Lord Byron (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824)

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The memoirs of George Gordon Noel Byron, sixth baron Byron of Rochdale, Lord Byron, were considered so scandalous that they were burned upon his death. However there’s still plenty of evidence that the foremost poet of the Romantic movement was bisexual. Of a fellow student at Trinity College, John Edleston, Byron wrote, "I certainly love him more than any human being." Of young Lord Clare: "I never hear the word ‘Clare’ without a beating of The heart even now." And of French-Greek youth Nicolo Giraud: "[he is] The most beautiful being I have ever beheld."

In a letter to John Cam Hobhouse about Giraud, on August 23rd, 1810, Byron wrote, "It is about two hours since, that, after informing me he was most desirous to follow him (that is me) over the world, he concluded by telling me it was proper for us not only to live, but morire insieme [to die together]. The latter I hope to avoid—as much of the former as he pleases."

Byron was a man of action with a prodigious sexual appetite. His lovers included young Lords Clare and Dorset while at school, and youthful valets and handsome fifteen-year-old Greek boys later in life. Much of Byron’s early poetry was inspired by his love for these boys.

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among Byron's best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and the short lyric "She Walks in Beauty." He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.

He travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died at age 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece.

Byron was celebrated in life for aristocratic excesses, including huge debts, numerous love affairs, rumours of a scandalous incestuous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile. It has been speculated that he suffered from bipolar I disorder.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron

Further Readings:

The Love Affairs of Lord Byron by Francis Gribble and Des Gahan
Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (January 11, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1481954474
ISBN-13: 978-1481954471
Amazon: The Love Affairs of Lord Byron

Lord Byron had earned himself a reputation of being extravagant, melancholic, courageous, unconventional, eccentric, flamboyant and controversial. He was known for his independent nature and extremes of temper. His personal life was full of affairs and scandals. His first love includes his distant cousins Mary Duff and Margaret Parker. He was also attracted to Mary Chaworth, whom he met, while at Harrow. His affair with the married Lady Caroline Lamb shocked the British public. Lord Byron was also accused of incest, due to a possible love affair with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh. It was even assumed that Leigh’s third daughter, Elizabeth Medora Leigh was the child of Lord Byron. Eventually, Byron courted Lady Caroline's cousin Anne Isabella Milbanke and married her on January 2, 1815 at Seaham Hall, County Durham. The couple had a daughter, Ada Lovelace born in 1815. The married life of Lord Byron was not happy and following the rumors of marital violence, adultery, incest and sodomy, he left his wife and England in 1816. His other affairs include Claire Clairmont, Marianna Segati, Margarita Cogni and the young Countess Guiccioli. With Claire Clairmont he had an illegitimate child in 1817, Clara Allegra Byron. Death After falling ill on February 15, 1824, Lord Byron was given the remedy of bloodletting which weakened him further. Before he could make any considerable recovery, he caught a violent cold. It was believed that the unsterilised medical instrumentation developed sepsis in him. Following a violet fever, Byron breathed his last on April 19, 1824.