English writer H. G. Wells is recognized as one of the founders and classics of science fiction literature of the 20th century. During his life, he created about 40 novels. Many ideas and thoughts expressed by him in literary works were ahead of their time. And even today, interest in Wells' work remains enormous.
Childhood, youth and first marriage
H. G. Wells was born on September 21, 1866. The birthplace is the small town of Bromley near London. Herbert George's parents owned a china shop. But trade practically did not give profit, mainly the family lived on the funds that his father earned by playing cricket (he was a professional cricketer).
H. G. Wells began working at the age of 14 - first as a janitor and cashier in a manufacturing shop, then as a pharmacy laboratory assistant and a school teacher. Thanks to his tenacity, Wells managed to enroll in King's College, which trained teachers of natural sciences. And by 1889 he had received a licentiate in biology, and a year later - a bachelor's degree.
In 1891, H. G. Wells married a girl named Isabella for the first time. This marriage lasted about four years, after which the spouses, who were very different from each other in character and temperament, parted.
The work of the writer from 1893 to 1914
In 1893 Wells began to dabble in journalism and write for various periodicals. Some of them were later included in the collection of 1895 "Selected Conversations with Uncle". In the same 1895, his novel The Time Machine was published. He was a tremendous success, the author immediately became famous.
In 1895, there was another important event in Wells's biography - he married a second time. The wife's name was Amy Catherine Robbins. This marriage lasted over thirty years. Amy Catherine gave birth to two sons from science fiction writer - George Philip and Frank Richard.
After "The Time Machine" the writer created several more magnificent science fiction novels - "The Island of Dr. Moreau" (1896), "War of the Worlds" (1898), "The Invisible Man" (1897). "When the Sleeper wakes up" (1899), "First People on the Moon" (1901). Almost all of them were filmed in the future.
From 1903 to 1909, Wells was a member of the Fabian Society, which advocated the gradual transformation of the capitalist system into a socialist one, without revolutions or upheavals.
In 1914, just after the outbreak of World War II, Wells published a series of essays on the current geopolitical situation. Then they were published as a separate book, which was sold across Europe in huge print runs.
H. G. Wells after World War I
In 1920 Wells came to visit the Soviet Union. During this visit, he even met with Vladimir Lenin. Wells outlined his impressions of the newly emerged Bolshevik state in a work with the telling title "Russia in the Dark".
In 1928, the wife of the writer Amy Catherine died in the throes of cancer. Wells' new serious love was Maria Zakrevskaya-Budberg, who emigrated to England from the USSR in 1933. The relationship between the writer and this attractive woman lasted until the end of Wells's life, but no formal marriage was concluded.
In 1934, Wells again visited the USSR, and again he managed to talk to the head of state - only now it was not Lenin, but Stalin. Wells later wrote about his meeting with the leader in his memoir, An Autobiographical Experience.
The last years of life and death
During the Great Patriotic War, Wells fervently supported the Soviet Union. He lived at this time, as before, in London, even the bombing did not force him to move from this city.
Wells' last book, Mind on the Edge, was published in 1945. In it, the author expresses skepticism about the future of humanity.
The great writer died on August 13, 1946. His body, in accordance with the will, was cremated, and the ashes were scattered over the waters of the English Channel.
