Daniel Defoe | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Daniel Defoe, National Maritime Museum, London | |
| Born | Daniel Foe c. 1660 Fore Street, London England |
| Died | 24 April 1731 (aged 70–71) London, England |
| Resting place | Bunhill Fields |
| Occupation | Journalist, merchant, pamphleteer, spy |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Spouse |
Mary Tuffley (m. 1684) |
| Children | 8 |
Daniel Defoe (/dɪˈfoʊ/; born Daniel Foe; c. 1660 – 24 April 1731)[1] was an English novelist, journalist, merchant, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations.[2] He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel, and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson.[3] Defoe wrote many political tracts, was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.
Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works[4]—books, pamphlets, and journals—on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism[5] and economic journalism.[6]
- ^ Duguid, Paul (2 October 2006). "Limits of self-organization: Peer production and "laws of quality"". First Monday. 11 (10). doi:10.5210/fm.v11i10.1405. ISSN 1396-0466. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
Most reliable sources hold that the date of Defoe's birth was uncertain and may have fallen in 1659 or 1661. The day of his death is also uncertain.
- ^ Backscheider, Paula R. (January 2008) [2004]. "Daniel Defoe (1660?–1731)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7421. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Defoe", The Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. Margaret Drabble. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 265.
- ^ Backscheider (2008/2004). "Even the most conservative lists of Defoe's works include 318 titles, and most Defoe scholars would credit him with at least 50 more."
- ^ Margarett A. James and Dorothy F. Tucker. "Daniel Defoe, Journalist." Business History Review 2.1 (1928): 2–6.
- ^ Adams, Gavin John (2012). Letters to John Law. Newton Page. pp. liii–lv. ISBN 978-1-934619-08-7. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014.