Jonathan Swift Biography

Gulliver's Travels About the Author

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 30, 1667. He was, or was alleged to be, the posthumous child of Jonathan Swift, a minor law official of the King's Inn, Dublin, and his wife Abigail Erick. His childhood was in some ways unusual—as a year-old baby he was brought to England, while his mother remained in Ireland, and when he was brought back to Ireland a year or two later, his mother returned to England, leaving young Jonathan to be raised by his uncle Godwin Swift. Though his parents were poor, young Jonathan was given the best education that could be had in Ireland. His uncle Godwin paid for him to attend Kilkenny Grammar School and later Trinity College, yet Swift later said of him that "He gave me the education of a dog." Any study of Swift's life will show several such mysteries, many of which have...
(read more)