Born: December 30, 1865, Bombay, India.
Died: January 18, 1936, London, England.
Awarded the Nobel prize in literature, 1907.
Parents: Lockwood and Alice Kipling.
Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, where his father was an arts and crafts teacher and his mother was a sister-in-law of the painter Edward Burne-Jones. India was at that time still part of the British Commonwealth. At the age of six he was taken back to England where he began his studies. In 1878 Kipling entered United Services College, a boarding school in North Devon. It was an expensive institution that specialized in training for entry into military academies. As it was in fashion at that time to become a soldier or moreover an officer at the great British Army, Kipling wanted to become a soldier. But his bad eyesight halted any of his efforts. After being unsuccessful at the entry exams, Kipling returned back to India where he worked as a journalist for the Civil and Military Gazette (1882-87) and an assistant editor and overseas correspondent in Allahabad for Pioneer (1887-89). During his stay in India he wrote short stories that were published as the THE PHANTOM RICKSHAW. But before this collection he published his debut called the Departmental Ditties (1886), but subsequently he became chiefly known as a writer of short stories. Kipling soon became a famous and recognized author. He became the poet of the British Empire.
In 1892 Kipling returned back to London where he married Caroline Starr Balestier. They decided to move to Vermont, US where their daughter was born. But she soon died and Kipling decided to move back to London. The death of his daughter affected him very much and he withdrew from the scene. But after a while he proceeded his writing and wrote some of his most famous stories such as the, MANY INVENTIONS (1893), JUNGLE BOOK (1894), THE SECOND JUNGLE BOOK (1895), and THE SEVEN SEAS (1896). However, some people in Britain found his poetry distasteful and Kipling was accused of jingoism by those hostile to imperialism.
After the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899 he traveled to South Africa where he worked with the wounded and produced a newspaper for the troops.
In 1901 Kipling published the best-selling novel, Kim. At this time Kipling becomes really popular and begins receiving prizes for his work. The most important is the Nobel Prize which he obtained in 1907. Kipling was the recipient of many honorary degrees and other awards.