A Brief Biography of the Author of The Great Tradition

F.R. Leavis (1895-1978)

British literary criticism.He taught at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, from 1925, retired in 1962, taught at a number of British universities, gave the Clark Lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1967, and was made an honorary peer in 1978.

Leavis believed that literature should be closely linked to a critique of life, and that the role of the literary critic was to evaluate works according to the author's moral stance; the quarterly review, The Fine Scrutiny, which he founded with his wife, Dorothy, between 1932 and 1953, is considered by many to be his greatest contribution to English literature. His representative works include New Directions in English Poetry (1932), The Tradition and Development of English Poetry (1936), The Great Tradition (1948), and The Quest for ****same (1952).