Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Thomas, Edward, 1878-1917
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Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1878-1917
History
Edward Thomas was an English author and poet in the early part of the 20th Century. He was born on March 3, 1878, in Lambeth, London, and educated at Battersea Grammar School, St Paul's School and Lincoln College, Oxford. Initially working as a book reviewer and literary critic, he became a writer himself. While he is known for his poetry, he also wrote a novel, a children's book, and several non-fiction books. He became a poet full-time just after the outbreak of World War I.
Thomas enlisted into the military in July 1915 with the Artists' Rifles, promoted to Corporal, and commissioned to the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1916. He was killed in action at Arras on April 9, 1917, shortly after arriving in France.