1788-1824. English poet who became the symbol
of Romanticism and political liberalism
throughout Europe in the 19th century. His
reputation was established with the first two
cantos of Childe Harold 1812. Later works
include The Prisoner of Chillon 1816, Beppo
1818, Mazeppa 1819, and, most notably, Don
Juan 1819-24. He left England in 1816,
spending most of his later life in Italy.
Born in London and educated at Harrow and
Cambridge, he published his first volume
Hours of Idleness 1807, and attacked its
harsh critics in English Bards and Scotch
Reviewers 1809. Overnight fame came with the
first two cantos of Childe Harold,
romantically describing his tours in
Portugal, Spain, and the Balkans (third canto
1816, fourth 1818). In 1815 he married the
mathematician Anne Milbanke (1792-1860), by
whom he had a daughter, Augusta Ada Byron,
separating from her a year later amid much
scandal. He then went to Europe, where he
became friendly with Percy and Mary Shelley.
He engaged in Italian revolutionary politics
and sailed for Greece in 1823 to further the
Greek struggle for independence, but died of
fever at Missolonghi. He is remembered for
his lyrics, his colloquially easy Letters,
and as the `patron saint' of romantic
liberalism. One of the first biographies of
Byron was written by his friend Thomas Moore.