Jonathon Swift
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The Very Reverend Jonathan Swift |
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Portrait by Charles Jervas
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| Born |
30 November 1667 Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland |
| Died | 19 October 1745 (aged 77) Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland |
| Pen name | Isaac Bickerstaff, M. B. Drapier, Lemuel Gulliver, Simon Wagstaff, Esq. |
| Occupation | Satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, priest |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Dublin |
| Notable works |
A Tale of a Tub Drapier's Letters Gulliver's Travels A Modest Proposal |
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Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irishsatirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms – such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, the Drapier – or anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".
Jonathan Swift was born on 30 November 1667 in Dublin, Ireland. He was the second child and only son of Jonathan Swift (1640–1667) and his wife Abigail Erick (or Herrick) of Frisby on the Wreake. His father was a native of Goodrich, Herefordshire, but he accompanied his brothers to Ireland to seek their fortunes in law after their Royalist father's estate was brought to ruin during the English Civil War. Swift's father died in Dublin about seven months before he was born. His mother returned to England after his birth, leaving him in the care of his influential uncle Godwin, a close friend and confidant of Sir John Temple whose son later employed Swift as his secretary.
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