W. Somerset Maugham, reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s
William Somerset Maugham (January 25, 1874 – December 16, 1965), better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s.
- After losing both his parents by the age of 10, Maugham was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold.
- Not wanting to become a lawyer like other men in his family, Maugham eventually trained and qualified as a physician.
- The initial run of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), sold out so rapidly that Maugham gave up medicine to write full-time.
During the First World War, he served with the Red Cross and in the ambulance corps before being recruited in 1916 into the British Secret Intelligence Service, for which he worked in Switzerland and Russia before the October Revolution of 1917. During and after the war, he travelled in India and Southeast Asia; these experiences were reflected in later short stories and novels.
Words of Wisdom
Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understandings.