C. S. Lewis Bio
This is our C. S. Lewis Bio intended to give a brief account of the author’s life and times. Lewis created The Chronicles of Narnia saga. Check it out!
Summary
Clive Staples Lewis (11/29/1898 – 11/22/1963) was a Christian British author.
He had other activities:
- poet
- essayist
- academic medievalist
- literary critic
- theologian lecturer
- broadcaster
Lewis was an academic from Oxford and Cambridge Universities
Lewis is best known for his fictional work and Christian apologetics.
After a period away, Lewis immersed back to the Anglican Communion at the age of 32.
Christianity profoundly affected his work and public acclaim.
Lewis died on 22 November 1963, but his death was clouded by the John F. Kennedy’s assassination on the same day.
The Chronicles of Narnia saga is his most famous work, and some of its books were adapted for stage, screen and radio.
Clive Staples Lewis Biography
C. S. Lewis – Belfast, Ireland, 29 of November 1898.
His father was Albert James Lewis (1863–1929), a solicitor, and his mother was Florence Augusta Lewis, née Hamilton (1862–1908), daughter of a priest.
He had an elder brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis
In his childhood, anthropomorphic animals stirred his imagination, and he often wrote stories about them.
In a house full of books, Lewis loved to read. The place became an inspiration for his further work.
After a changeable schooling start, in his teen years, Lewis landed at the preparatory school of Cherbourg House.
During this time, Lewis abandoned Christianity and became an atheist, interested in mythology and the occult.
His first college attempt was not successful, and he took education from his father’s former tutor for a while.
During this period, Norse culture, folklore, and mythology became a fascination. He developed an appreciation for the natural world.
His tutor instilled in him a love for Greek culture, folklore and reasoning skills.
In 1916, Lewis was awarded a scholarship at University College, Oxford and a few months later went to fight in World War I.
War horror intensified his atheism.
He was sent back home in December 1918 and soon restarted his studies.
Lewis did not adapt to England and their Anglo-Saxon heritage very well and immersed himself in Irish mythology and literature, particularly W. B. Yeats’s use of Ireland’s Celtic heritage in poetry.
After his conversion to Christianity, his interests gravitated towards Christian theology and away from pagan Celtic mysticism.
He was an enthusiast of a so-called ecumenical Christianity, suggesting a need for unity among Christians.
After returning to Oxford University, he received several degrees in literature, history, and philosophy and became a tutor serving from 1925 to 1954.
After the war, Lewis kept his promise of taking care of “Paddy” Moore’s (his late war buddy) family and became very close to Jane Moore, Paddy’s mother.
Rumors about them being lovers occurred without any confirmation. What is known is that Lewis considered her as a second mother, and they kept close until her death in 1951.
J. R. R. Tolkien, his Oxford colleague, and friend, influenced Lewis’s return to Anglican Christianity.
After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Lewis family took child evacuees from London and other cities into their home. He also helped in the local Home Guard.
From 1941 to 1943, Lewis broadcasted religious programs through BBC while London was under periodic air raids.
During this time, he was invited to become first President of the Oxford Socratic Club, a position he kept until 1954.
In 1954, Lewis took a chair of the newly founded chair of Mediaeval and Renaissance Literature in Cambridge, where he finished his career.
Later in life, C. S. Lewis married a former pen pal, Joy Davidman Gresham
An American separated writer of Jewish background. She was a former Communist and had converted from atheism to Christianity.
Admiring her intellectual prestige, on 23 April 1956, he agreed to enter into a civil marriage contract so she would be able to continue to living in the UK.
After complaining of a painful hip, she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and died on 13 July 1960.
In 1961, Lewis began suffering kidney problems, which resulted in blood poisoning.
On 22 November, after several comes and goes, Lewis died just one week from his 65th birthday.
Coverage of his death was almost entirely blinded by news of US President John F. Kennedy assassination, which occurred on the same day.
Lewis was an influential Christian apologist, in addition to his career as an English professor and an author of fiction.
Here are some of his most prestigious works:
Mere Christianity
The Great Divorce
The Screwtape Letters
A Grief Observed
The Chronicles of Narnia
C. S. Lewis’ Books on this Blog
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
- C. S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian
- The Horse and His Boy
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
They were published in the following order:
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian(1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician’s Nephew(1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)
But current editions number them in this order:
1. The Magician’s Nephew
2. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle
Please leave a comment with your opinion.
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Thank you for your article on CS Lewis, before your article I have never heard of this author or knew anything about him. I do love to read, mainly during the winter season here in Pennsylvania. I will check for some of CS Lewis books to read, if it was not for your article I would not ever thought to read any of this authors books more likely.
