Edgar Allen Poe, a writer and poet, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Abandoned by his father and mother dying before Edgar reach the age of three, he was taken as a foster child by John Allen. John Allen took Edgar to Britain, where Poe went to school from 1815-1820 then Poe later return to Virginia, he continued his education from 1823-1825 and attend the University of Virginia in 1826. Having quarrelled with his foster father (although he chose 'Allan' as his middle name) over his gambling debts and refusal to study law, he then went to Boston where, anonymously and at his own expense, he published Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827).
He then went to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Mrs Maria Clemm; he would marry her daughter and his own cousin, 13-year-old Virginia Clemm, in 1836. His third volume of poetry (1831) brought neither fame nor profit, but a prize-winning short story, 'A MS Found in a Bottle' (1833), gained him the editorship of the Southern Literary Messenger (1835-6).
After his wife died (1847), however, his life began to unravel even faster as he moved about from city to city, lecturing and writing, drinking heavily, and courting several older women. Just before marrying one, he died in Baltimore after being found semi-conscious in a tavern, possibly from too much alcohol.
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