Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in Bombay, British India, to a British family of artists and intellectuals. He spent his early childhood in India, where he learned Hindustani and absorbed the culture and folklore of the country. He was sent to England at the age of six for his education, but he suffered from bullying and neglect at his foster home. He returned to India at the age of 16 to work as a journalist for Anglo-Indian newspapers. He began to write stories and poems based on his experiences and observations in India, which gained him fame and recognition. He also travelled extensively in Asia, Africa, Europe and America, and wrote about his adventures and impressions. Kipling’s works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), a collection of stories about animals and human nature; Kim (1901), a novel about an orphan boy who becomes a spy in the Great Game between Britain and Russia; Just So Stories (1902), a series of fanciful tales explaining how various animals got their distinctive features; and many short stories, such as “The Man Who Would Be King” (1888), “The Mark of the Beast” (1890), “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” (1894) and “The White Man’s Burden” (1899). His poems include “Mandalay” (1890), “Gunga Din” (1890), “The Gods of the Copybook Headings” (1919) and “If—” (1910). He is regarded as an innovator in the art of the short story and a master of children’s literature. He also wrote historical and military works, such as The Light That Failed (1891), Captains Courageous (1897) and The Irish Guards in the Great War (1923). Kipling was a staunch supporter of British imperialism and expressed his views in his writings. He was also involved in politics and social issues, such as education, animal welfare, war memorialization and Freemasonry. He was one of the first members of the Imperial War Graves Commission and advised on the inscriptions for the headstones in British war cemeteries. He was offered many honours, such as the Poet Laureateship and a knighthood, but he declined them. He accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, becoming the first English-language writer to receive it. Kipling married Caroline Starr Balestier, an American, in 1892. They had three children: Josephine, Elsie and John. They lived in Vermont, USA, for some years before moving back to England. They also travelled frequently to South Africa, where they had a farm. Kipling faced personal tragedies in his life: his daughter Josephine died of pneumonia at the age of six; his son John was killed in action during World War I at the age of 18; and his wife Caroline suffered from ill health and depression. Kipling himself died of a perforated duodenal ulcer on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in London and his ashes were buried in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey.