George Gordon Baron, one of the greatest poets of England, was born in London in an old aristocratic but poor family. After the death of his father in 1791, his mother took him to Aberdeen in Scotland, where the boy spent his childhood. At the age of ten he inherited the title of Lord and returned to England. He lived in the family castle which was situated near Nottingham close to the famous Sherwood Forest. He studied at Harrow, then at Cambridge University. When he was 21, he became a member of the House of Lords. In 1809 he travelled abroad and visited Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece and Turkey. He returned home in 1811.
His speeches in the House of Lords in defence of the Luddites and the oppressed Irish people caused universal irritation. When he and his wife parted after an unhappy marriage, his enemies seized this opportunity and began to persecute him. The poet was accused of immorality and had to leave his native country.
In May 1816 Byron went to Switzerland, where he made friends with his great contemporary, the poet Percy B. Shelley. At the end of 1816 he went to Italy, where he became actively engaged in the movement for the liberation of Italy from Austrian rule. In the summer of 1823 he went to Greece to fight for the liberation of that country from Turkish oppression. The poet’s thirty-sixth year was to be his last: he fell seriously ill and died on April 19, 1824.

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1. Where was George Gordon Byron born?
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