born Feb. 2, 1859, Croydon, Surrey, Eng.
died July 8, 1939, Washbrook, Suffolk
British sexuality researcher.
A medical doctor, he gave up his practice to devote himself to scientific and literary work. His major work, the seven-volume Studies in the Psychology of Sex (18971928), was a comprehensive, groundbreaking encyclopaedia of human sexual biology, behaviour, and attitudes whose topics included homosexuality, masturbation, and the physiology of sexual behaviour. Sale of the first volume led to a trial when the salesman was arrested on obscenity charges; the later volumes had to be published in the U.S. and were legally available only to the medical profession until 1935. Ellis viewed sexual activity as a natural expression of love and sought to dispel the widespread fear and ignorance surrounding it. He was also known as a champion of women's rights.
Havelock Ellis
The Mansell Collection