Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 29th August, 1809. He studied at Harvard University and after graduating in 1836 he practiced medicine for 10 years. He also wrote and achieved national success with Old Ironsides (1830).

In 1847 Holmes became professor of anatomy and physiology at Harvard University. He wrote regularly for The Atlantic Monthly and in 1858 published The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. This was followed by The Professor of the Breakfast Table (1860), Elsie Venner (1861), The Poet of the Breakfast Table (1872), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1885) and Over the Teacups (1891).

Holmes, the father of the Supreme Court judge, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was also dean of the Harvard Medical School (1847-82).

Oliver Wendell Holmes died on 7th October, 1894.

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk