Metyu Gregori Lyuis

Matthew Gregory Lewis was an English novelist and playwright.

He was born in London into a family of prominent people: his father was a leading political figure, and his mother was influential at court. Lewis received an excellent education, studying at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.

Since his parents intended him for a diplomatic career, Matthew spent all his vacations abroad studying languages. In 1792, Matthew traveled through Germany, collecting local folklore. There he met prominent representatives of German culture, the Romantics.

In 1794, Lewis was appointed to The Hague as British attaché. It was in The Hague that he created his first novel, The Monk. He also published it there, albeit anonymously.

From 1796 to 1800, he sat in the British Parliament, but at the same time wrote many plays and poems, and became acquainted with Byron, Scott, and Shelley.

From 1799 to 1808, Lewis’s well-known collections were published: Tales of Terror, Tales of Wonder, and Romantic Tales.

In 1815, Matthew Gregory Lewis took up estate management in Jamaica. His most significant achievement was the abolition of slavery on the Jamaican plantations. Thanks to him, labor tools were also improved.

It was in Jamaica that Lewis contracted yellow fever, from which he later died on the way back to his homeland in 1818.