Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar was born in Boston in 1809. Both is parents were actors. His father abandoned the family when Edgar was two years old, and his mother died soon after. After this Edgar went to live with the Allans, but Mr Allan never officially adopted Edgar. The Allans, together with Edgar, went to live in England for five years, then they returned to the United States. Edgar attended to the University of Virginia. He was a good student but Mr Allan did not send him enough money, so Edgar had to gamble to make money. Finally Mr Allan ended his relationship with Edgar. Edgar won a literary contest and later he was working as a writer for a literary magazine. He was very successful, but he still did not make enough money. He married his cousin Virginia Clemm who was very ill and she died ten years later. He became a drunk. He continued to be successful as an editor and to write many great story and poems, but his financial problems continued until his death in 1849. He became famous and important in France because a poet, Charles Baudelaire, translated all his great stories. Edgar is also famous for having invented the first detective stories. Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin, the hero of these stories, is the literary ancestor of Sherlock Holmes.