F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born in St Paul, Minnesota, in 1896; his father failed in business, and the family lived on his mother's inheritance. At Princeton he threw himself into writing and social life but did poorly in his studies, and left to join the army. Near a camp in Alabama he fell in love with Zelda, a judge's beautiful and high-spirited daughter, but she broke off their engagement because he was poor. At twenty-three he published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, became famous overnight, and Zelda married him at once. The couple became symbols of the 'Jazz Age', spending money like water in New York, Paris and the south of France. But the good times did not last: the Depression came, Zelda broke down and spent long years in sanatoriums, and he drank heavily, fell deep into debt and went to Hollywood to write screenplays. He died of a heart attack at forty-four, believing himself a failure.