Goldsmith, Oliver, 1728-1774

Oliver Goldsmith was born, according to what he told a biographer, on November 10, 1728 in either County Longford or County Roscommon, Ireland. He attended Trinity College, Dublin where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1749 but did not have the credentials to enter either a law or church profession. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh from 1752 to 1755 and then went on a walking tour of Continental Europe living by busking with his flute. He eventually settled in London where he worked various jobs and wrote as a hack writer on Grub Street, which brought him to the attention of Samuel Johnson and “The Club.” Through Club Member, Edmund Burke, Goldsmith was able to procure a job with Thornhill Grammar School. He continued writing and his literary style and his “dissolute lifestyle” of gambling, singing Irish airs, and playing flute led Horace Walpole to call him “inspired idiot.” His works include “The Citizen of the World”; “The Deserted Village”; and “The Vicar of Wakefield.” Oliver Goldsmith died on April 4, 1774 and is buried in Temple Church in London.