Aldous Huxley

Biography

Aldous Leonard Huxley was born on 26 July 1894 at Laleham new Godalming, Surrey into an incredibly prominent, elitist family. His father was a major contributor to modern theories of evolution, his aunt a novelist, with other famous poet and educator relatives. His paternal grandfather was a biologist and a proponent of Darwin’s theory of evolution, while his maternal grandfather was a reverend who went back and forth from the Anglican Church to the Roman Catholic Church. A friend once said of him that such a rich ancestry "brought down on him a weight of intellectual authority and a momentum of moral obligations."  When he was only fourteen years old his mother died of cancer, a trauma that would resonate throughout his life and manifest itself in his writing. Many of his literary characters faced similar losses and traumas. When he was sixteen, Huxley was nearly left blind by a severe illness and while he recovered enough to continue his studies, his ailment prevented him from active duty in the Great War, unlike most of his close friends and peers.

Huxley studied at Oxford where he was introduced into the literary sphere and made close friendships with renown writers Bertrand Russell and D. H. Lawrence. His first published work in 1916 was a collection of poems and throughout his career, Huxley would experiment with many different literary types. Huxley’s work also often reflects post-WWI disillusionment and reveals “contrapuntal tension within [him] as he searched for an authentic voice—for identity and order in this grieving and chaotic world” (Paulsell 152).

After he married his Belgian wife, Maria Nys, and their son Matthew was born the family traveled throughout Europe (spending much time in Italy) and the United States. His experiences with fascist Italy and the other political events leading to the second world war inspired much of his work, particularly his novels. Much of Huxley's work was dystopia, his most famous piece being Brave New World. Huxley was intrigued by science and psychology, particularly the relationship between the individual and the community. Huxley was also intrigued by psychedelic drugs that allowed an escape from one's "self" and experimented with many drugs during his lifetime. Many of his works are laced with these visionary, drug-induced experiences.

As Aldous Huxley was known as a screen writer, he spent much of his time in Hollywood during the 1950's. He spent the greater part of his later life in America and died on November 22, 1963, the same day that President John F. Kennedy was killed. Huxley was cremated and his ashes were returned to England where he found his final resting place alongside his parents graves.