Jonathan Swift

The Very Reverend Jonathan Swift
Portrait of Swift by Charles Jervas (1718), National Gallery of Ireland
Born	Jonathan Swift (1667-11-30)30 November 1667 Dublin, Ireland
Died	19 October 1745(1745-10-19) (aged 77) Dublin, Ireland
Resting place	St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland
Pen name	Isaac Bickerstaff M. B. Drapier Lemuel Gulliver Simon Wagstaff Esq.
Occupation	Writer poet satirist political pamphleteer priest
Language	English
Nationality	Irish
Education	Trinity College, Dublin (B.A., 1686)
Period	Restoration, Georgian era
Genres	Satire parable polemic novel essay poetry correspondence other
Subjects	Religion politics other
Literary movement	Classicism Enlightenment
Years active	From 1696
Notable works	A Tale of a Tub (1704) Drapier's Letters (1735) Gulliver's Travels (1726) A Modest Proposal (1729)
Partner	Esther Johnson (?)
Signature

Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish^[1] writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin,^[2] and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swift". His trademark deadpan and ironic style of writing, particularly in works such as A Modest Proposal (1729), has led to such satire being subsequently termed as "Swiftian".^[3] He wrote the satirical book Gulliver's Travels (1726), which became his best-known publication and popularised the fictional island of Lilliput. Following the remarkable success of his works, Swift came to be regarded by many as the greatest satirist of the Georgian era,^[4] and one of the foremost prose satirists in the history of English literature.^[5][6]

Swift also authored works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704) and An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712). He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—including Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M. B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. Swift was also active in clerical circles, due to his affiliations to St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.

Since the 18th century, Swift has emerged as the most popular Irish author globally, and his novel Gulliver's Travels is the most printed book by an Irish writer in libraries and publishers worldwide. He has influenced several major authors over the following centuries, including John Ruskin and George Orwell.