32 moments

1. Childhood residence

   1888-01-01 · Locust Street, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

   Eliot spent his first sixteen years living in St. Louis, the environment he later described as decisive to his imagination. The date marks the beginning of a residence lasting through 1904; coordinates are a representative point on Locust Street.

2. Birth in St. Louis

   1888-09-26 · St. Louis, Missouri, United States

   Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, beginning a childhood strongly associated with the city and the Mississippi River. Coordinates represent central St. Louis; the article identifies St. Louis rather than a surviving exact birth-house coordinate.

3. Smith Academy studies

   1898-01-01 · Smith Academy, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

   Eliot attended Smith Academy during his St. Louis childhood, where he began writing poetry and published early work. The date marks the beginning of attendance, which continued through 1905.

4. Visit to the St. Louis World's Fair

   1904-01-01 · Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

   As a teenager, Eliot visited the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair; an encounter there informed one of his early short stories. Coordinates represent the World's Fair grounds in Forest Park.

5. Harvard College undergraduate

   1906-01-01 · Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

   Eliot studied at Harvard College, completing his bachelor's degree in 1909 and forming important literary friendships. The date marks the beginning of undergraduate study, which continued through 1909.

6. Harvard philosophy assistantship

   1909-01-01 · Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

   After his undergraduate degree, Eliot remained at Harvard as a philosophy assistant before leaving for Paris. The date marks the beginning of the assistantship, which lasted into 1910.

7. Study at the University of Paris

   1910-01-01 · University of Paris, Paris, France

   Eliot studied philosophy in Paris, attended Henri Bergson's lectures, and read poetry with Alain-Fournier. The date marks the beginning of study in Paris, which continued into 1911.

8. Harvard Graduate School studies

   1911-01-01 · Harvard Graduate School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

   Returning from Paris, Eliot undertook graduate study in Indian philosophy and Sanskrit at Harvard. The date marks the beginning of this Harvard graduate-study period.

9. Merton College residence

   1914-01-01 · Merton College, Oxford, England, United Kingdom

   Eliot went to Oxford on a scholarship at Merton College, though he spent much of the following year in London instead. The scholarship and ensuing Oxford attendance are documented for 1914–1915; coordinates are for Merton College.

10. Summer-program visit

    1914-01-01 · Marburg, Germany

    Eliot first went to Marburg intending to take a summer programme, but the outbreak of the First World War diverted him to Oxford. The article places this visit in the 1914 sequence but does not give a more precise date.

11. First meeting with Ezra Pound

    1914-09-22 · London, England, United Kingdom

    Eliot visited Ezra Pound's London flat in a formative literary encounter that helped establish his early career. The cited text does not identify the flat's street address; coordinates represent central London.

12. Birkbeck teaching post

    1915-01-01 · Birkbeck, University of London, London, England, United Kingdom

    Eliot taught English at Birkbeck College during his first year in London after leaving Oxford. Coordinates are for Birkbeck's central London campus.

13. Marriage to Vivienne Haigh-Wood

    1915-06-26 · Hampstead Register Office, London, England, United Kingdom

    

    Eliot married Vivienne Haigh-Wood at Hampstead Register Office, shortly before settling into a series of London teaching posts. Coordinates are a representative point for the historic Hampstead registration-office area.

14. Lloyds Bank employment

    1917-01-01 · Lloyds Bank, London, England, United Kingdom

    Eliot entered banking in London, working on foreign accounts at Lloyds Bank while continuing his literary work. Coordinates represent the historic City of London banking district rather than an identified office room.

15. Meeting James Joyce

    1920-08-01 · Paris, France

    

    During an August trip to Paris with Wyndham Lewis, Eliot met James Joyce; their friendship continued through later Paris visits. The source identifies Paris but not the meeting venue; coordinates represent central Paris.

16. Recuperation and writing in Lausanne

    1921-01-01 · Lausanne, Switzerland

    

    Eliot continued recuperating in Lausanne and completed the final section of The Waste Land there. The source anchors the sequence to October 1921 but does not provide a more precise Lausanne arrival date; coordinates represent central Lausanne.

