) and the play “Lady Frederick” (1907), which brought him his first success.

The First World War and its reflection in creativity

During the First World War, Maugham, like most conscientious British citizens, began to defend the country's borders. If someone went to the front, then William began to cooperate with the government department of the British counterintelligence, in the role of a real intelligence officer. One of his first tasks in his new role was a trip to Russia, where he was supposed to help Alexander Kerensky, the head of the Provisional Government. The latter needed to maintain Russia’s status as a participant in hostilities at any cost. Since Maugham was delighted with Russian literature, studied the language and simply sympathized with this country with all his soul, the trip opened up completely new horizons for him. William had the opportunity to visit the most remote corners of the vast country and communicate with many famous political figures. As a result, the mission still turned out to be “impossible” - in light of the events taking place and the unfolding October revolution, Maugham hastily left the country. Like any creator, William “captured” his time as an intelligence officer in his work - a collection of short stories “Ashenden, or the British Agent,” published in 1928.

Future life

Two years after returning from Russia, in 1919, William again wanted “thrills” and went on a trip to Asian countries– he just needed inspiration. Later, having returned home and started working, he was able to prove himself as a talented playwright, presenting to the world the plays “The Circle” (1921) and “Sheppey” (1933).

Enviable perseverance and passion for his work made Maugham one of the most famous and wealthy writers in England by the early 40s. He never denied that he liked to receive royalties for his work, but he always said that this was not his primary goal. It was much more important for him to share with the reader his thoughts, ideas and images that appeared in his mind every now and then.

Maugham, already at a fairly advanced age, spent the Second World War in the United States, creating scripts and later correcting them. In 1944, the world saw the writer’s novel “The Razor’s Edge.”

Travel played important role in William's life. In them he found inspiration, took a break from the bustle of the world and revealed new facets of his talent. He visited different corners globe until he realized that they couldn’t give him anything else. He claimed that he had established himself as a person and an author, and there was no point in changing anymore. At the end of the 40s, Maugham abandoned writing dramatic and artwork, choosing prose and essays on more “mundane” topics. The last published work during Maugham's lifetime were notes with elements of autobiography, published in 1962 in one of the London weeklies. Maugham owned a luxurious villa on the French Riviera, where at one time the entire literary elite gathered, and even Winston Churchill and H.G. Wells were among the writer’s guests.

The writer died in one of the hospitals near Nice - his life was cut short at the age of 91 due to complications from pneumonia.

• During his lifetime, Somerset Maugham bequeathed never to open or make public personal correspondence to the world. In 2009, the writer's ban was lifted - writer Selina Hastings, author of Maugham's biography, received permission from the Royal literary fund familiarize yourself with the materials.
• Maugham's workload for writing his creations was extremely modest - 1000-1500 characters per day, and took at most 3-4 hours. And definitely in the morning!
• William Somerset Maugham, who did not deny (but did not confirm) his bisexuality, only passionately admitted that he was “three-quarters homosexual, and only one part of him is traditional.”
• The writer had a wife - Siri Welkom - with whom he lived for more than 10 years (1917-1929), but in the end, the marriage broke up.
• The writer's ashes were scattered under the wall of the Maugham Library, in the school where he himself once took his first steps in science.

Everywhere you see white lumps of grazing sheep, here in the south, where the land is fertile, there are much fewer sheep, and all kinds of crops are grown on the local soil.

There is always a good harvest of apples, from which the best cider in England is made. Willows are grown here, from which baskets and furniture are woven.

Additionally, Somerset is famous for its cheese Cheddar, which is made in the city of the same name.

The county's landscape is formed by rolling valleys and ranges of hills. In these hills there are caves with rock paintings, and they still age Cheddar cheese.

By the way, it was in Somerset County, in the Cheddar Gorge, that the legendary Cheddar man- the oldest fully preserved skeleton found in Britain, dating back to 7150 BC.

Somerset's largest town is city ​​of Bath. However, its capital is the city of Taunton.
Bath was founded Celtic King Bladud.

One day Bladud decided to go to Rome to study, and his mother gave him her Golden ring. Returning to his homeland, it turned out that the king fell ill with leprosy, and therefore they decided to expel him. The poor fellow began to herd pigs. But, as you know, pigs love to play in the mud, and they found a suitable place. Accustomed to wandering with pigs, former king He began to take mud baths with them and was unexpectedly cured (most likely, he was sick; apparently, he did not have leprosy). Then the king decided to return and, presenting a gold ring as proof of his identity, founded the city of Bath on the site of the healing spring. The history of the founding of the city and the discovery of the springs, by the way, reminds a little of the history of the founding of the city.

Having conquered the British Isles, the Romans appreciated the local source and began to use it, founding here baths (Roman Bath). It was from the baths that the later name of the city came - Bath.

The water temperature of the source is more than 40 degrees and more than 1 million liters of water flow through here per day.

On the site of a former Celtic temple dedicated to a local goddess Sulis, the Romans built the Temple of Minerva. But we must pay tribute to the Romans. Coming to new lands, they did not barbarically destroy anything, as other conquerors around the world subsequently did. They built roads, buildings, temples, aqueducts that would last for centuries. And out of respect for the Celtic goddess they named this city Aqua Sulis(Sulis waters).

After the Romans left, the Anglo-Saxons, who came to their place, destroyed everything. However, with the arrival of William the Conqueror, Batu was not allowed to fall into ruin. Gradually, a cathedral began to be built here.

The history of the construction of this cathedral is also shrouded in myths.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Bishop of Bath Oliver King I had a dream in which God gathered all the angels and said that soon new king will build a new cathedral here. The bishop realized that the speech was directed at him, since his last name was “King.” He demolished the old cathedral and began the construction of a new one, on the facade of which he ordered his dream to be depicted.

Olive tree, alluding to the name of the bishop.

Angels climbing and descending stairs.

The interiors of Bath Cathedral are reminiscent of King's College Chapel.

Built in the English Perpendicular Gothic style, it also contains purely English features that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world - fan vaults.

Carved wooden choirs.

Angels decorating the organ and playing the different instruments, probably serve as the personification of what is pouring along the walls of the cathedral organ music clearly of divine origin.

Without a doubt, such true, as if natural, harmony in stone contributes to the formation of the same harmony in the soul of everyone who visits this temple of light.

The city of Bath is included in the list cultural heritage UNESCO and is famous for its architecture Georgian era(XVIII century).

This is a city of golden walls, which are made of yellow sandstone. The dominant direction of the Georgian style is Palladianism, which is characterized by the influence of Greek and Roman styles.

City Assembly building ( Assembly Rooms).

Museum English writer Jane Austen on Gay street.

Gay street leads to a place called "The Circle" or to literal translation- "Circus" - Circus. This is a complex of buildings built by John Wood in 1754.

William Somerset Maugham (English) William Somerset Maugham [ˈsʌməsɪt mɔːm]; January 25, 1874, Paris - December 16, 1965, Nice)- English writer, one of the most successful prose writers of the 1930s, British intelligence agent.

Maugham was born into the family of a diplomat, orphaned at an early age, raised in the family of an uncle-priest and a boarding school for boys, Kings School; studied medicine and received a medical degree. After the success of his first book, Lisa of Lambeth (1897), he decided to leave medicine and become a writer. This period of his life is indirectly reflected in his novels “The Burden of Human Passions” (1915) and “Pies and Beer, or the Skeleton in the Closet” (1930). Several novels written next did not bring money, and Maugham turned to drama. After resounding success comedy "Lady Frederick" (1907) Maugham became a successful author. From that time on, he often traveled around the world, in particular, carrying out assignments for British intelligence in 1916-1917, and visited Russia, which he described in the collection of stories “Ashenden, or the British Agent” (1928). That same year, he bought a villa on the French Cote d'Azur and lived there permanently, except for the period from October 1940 to mid-1946. The urn with Maugham's ashes, in accordance with his will, was buried near the wall of the King's School library, created with his money and bearing his name.

Playwright and essayist. Maugham owns light comedies of character and situation, evil satires on morals and socio-psychological dramas like “For Merit” (1932) with acute conflict and an accurate depiction of historical time. His plays - about 30 of them were staged in 1903-1933 - are distinguished by dynamic action, careful development of mise-en-scène, and compact, lively dialogue. However, the writer’s main contribution to literature is short stories, novels and essays, including the book “Summing Up” (1938), in which a free essay on literature and art, a careful author’s confession and an aesthetic treatise are fused into a remarkable artistic whole.

Narrator. Exquisite mastery of form - a tightly constructed plot, strict selection of material, capacious detail, dialogue as natural as breathing, masterly mastery of the semantic and sound richness of the native language, relaxed conversational and at the same time restrained, subtly skeptical intonation of the narrative, clear, economical, simple style - makes Maugham a classic of the 20th century short story. The variety of characters, types, situations, conflicts, the combination of pathology and norms, good and evil, scary and funny, everyday life and exoticism transform his short story heritage (prepared by him in 1953 full meeting stories includes 91 works) in a kind of “human tragicomedy”. However, this code is softened by endless tolerance, wise irony and a fundamental reluctance to act as a judge of one’s neighbor. In Maugham, life seems to tell itself, judges itself and makes a moral verdict, while the author is nothing more than an observer and chronicler of what is depicted.

Novelist. The virtues of an objective manner of writing and a brilliant style, to which Somerset Maugham owes in no small degree his love for the masters of French prose, are also inherent in his best novels. In addition to "The Burden", this is a novel about the artist "The Moon and a Penny" (1919) and a novel about the actress "Theater" (1937), which together with the novel about the writer "Pies and Beer" form something of a trilogy about the creators of art, its meaning and attitude To real life, as well as The Patterned Veil (1925), Christmas Vacation (1939) and The Razor's Edge (1944). Behind the relationships of the characters, the clashes of their aspirations, passions and natures, Maugham clearly reveals an artistic and philosophical analysis of some “eternal” themes of world literature: the meaning of life, love, death, the essence of beauty, the purpose of art. Constantly returning to the problem of the comparative value of the moral and the beautiful, which worried him, Maugham in each case, although in different ways, gave preference to the first, as is clear from the logic of the images he created: “... the most beauty lies in a life well lived. This - the highest work of art" ("Patterned Cover"). The life of Larry Durrell, the main character of Maugham's final novel, The Razor's Edge, is the artistic embodiment of this highest form of beauty.

Source encyclopedia of the company "KIRILL and MEFODIUS" and Wikipedia.org

Maugham William Somerset (Maugham William Somerset) (1874–1965), English writer and playwright.

Born January 25, 1874 in Paris. Father - Robert Ormond Maugham, legal consultant at the British Embassy in France; mother: Edith Mary (née Snell). His grandfather is a prominent lawyer and co-founder of the English Law Society, so the boy was destined for a legal career in advance. However, family tradition only his three older brothers followed. One of them, Frederick Herbert even served as Lord Chancellor between 1938–1939. Maugham's mother suffered from tuberculosis and died in 1882. Two years later, his father died of stomach cancer.

The loss of loved ones had a hard impact on the child’s psyche. In 1884, he was taken in by his father's brother Henry MacDonald Maugham, vicar of the cathedral in Whitestable, Kent, England. Elementary education received from the King's School, Canterbury. Until the age of ten he spoke only French. Constantly ridiculed for his poor English and short stature. Due to nervous stress, Somerset developed a slight stutter, which became noticeable when excited.

In 1890, Maugham entered the University of Heidelberg in the department of literature and philosophy. Returning to England, Maugham worked in a law office for about a month. At the insistence of his uncle, he continued his education at the Medical College at St. Thomas's Hospital in London. In 1897, Maugham received a medical degree, but did not work in his specialty and devoted himself entirely to literature.

Maugham's first novel, Liza of Lambeth, appeared in 1897. The aspiring author quickly gained fame. The comedy Lady Frederick (1907) was a huge success with the public.

In 1908, four of his plays were performed simultaneously on London stages. Creative heritage Maugham is very extensive: plays (“A Man of Honour”, 1903; “Jack Straw”, 1908; “The Explorer”, 1908; “Landed Gentry”, 1910; “The Land of Promise”, 1913; “The Constant Wife” , 1926, etc.), novels (“The Making of a Saint”, 1898; “The Hero”, 1901; “Mrs Craddock”, 1902; “Of Human Bondage”, 1902; “ The Moon and Sixpence", 1919; "Theater", 1937; “The Razor’s Edge”, 1944, etc.), scripts, stories, travel notes etc. He received huge fees and during his lifetime he almost became a living classic. However, Maugham himself assessed his talent very modestly: “The very first among the second-rate.”

In 1909, Maugham became interested in 21-year-old actress Ethelwynne Sylvia Jones, who played in his play Penelope. Daughter of playwright Henry Arthur Jones; pet nickname Sue. Maugham proposed to her, but received an unexpected refusal. The relationship lasted about eight years, but did not continue. E. Jones became the prototype of Rosie, one of the heroines of the novel “Cakes and Ale: or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard”, 1930.

