Author

This webpage is about the author of the Chronicles of Narnia.

BASICS

 His full name is Clive Staples Lewis, but he is commonly called C.S. Lewis. Born in Ireland on November 29, 1898, he was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist! Clive was good friends with J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings.

FAMILY

 His father was Albert James Lewis, and his mother was Florence Augusta Lewis. He had an elder brother, whose full name was Warren Hamilton Lewis.

CHILDHOOD FASCINATION

Lewis had a charm with anthropomorphic animals, loving Beatrix Potter's stories. He loved to read, often writing and illustrating his own animal stories. He and his brother Warnie created the world of Boxen, which was filled and ruled by animals.

EDUCATION

Lewis got his education from private tutors for a while. After that, he was sent to the Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire, in 1908. Lewis then attended Campbell College, but he left a few months later, due to respiratory problems. He was then sent to the health-resort town of Malvern, in Worcestershire, where he went to the preparatory school Cherbourg House. In September 1913, Lewis enrolled at Malvern College, where he stayed only until the following June. In 1916, Lewis was awarded a scholarship at University College, Oxford.

WAR

Clive left his studies, in 1917, to volunteer in the British Army. During World War I, he was sent into the Third Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. Lewis arrived at the front line in the Somme Valley in France on his nineteenth birthday, and experienced trench warfare. On 15 April the next year, Lewis was wounded and two of his colleagues were killed. He suffered from depression and homesickness during his convalescence. Upon his recovery in October, he was assigned to duty in England. He was demobilized in December 1918, and soon returned to his studies.

RELIGION

C.S. Lewis was born to a Christian family, but, in late boyhood, he became an atheist. Lewis began to love Norse, Greek, and the Irish language. When he converted  back to Christianity, his interests moved away from pagan Celtic mysticism.

WRITER

Lewis was a prolific writer, and his circle of literary friends became discussion society known as the "Inklings", including J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord David Cecil, Charles Williams, and his brother Warren Lewis. At least one person points to December 1929 as the Inklings' beginning date. Lewis's friendship with Coghill and Tolkien grew during their time as members of the Kolbítar, an Old Norse reading group Tolkien founded. He wrote many books besides Narnia, including Mere Christianity, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength.