Aldous Leonard Huxley was born on July 26, 1894. His family includes some of the most prestigious members of England. Huxley was the grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley who was a biologist who helped develop the theory of evolution. His Aunt was Mrs. Humprey Ward who was a famous novelist and his cousin Matthew Arnold was a poet. Huxley was raised in a family of stature, which gave him a feeling of superiority.

As a child, Huxley was viewed as being different. He showed alertness and intelligence beyond children his age. Huxley grew up feeling different which he displayed in the characters of his writings, such as the Brave New World. When Huxley was 14, his mother died from cancer. Then at the age of 16, he developed an eye illness that nearly blinded him. He went to Oxford University and graduated from there with honors. His eye illness preventing him from fighting in WWI, and doing the scientific work he had hoped to do.

Huxley began writing while he was still attending Oxford. He published his first book (which was a collection of poetry) in 1916. In 1919 he married Maria Nys and in 1920 Matthew Huxley, their only child, was born. Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931 and it was published later. In 1937 Huxley and his family came to the United States, where Huxley found a job in screen writing. In the 1950’s, Huxley became famous for his involvement in psychedelic-ormind (mind expanding drugs such as LSD). He also began taking drugs such as LSD as a way to escape from himself. He wrote several books about drugs and his experiences. All together Huxley wrote 47 books in his career as a writer.

Maria Huxley died in 1955 and Huxley became married to Laura Archer a year later. He died on November 22, 1963 and his ashes were buried England in his parent’s grave.