Edgar Allan Poe

Master of the macabre and pioneer of detective fiction

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts.^[1][2] Many people consider Poe a key American figure in both Romanticism and Gothic fiction.^[1]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Birth name

Edgar Poe

Born

19 January 1809

Birthplace

Boston, Massachusetts, US

Died

7 October 1849

Place of death

Baltimore, Maryland, US

Resting place

Westminster Hall and Burying Ground

Occupation

Writer
poet
editor
literary critic

Parents

David Poe Jr.; Eliza Poe

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He attended the University of Virginia in February 1826 to study ancient and modern languages, but left after a year due to gambling debts and estrangement from his foster father.^[3][4][5] He matriculated as a cadet at West Point on July 1, 1830, but left after being court-martialed for gross neglect of duty in February 1831.^[6][7] Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at age 40, under mysterious circumstances.^[8][9] Poe, whose parents were actors David and Eliza Poe, was their second child; after his father left the family in 1810 and his mother died the next year from tuberculosis, John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia, took him in.^[10][11]

On May 27, 1827, Poe enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army under the alias "Edgar A. Perry"; over two years of service, he rose to the position of sergeant major for artillery.^[12][4] "The Raven," a poem by Poe, was published in January 1845 and was an immediate success.^[8]

What the cited sources add

The Smithsonian Magazine account notes that Poe was found semi-conscious at Gunner's Hall in Baltimore on October 3, 1849, by Joseph W. Walker.^[13] A note from that day described Poe as "rather the worse for wear" and "in great distress" at Ryan's 4th ward polls.^[13] Biographer E. Oakes Smith published a theory in 1867 that Poe was cruelly beaten at the instigation of a woman who considered herself injured by him.^[13] Eugene Didier wrote in 1872 that Poe ran into friends from West Point in Baltimore who prevailed upon him to join them for drinks.^[13]

Chris Semtner, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, explained that Poe and Griswold might have simply rubbed each other the wrong way.^[14]

References

Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sun, "Horror from the Soul—Gothic Style in Allan Poe's Horror Fictions", English Language Teaching, April 23, 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Quinn 1998, p. 13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silverman 1991, p. 16–18; University of Virginia. A Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of Virginia. Second Session, Commencing February 1, 1826. Charlottesville, VA (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Meyers 1992, p. 8 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silverman 1991, p. 16–18 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Krutch 1926, p. 32; Cornelius 2002, p. 13; Meyers 1992, p. 8 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hecker 2005, p. 49–51 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Quinn 1998, p. 13; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Semtner, "Edgar Allan Poe's Richmond: the Raven in the River City", History Press, 2012, p. 15 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Canada 1997, p. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Edgar Allan Poe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cornelius 2002, p. 13; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Geiling, "The (Still) Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe", Smithsonian Magazine. facts only, no text reused. smithsonianmag.com
Van Luling, "A Vengeful Arch-Nemesis Taught You Fake News About Edgar Allan Poe", Huffington Post, January 19, 2017. facts only, no text reused. huffpost.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Edgar Allan Poe (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.