Jane Austen
December 16, 1775 – July 18, 1817
Jane Austen was an English novelist, a representative of the So-Called Family Novel. In her works, she usually chronicled the lives of the rural upper classes. The main characters in her works tend to be intelligent, morally powerful heroines who contrast sharply with the folly of their surroundings.
She was born in Steventon, Hampshire, in the large family of reverend George Austen (1731-1805) and his wife Cassandra roz. The Leighs (1739-1827). She was the second youngest of eight siblings. She had six brothers and an older sister, Cassandra, who, as evidenced by a hundred preserved letters, was the closest thing she had to a family. Cassandra also painted her only documented portrait (today at the National Portrait Gallery in London). Her brothers Francis and Charles soon left to serve at sea and attained the rank of admiral; their careers were influenced by some plot situations in the manor of Mansfield Park.
From 1783 the period of her education began. First briefly in Oxford with Mrs Cawley (the sister of one of her uncles) and later in Southampton. From 1785 to 1786 she was educated at a girls' boarding school in Reading, Berkshire. In general, therefore, we can say that she received an education of better quality than other girls in her time. After she was introduced into society, she led a life of her own until her death, consisting of the usual entertainments of her social class (and the entertainments detailed in their works): balls, visits from acquaintances and relatives, a visit to London from time to time. One of the few "events" in her otherwise quiet life was a love disappointment in the form of her broken engagement to a young man named Harris Bigg-Wither. She had no luck in love and, like her older sister, remained unmarried.
In 1801, the family moved to the West Anglian spa town of Bath (this setting became the inspiration for many of the works). After her father's death in 1805, Jane, Cassandra and their mother lived with Frank and his family until 1809, when they moved again, this time to Chawton. Here their other brother, Edward, resettled them in a nearby house (there is now the Jane Austen Museum). By this time, she was established as a writer, if you can put it that way, because her works were published anonymously (after her death, Brother Henry admitted her authorship publicly).
Poor health proved to be the problem. Today, the prevailing assumption is that she may have suffered from Addison's disease. The effort to heal her led to Winchester, but the progress of the disease was so rapid that she died within two months. She is buried in the local cathedral.