17. Recovery at Margate

    1921-10-01 · Margate, Kent, England, United Kingdom

    

    Eliot recuperated from a nervous collapse at the Albermarle Hotel in Margate while working on The Waste Land. The exact former hotel location is not specified in the source; coordinates represent Margate.

18. Return to Paris with Pound

    1922-01-01 · Paris, France

    

    After Switzerland, Eliot returned to Paris and worked with Ezra Pound on revisions to The Waste Land. The chronology gives January 1922 but does not identify a Paris address.

19. Faber publishing career

    1925-01-01 · Faber & Faber, Russell Square, London, England, United Kingdom

    

    Eliot left Lloyds to become a director at Faber and Gwyer, later Faber & Faber, where he worked for the remainder of his career. The date marks the beginning of employment continuing through 1965; coordinates are for the Russell Square Faber building identified by the article.

20. Anglican baptism

    1927-06-29 · Holy Trinity Church, Finstock, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

    Eliot was privately baptized at Finstock Church as part of his reception into the Church of England. Coordinates represent Holy Trinity Church, Finstock.

21. Anglican confirmation

    1927-06-30 · Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

    The day after his baptism, Eliot was confirmed in a private chapel at Cuddesdon. Coordinates represent Cuddesdon village; the private chapel is not further identified in the source.

22. Charles Eliot Norton professorship

    1932-01-01 · Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

    

    Eliot returned to Harvard for a year-long residence as Charles Eliot Norton lecturer, producing lectures later collected as The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism. The residence covered the 1932–1933 academic year; coordinates represent Harvard Yard.

23. Visit to Little Gidding church

    1936-05-25 · St John the Evangelist Church, Little Gidding, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom

    

    Eliot visited Little Gidding church, a place that later gave its name to the final poem of Four Quartets. Coordinates are for St John the Evangelist Church at Little Gidding.

24. Postwar lecture visit

    1945-05-01 · Paris, France

    Eliot spent nine days in postwar Paris, giving a French-language lecture and participating in interviews and receptions. The source supplies a 5–15 May interval; the card date is recorded at month precision because the schema does not permit date ranges.

25. Chelsea flat with John Hayward

    1946-01-01 · 19 Carlyle Mansions, Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom

    Eliot shared a Chelsea flat with John Davy Hayward, who managed and preserved much of his literary archive. The date marks the beginning of this residence, which continued through 1957.

26. Morris Gray Poetry Reading

    1947-05-13 · Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

    Eliot gave a Morris Gray poetry reading at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, where his performance was recorded.

27. Nobel Prize ceremony

    1948-12-10 · Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden

    Eliot received the Nobel Prize in Literature at the Stockholm ceremony and spoke at the subsequent banquet. The source specifies that the ceremony was at Stockholm Concert Hall; coordinates are for that venue.

28. Washington University commencement address

    1953-06-09 · Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States

    Eliot returned to his native St. Louis to address Washington University's graduating class on American literature and language. Coordinates represent Washington University's Danforth Campus; the source does not name the specific auditorium.

29. Hanseatic Goethe Prize address

    1955-01-01 · University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Eliot delivered his address “Goethe as the Sage” at the University of Hamburg while receiving the Hanseatic Goethe Prize. The source provides the year but not a day or month; coordinates are for the University of Hamburg.

30. Kensington Court Gardens home

    1957-01-01 · 3 Kensington Court Gardens, Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom

    

    After his second marriage, Eliot lived at 3 Kensington Court Gardens, his final home in London. The date marks the beginning of residence, which continued until his death.

31. Marriage to Valerie Fletcher

    1957-01-10 · St Barnabas Church, Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom

    Eliot married Esmé Valerie Fletcher in a private early-morning ceremony in Kensington.

32. Death at home

    1965-01-04 · 3 Kensington Court Gardens, Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom

    

    Eliot died of emphysema at his Kensington home, ending a life and career centered principally in London after 1914. The house is identified elsewhere on the same source as 3 Kensington Court Gardens.