Robert Browning biography :

Noted English poet and playwright Robert Browning was born on 07 May 1812 in Camberwell, Surrey to Robert Browning Senior, an intellectual and financially well-to-do clerk of the Bank of England; and Sarah Anna Wiedemann, an equally intelligent lady of German-Scottish descent. Robert Browning had a younger and similarly gifted sister, who became his companion in his old age. Despite their relative wealth, they lived simply and their interest in literature and the arts were strongly encouraged. Young Robert Browning had, in his youth, access to a library of about 6,000 books.

At age 12, Robert Browning had written a book of poetry, which he subsequently destroyed when this was not published. A rapid learner, he was fluent in several foreign languages at the age of 14. He studied at London University at 16 but eventually dropped out. His parents supported his decision to withdraw and continued to support him.

“Pauline: A Fragment of A Confession”, one of his many pieces was published anonymously in 1833. Between 1835 and 1836, several of Browning’s poems saw print in the Monthly Repository, and from 1837 to 1846, Browning tried his hand at writing verse drama.

In 1846, Browning eloped and married fellow poet, Elizabeth Barrett and they subsequently lived in Florence, Italy. While living in Italy, Browning produced very little poetry. He started writing again after his wife passed away in 1861. He, together with his son, moved back to London where he composed “The Ring and the Book” (1869), a 10-verse narrative about a murder trial in Rome which has been hailed as his most ambitious and his best work.

Robert Browning passed away on 12 December 1889 at Ca’Rezzonico, the home of his only child, in Venice, Italy. He is buried at the Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, England.