Ten ten interesting facts about Irish literary legend Oscar Wilde

Famed dramatist and master of wit remains a relevant Irish hero

Oscar Wilde is one of Ireland’s greatest, if not most humorous exports.

Many today know the controversial, flamboyant, and debonair Victorian dramatist, through his works the “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and The “Importance of Being Earnest”. Larger than life, Wilde was a poet, dramatist, author, and celebrity, donning many quite fashionable hats.

Still 112 years after his death, his work and spirit are as relevant, witty, and alive as ever.

Here are ten interesting facts about Oscar Wilde:

1. Wilde was born with three middle names. His full name is “Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde” born in Dublin in 1854.

2. His mother, Jane Wilde was a successful poet and Irish nationalist whose pen name was “Sperenza." His father was also an author but more well known for his work as an oto-ophthalmologic and being knighted for his work as an assistant commissioner to the censuses of Ireland.

3. Wilde is an impressive linguist. Home schooled, he was taught French and German and also had working knowledge of Italian and Ancient Greek.

4. Wilde, adding “lecturer” to his array of talents, embarked on a tour of America in 1882 and held talks on a wide variety of subjects from “The English Renaissance” to “Decorative Art.”

5. Wilde married Constance Lloyd on May 29, 1884 and had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. Cyril fought and died in World War I in the Battle of Festubert in France where he is buried. Vyvyav changed his last name to Holland, like his mother, after his father’s imprisonment and went on to become a translator for the BBC and author of the autobiography 'Son of Oscar Wilde' (1954). Vyvyans son and Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, published the Oscar Wilde biography 'A Portrait of Oscar Wilde' (2008).

6. Though thought of as an author, he only published one novel, The Portait of Dorian Gray (1891).

7. He was an advocate of socialism and in his only political essay 'The Soul of Man under Socialism' (1891) Wilde expounds an anarchist philosophy.

8. Before his death due to cerebral meningitis he was conditionally baptized in the Catholic Church.

9.  Oscar Wilde’s last words were “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go.”

10.  His famous tomb was designed by Sir Jacob Epstein, whose ashes were placed alongside Wilde in the structure in 1950 per his request. The Angel statue adorning the tomb was originally installed with male genitalia which has since been vandalized.

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Nster.com