Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley was born in 1797 in London, the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, renowned radical writers of their time. In 1814, Mary met and soon fell in love with the then-unknown Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she married in 1816. Of their four children, only Percy Florence survived. They lived in Italy from 1818 until 1822, when Shelley drowned after his boat, the "Ariel," capsized in a storm. Mary returned to London with Percy Florence, where she continued her life as a professional writer. Mary Shelley conceived the idea for "Frankenstein" in 1816 during a summer trip to Lake Geneva and completed this unique story in England. The work was published in 1818 under the title "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus." Her other works include "The Last Man" (1826), "Perkin Warbeck" (1830), "Lodore" (1835), "Falkner" (1837), and "Rambles in Germany and Italy" (1844). She also edited the first collected edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poetry (1839). Mary Shelley died in London on February 1, 1851.