born Oct. 5, 1840, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.
died April 19, 1893, Rome
English essayist, poet, and biographer.
He traveled extensively for his health, finally settling in Switzerland. His chief work, Renaissance in Italy (187586), is a series of extended essays on cultural history. His writings include translations, travel sketches, and studies of personalities such as Percy B. Shelley , Ben Jonson , Sir Philip Sidney , Michelangelo , and Walt Whitman . His poetry served primarily as a release from his difficult emotional life. A Problem in Greek Ethics (written 1871) and A Problem in Modern Ethics (1881) were among the first serious works treating homosexuality.
Symonds, chalk drawing by C. Orsi; in the National Portrait Gallery, London
By courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London