Edward FitzGerald

Edward FitzGerald (1809–1883) was an English poet and writer, best known for his influential English rendering of *Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám*. Born in Suffolk and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he moved in literary circles that included Alfred Tennyson and William Makepeace Thackeray. FitzGerald published several translations and adaptations from Spanish and Persian sources, but the *Rubáiyát*—first issued anonymously in 1859—became his enduring achievement, admired for its musical language and reflective tone. Though he lived quietly for much of his life, his work helped shape Victorian tastes for Eastern poetry and philosophical verse.