In 1911, Maugham met Sirie Barnardo (Maud Syrie Barnardo, 1879–1955). Daughter of homeless children's shelter organizer Thomas John Barnardo and his wife Sarah Louise Elmslie. Born July 10, 1879 in Hackney, England. In 1901, in Khartoum, she married the richest pharmaceutical manufacturer, Henry Wellcome (1853–1936). In 1903 she gave birth to a son, Henry Mountney Wellcome. The child suffered from a mental disorder, which greatly clouded their cohabitation and was one of the reasons for the discord. In 1915 in Italy, Sarah Wellcome gave birth to a daughter, Mary Elizabeth (1915–1998), whose father, apparently, was Maugham, whom, after an official divorce, she married on May 26, 1917.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Maugham volunteered with a group of Red Cross ambulance drivers in Flanders. It included 23 other major writers of that time, including Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos and others. During his stay at Western Front Maugham was recruited by British military intelligence chief John Wallinger. For several years he worked as a liaison officer for the MI6 intelligence network in Europe; carried out special assignments in Switzerland and Russia.

In 1928, Maugham officially divorced his wife, with whom he almost never lived under the same roof. In the division of property, Siri Maugham received a house on King Road in London, a Rolls Royce car, an annual pension of 2,400 pounds for herself and 600 pounds for her daughter. She subsequently discovered a talent for interior design. Her designs with a predominance of white tones were in high demand among the wealthiest and aristocratic public.

Because of the threat German occupation in 1940 Maugham moved to the United States.

Somerset Maugham died on December 15, 1965 in the town of Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat from pneumonia; his ashes were scattered in the park of the Royal School in Canterbury, where he once studied.

Somerset Maugham was born on January 25, 1874 at the British Embassy in Paris. This birth of a child was more planned than accidental. Because at that time a law was written in France, the essence of which was that all young men born on French territory had to be drafted into the army upon reaching adulthood.

Naturally, the very thought that their son, with English blood flowing in his veins, could soon join the ranks of the army that would fight against England frightened the parents and required decisive action. There was only one way to avoid this kind of situation - by giving birth to a child on the territory of the English embassy, ​​which, according to existing laws, was equivalent to birth on the territory of England.

William was the fourth child in the family. And from the very early childhood he was predicted to have a future as a lawyer, since both his father and grandfather were prominent lawyers, two brothers later became lawyers, and the second brother Frederick Herbert, who later became Lord Chancellor and Peer of England, was considered the most successful. But, as time has shown, the plans were not destined to come true.

Being born in Paris could not but affect the child. So, for example, a boy up to the age of eleven spoke only French. And the reason that prompted the child to start learning English was sudden death his mother Edith of consumption when he was eight, and his father died two years later. As a result, the boy finds himself in the care of his uncle Henry Maugham, who lived in the city of Whitstable in England, in the county of Kent. My uncle was a parish priest.

This period of life was not happy for little Maugham. My uncle and his wife were very callous, boring and rather stingy people. The boy also faced an acute problem of communicating with his guardians. Not knowing in English, he could not establish relationships with new relatives. And, in the end, the result of such ups and downs in the young man’s life was that he began to stutter and Maugham would have this disease for the rest of his life.

William Maugham was sent to study at the Royal School, which was located in Canterbury, an ancient town located southeast of London. And here little William had more reasons for concern and worry than for happiness. He was constantly teased by his peers for his natural short stature and stuttering. English with a distinctive French accent was also a source of ridicule.

Therefore, moving to Germany in 1890 to study at the University of Heidelberg was an indescribable, indescribable happiness. Here he finally begins to study literature and philosophy, trying with all his might to get rid of his inherent accent. Here he will write his first work - a biography of the composer Meyerbeer. True, this work will not cause a “storm of applause” from the publisher and Maugham will burn it, but this will be his first conscious attempt at writing.

In 1892, Maugham moved to London and entered medical school. This decision was not caused by a craving or inclination for medicine, but was made only because a young man from a decent family needed to get some more or less decent profession, and his uncle’s pressure also had an influence in this matter. Subsequently, he would receive a diploma as a physician and surgeon, and even work for some time at St. Thomas's Hospital, which was located in one of the poorest areas of London.

But the most important thing for him during this period was literature. Even then he clearly understands that this is precisely his calling and at night he begins to write his first creations. On weekends, he visits theaters and the Tivoli music hall, where he will watch all the performances that he could watch from the very back seats.

The period of his life associated with his medical career is visible in his novel "Lisa of Lambeth", which was published by Fisher Unwin in 1897. The novel was accepted by both professionals and the general public. The first editions sold out in a matter of weeks, which gave Maugham confidence in the correctness of his choice towards literature rather than medicine.

1898 reveals William Maugham Somerset as a playwright, he writes his first play, “Man of Honor,” which will premiere on the stage of a modest theater only five years later. The play did not cause any furor, it was performed only for two evenings, and the reviews from critics were, to put it mildly, terrible. In fairness, it is worth noting that later, a year later, Maugham would remake this play, radically changing the ending. And already in the commercial theater "Avenue Theater" the play will be shown more than twenty times.

Despite his relatively unsuccessful first experience in drama, within ten years William Somerset Maugham would become a widely known and recognized playwright. The comedy Lady Frederick, which was staged in 1908 on the Court Theater stage, enjoyed particular success. A number of plays were also written that raised issues of inequality in society, hypocrisy, and corruption of representatives different levels authorities.

These plays were received by society and critics differently - some sharply criticized them, others praised them for their wit and theatricality. However, despite the mixed reviews, it should be noted that on the eve of the First World War, Maugham Somerset became a recognized playwright, performances based on whose works were successfully staged both in England and abroad.

At the beginning of the war, the writer served with the British Red Cross. Subsequently, employees of the well-known British intelligence service MI5 recruit him into their ranks. So the writer becomes an intelligence officer and goes first to Switzerland for a year and then to Russia to carry out a secret mission, the purpose of which was to prevent Russia from leaving the war. He met with such famous political players of the time as A.F. Kerensky, B.V. Savinkov. and others.

Maugham would later write that this idea was doomed to failure and he turned out to be a poor agent. The first positive aspect of this mission was Maugham’s discovery of Russian literature. In particular, he discovered Dostoevsky F.M., and was especially amazed by the works of Chekhov A.P., even began to learn Russian in order to read Anton Pavlovich in the original. The second point was Maugham’s writing of a collection of short stories, “Ashenden or the British Agent,” dedicated to espionage themes.

During the period between the two world wars, the writer wrote a lot and also traveled often, which gave him the basis for writing new and new works. Now these are not only novels or plays, but also a number of short stories, sketches, and essays have been written. A special place in the writer’s work is the autobiographical novel “Burden” human passions" Writers of the time such as Thomas Wolfe and Theodore Dreiser recognized the novel as a genius. During the same period of time, Maugham gravitated towards a new direction for him - socio-psychological drama. Examples of such works are “The Unknown”, “For Merit”, “Sheppy”.

When did the second one begin? World War Maugham was in France. And it was not by chance that he ended up there, but by order of the Ministry of Information he was supposed to study the mood of the French and visit ships in Toulon. The result of such actions were articles that give the reader complete confidence that France will fight to the end and will survive this confrontation. His book “France at War” is permeated with the same sentiments.

And just three months after the book’s publication, France would surrender, and Maugham would need to urgently leave the country for England, as there were rumors that the Germans had blacklisted his name. From England he travels to the USA, where he arrives until the end of the war. Returning to France after the war was full of sadness - his house was looted, the country was in complete devastation, but the main positive point was that the hated fascism was not just stopped, but destroyed to the ground and it was possible to live and write further.

And it is no coincidence that this post-war period Somerset Maugham writes historical novels. In the books “Then and Now” and “Catalina” the writer talks about power and its influence on people, about rulers and their policies, and pays attention to true patriotism. These novels show a new style of writing novels; there is a lot of tragedy in them. “The Razor's Edge” is one of the last, if not the last, significant novel of the writer. The novel was definitive in many respects. When Maugham was once asked: “How long did it take him to write this book,” the answer was “All his life.”

In 1947, the writer decides to approve the Somerset Maugham Prize, which should be awarded to the best English writers under the age of 35. In June 1952, the writer was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at Oxford.

IN last years he immerses himself in writing an essay. And the book “Great Writers and Their Novels,” published in 1848, is a clear confirmation of this. In this book, the reader meets such heroes as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Dickens and Emily Bronte, Fielding and Jane Austen, Stendhal and Balzac, Melville and Flaubert. All these great people accompanied Maugham throughout his long life.

Later, in 1952, his collection “Changable Moods” was published, consisting of six essays, where memories of such novelists as G. James, G. Wells and A. Bennett, with whom Somerset Maugham was personally acquainted, are visible.

The writer died on December 15, 1965. It happened in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France. The cause of death was pneumonia. The writer does not have a burial place as such; it was decided to scatter his ashes under the wall of the Maugham Library, at the Royal School in Canterbury.