Hello, there,
Thanks for your words of support and sharing your thoughts. If you like children’s books, you are in for a great ride.
Cheers!
Being familiar with the name C.S. Lewis, I was very interested in reading his biography. I never knew that he was a Christian turned atheist and apparently converted to Christianity again. Another fact I learned was of C.S. Lewis death on the same day as J.F. Kennedy. I found your article very informative. Thank you!
Hello, Kym,
Thanks for your words of support.
Cheers!
Hello!
It was very interesting reading his biography and just got me thinking of how temporary our lives actually are.
I’ve never paid attention before about the author of “The Chronicles of Narnia”. I’ve seen this movie and all saga of movies, I started to want to watch the saga again and read the actual books.
I bookmarked your website, great content and looking forward for more!
Hello, Jolita,
Thank you for your kind words and support.
Cheers!
What an interesting article about this famous author. I certainly didn’t know what his initials stood for.
My daughter and her husband own a bookshop here in the UK and I’m sure she will be interested in reading about these facts. She likes to have the lowdown on all the leading authors so she can inform her customers.
I’ve never heard of many of the books you list and I will be asking my daughter which ones she has and if she has read any of them. Thanks for this very informative post. Ches
Hello, Ches,
Thank you for sharing your kind words. I hope your daughter likes the website.
Cheers!
Hey Roberto: Thanks for doing the work of putting together the biography for one of my favorite writers. The article is thorough and succinct and I do appreciate knowing the factoids….
A question: How do you select the writers to showcase for a bio like this? Are they your favorites? Is it number of books or the impact these books have had on the world?
Hello, Netta,
Thanks for sharing your kind words.
To answer your question, I must first explain that we do not have a planned project of which books to review. Most of them are books that we like and read or books that publishers send us for uncompromised reviews.
That being said, paradoxically, we do have a plan for writing those mini-biographies. The criteria used is very simple:
CJ, who usually takes care of them, picks up the authors that have at least 2 books reviewed on this new website. (It does not matter if we have a thousand reviews written on the old blog)
We started writing them because we did not want to repeat the authors’ info on every review of their books. It just seemed logical to do this.
I hope that explains it.
Cheers!
Reading through this biography I couldn’t help but snicker at the similarities of the world then and the world now. A brilliant and imaginative mind was still a victim of rumors even 100 years ago. I always find it strange when people that have such a unique mind dies from something such blood poisoning or TB. I know its naive, but the more child like and innocent side of myself sees these types of people as “Superheros”.
Hello, Jennifer,
The you so much for sharing you impressions.
Cheers
This is such a cool article! I never knew Lewis died on 22 November 1963 the same day as John F. Kennedy’s assassination. This article is very informative. I always thought C.S. Lewis was an author.
The fact that he was an enthusiast of a so-called ecumenical Christianity, suggesting a need for unity among Christians is still relevant today!
Its so convenient to find all his books and a bio on this particular author or any for that matter in one location.
Hello, Jamie,
Thanks so much for sharing.
Cheers!
This is a great article on C.S. Lewis in a great book review website!
I never really bothered to learn about his past, so the information was very helpful. I really enjoyed reading screwtape letters and mere Christianity. The crazy thing is that his work is still applicable in our lives today…Somehow he is still relevant! Amazing.
Hello, Dallas,
Thanks so much for your words.
Cheers!
These books do look interesting and I think this time I need to get one of these while I go to buy novels.This author does have some really interesting tales.This is really an informative book review and I think I might even like a few of these stories.
Would keep you updated once I get one of them.
Hello, Shrey,
Thanks for sharing your impressions.
Cheers!
Ah yes! Clive Staples Lewis was a favourite of mine and my children now adults read and watched all The Chronicles of Narnia.His books have been translated into several languages and like Tolkien captivated readers young and old. Lewis was a gifted writer and a very sad loss to the literary world that he was only 48 when he died. You have just reminded me to get back into reading Lewis and Tolkien again. Your web page was a great read.
Hello, Richard,
Thanks you for sharing your experience and kind words. Cheers!
Although I’m not a Christian myself, I can appreciate good books from all perspectives. CS Lewis was often quoted around me growing up but you provided a lot of good information here that I was completely unaware of.
I like how you also have other bios so you don’t have to search on other sites to find that info.
I found myself straying off to the J.K. Rowling bio after I read the one on CS Lewis.
Thank for sharing your opinion, Dom. I hope you enjoy your readings after browsing our website. Cheers!