John Galsworthy

English author John Galsworthy (1867-1933) is known for writing about social issues, particularly those involving the upper-middle class of his time. Perhaps Galsworthy’s most famous work is the “Forsyte Chronicles,” a collection of stories partly inspired by his family and materialism. Included in the “Forsyte Chronicles” are the The Forsyte Saga (1922), A Modern Comedy (1929), On Forsyte Change (1930).

Galsworthy’s earlier works were published under the pseudonym “John Sinjohn,” and include From the Four Winds (1897), Villa Rubein: A Novel (1900), and A Man of Devon (1901). After Galsworthy’s father, who was the inspiration for the Forsyte Chornicles character “Old Jolyon Forsyte,” died in 1904, Galsworthy began publishing his works using his real last name.

In 1917, Galsworthy refused an offering of “knighthood for literary achievement.” In 1929, however, Galsworthy was awarded the Order of Merit, and in 1932, a Nobel Prize. 

Galsworthy has been regarded both favorably and unfavorably by the literary community and public alike, but a 1967 broadcast of an adaptation of The Forsyte Saga once again placed Galsworthy in a favorable light.

Source citation:

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004.