American · 1809–1849
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet and critic born in Boston in 1809. Orphaned young, he was raised in Richmond, Virginia, by John and Frances Allan. He worked as an editor and reviewer for magazines in Richmond, Philadelphia and New York, and he struggled with poverty for most of his life. His poem "The Raven" (1845) made him famous. His tales, including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Cask of Amontillado," established the modern Gothic short story. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is generally counted as the first detective story, and it shaped later writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle. Poe also wrote influential criticism, including "The Philosophy of Composition." His work was admired in France, where Baudelaire translated it. He died in Baltimore in 1849 at age 40, under circumstances that remain unclear.