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C.S. Lewis

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  C(live) S(taples) Lewis (nicknamed Jack) was born in Belfast, Ireland on November 29, 1898 to Albert James Lewis and Flora Augusta Hamilton Lewis. He was the second child- his brother Warren Hamilton Lewis was born in 1895. In 1905, the Lewis family moved to a new home on the outskirts of Belfast. They named the house "Little Lea." Unfortunately it was in this house that Lewis' mother, Flora, became sick a few years later. She died on April 23, 1908. It was her husband Albert's birthday. Sadly, this year was also the year Albert's father and brother died.

  In 1908, C.S. Lewis also started school at Wynard School in Watford, Hertfordshire. His brother, Warren, also went to school here. Lewis stayed at Wynard until 1910, when he was enrolled at Campbell College, Belfast as a boarding student. The school was one mile from the "Little Lea" house. Unfortunately, Lewis only remained at Campbell College for little more than two months because of serious respiratory trouble. The next year he went to Malvern, England to a famous health resort there that specialized in lung problems. Here he was enrolled in Cherbourg House, a preparatory school near Malvern College, where his brother was attending school. He himself entered Malvern College in 1913.

  In September of 1914, Lewis started his extensive literary and philosophical studies under the private teaching of W.T. Kirkpatrick. He continued to study under Kirkpatrick until 1917. In 1916, Lewis won a scholarship to University College at Oxford and started his studies there in April of 1917. However, his term at University College was interrupted by the start of World War One. Lewis was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Somerset light infantry. He was billeted in Keble College, Oxford, for officer's training. His roommate there was Edward Courtnay Francis "Paddy" Moore. Lewis reached the front line in the Somme Valley in France on his 19th birthday. The next year, he was hospitalized with "trench fever." He rejoined his battalion not long after though, and was wounded in Battle of Arras, France and again hospitalized. In late 1918, he was discharged. His friend Paddy Moore was killed in battle and buried in France.

  In 1919, he was able to resume his studies at Oxford. He also published his first book, Spirits in , in 1919, under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton. He continued studying at Oxford and received a First in Honour Moderations (Greek and Latin Literature) in 1920, a First in Greats (Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1922, and a First in English in 1923. In 1923, he moved in with Mrs. Janie King Moore, and her daughter Maureen-the remaining family of his friend Paddy Moore. Lewis graduated from college in 1924, but stayed on at University College as a tutor, from 1924 to May of 1925. In May of 1925, Lewis was elected a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford and worked as a tutor of English language and literature for 29 years, until he left for Magdalen College, Cambridge in 1954.

  But during the time between 1925 and 1954, a lot happened to Lewis. First, in September of 1929, Lewis' father Albert died. In 1930, Lewis, his brother and Mrs. Moore jointly purchased a house, called "The Kilns." In 1933, the Inklings, a name given to Lewis' circle of friends, started to meet every Thursday in C.S. Lewis' room, and every Monday or Friday just before lunch at "The Eagle and Child," a local pub. Members of the Inklings included J.R.R. Tolkien, Warnie (Lewis' brother Warren), Hugo Dyson, Charles Williams, Dr. Robert Havard, Owen Barfield, Weville Coghill and many others. This literary bunch helped Lewis with his next projects. He published An Allegory of Love: Study in Medieval Tradition, his first major work, which later earned him the Gollancz Memorial Prize for Literature, in 1936. The Screwtape Letters, one of Lewis' most well known works about Christianity, in which a senior devil instructs his nephew junior devil in the ways of evil, was published in installments in The Guardian (a religious newspaper) in 1942.

  In 1950, Lewis' first book of the Narnia Chronicles, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was published. This was followed by Prince Caspian in 1951, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 1952, The Silver Chair in 1953, The Horse and His Boy in 1954, The Magician's Nephew in 1955, and The Last Battle in 1956. All of these books of the Narnia Chronicles are still widely read and cherished today by children (and adults!) all over the world. Also in 1952, Lewis published Mere Christianity, another well-known work about Christianity.

  In June of 1954, Lewis was elected the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge. During these years he lived at Magdalen College during the week and at The Kilns on the weekends and holidays. Lewis was elected an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, as well as a Fellow of the British Academy in 1955. In 1956, Lewis received the Carnegie Medal in recognition of the last book of his Narnia series, The Last Battle. On April 23 of that same year he entered into a civil marriage with Joy Davidman in order to prevent her deportation by British migration authorities and confer upon her the status of British citizenship. In December of 1956, a marriage ceremony was performed by Joy Davidman's bedside at a hospital-she was ill with cancer and wasn't expected to live much longer. However, during 1957, Joy made a miraculous recovery and was able to go on a 10 day holiday with Lewis to Ireland.

  Unfortunately, in 1960, the Lewis family learned that Joy's cancer had returned. They took a trip to Greece and not long after their return, she died. Only three years after that, C.S. Lewis died, on November 22, 1963. He was only a week from his 65th birthday. The day of his death was the same day as the assassination of President Kennedy and the death of Aldous Huxley. C.S. Lewis was buried in the graveyard of the Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, Oxford.

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