William Morris

The English painter, decorator, poet, prose writer, and socialist theorist, William Morris, was born in Walthamstow, Essex, on March 24, 1834. As the son of a wealthy businessman, he enjoyed a comfortable childhood. His family intended for him to become a priest, but he chose art and social criticism instead. He became associated with the Pre-Raphaelite circle, particularly with the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. In the 1860s, Morris turned to the decorative arts, founding the company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, which focused on furniture design and interior decoration. His wall tapestries and church stained glass windows are emblematic of an entire era. From 1876, he became involved in politics and emerged as a leading theorist of English socialism. Meanwhile, he wrote revolutionary poems and unique fantasy novels with a symbolic dimension. Morris was a complete, "Renaissance" intellectual. A talented artist, poet, and writer, he is considered a classic, both as an author and as an artist (a leading figure of the Arts and Crafts movement), while his novel "News from Nowhere" (1890) has secured a place in the history of utopias. He died at Kelmscott House on October 3, 1896.