Robert Graves - Novelist & Poet
Author of "I Claudius" & resident of Deia
Robert Graves was a British author, born in London (1895) but who lived in Deia on the west coast of Mallorca from 1929 until he died in 1985.
He began his writing whilst at school at Charterhouse where he experienced bullying. He was due to go to Oxford University but the First World War broke out in 1914 and Graves enlisted in the army. It was here that he became known as one of the first war poets, along with Siegfried Sassoon who was in his regiment.
His traumatic wartime experiences meant he took refuge in his writing, and he finally attended Oxford in 1919, studying English. By this time he was married to Nancy Nicholson with whom he had four children, but he soon had an affair with the poet Laura Riding and they ran off together to live in Deia, Mallorca.
It was here that he wrote many of his literary works, including I Claudius, his most successful commercial work. Graves and Riding left Mallorca in 1936 when the Spanish Civil War broke out and went to live in the USA. Their relationship fizzled out and Graves returned to England and married his second wife, Beryl Hodge. In 1946, they moved back to Deia.
Many other works were written and published, including The Greek Myths, a translation of the Rubaiyat (which proved to be highly controversial) and a collection of letters between Graves and Spike Milligan called Dear Robert, Dear Spike.
Towards the end of his life, he suffered from memory loss and died from heart failure on 7th December 1985. He is buried in the churchyard of Deia, which overlooks the sea. His house in Deia, Ca N'Alluny is now a museum devoted to his life.
