One of the most influential writers of his time, Thomas Stearns Eliot combined traditional ideas and modern free expression. Eliot was one of the first to reject conventional verse forms and language. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1948 .
He was born on Sept. 26, 1888 - an American, but he moved to England and became a British subject in 1927. Before that, he earned his master's degree from Harvard in 1910, spent a year at the Sorbonne in Paris. For further studies he went to Oxford, where he decided to stay in England. He worked first as a teacher and then in a bank. Precise and moderate in his habits, he devoted his evenings to study and writing.
Among his many great creations are 'The Waste Land' ( his most challening work), 'The Rock' , 'Murder in the Cathedral' ( dealing with the assassination of Archbishop Thomas a Becket, who was later canonized ), 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', 'Portrait of a Lady', 'The Cocktail Party', 'The Confidential Clerk' and 'Four Quartets'.
He liked cats and wrote a book about them : 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats', published in 1939. It was the basis for 'Cats', a spectacular musical comedy of the 1980s.
He died on Jan. 4, 1965, in London.
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. From Little Gidding in Four Quartets