L. H. Myers
L. H. Myers, born Leopold Hamilton Myers on September 8, 1881, in Cambridge, England, was a notable writer and literary figure. He was the son of Frederic W. H. Myers, a distinguished academic and founding member of the Society for Psychical Research, and Evelyn Tennant Myers, a celebrated beauty and portrait photographer. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Myers left Cambridge after his father's death, which impacted his life and career significantly. He began his literary journey by editing his father's work and penned his own dramatic poem, "Arvat," in 1908.
Myers is best known for his four-part novel series, "The Root and the Flower," set in sixteenth-century India, which examines various spiritual paths through its characters, drawing influences from Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, as well as psychological theories from prominent figures like Freud and Jung. His association with the Bloomsbury Group was brief, as he grew critical of their moral and philosophical outlooks. Active in socialist thought, Myers faced personal struggles and ultimately passed away from a drug overdose in 1944. His literary contributions are recognized for their deep spiritual exploration, earning him accolades such as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
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L. H. Myers
- Born: September 8, 1881
- Birthplace: Cambridge, England
- Died: April 8, 1944
Biography
Leopold Hamilton Myers was born on September 8, 1881, in Cambridge, England, the son of Frederic W. H. Myers and Evelyn Tennant Myers. His father was a Cambridge don and a founding member of the Society for Psychical Research. Frederic W. H. Myers wrote Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, which his son edited after his death. Evelyn Tennant Myers was famous for her beauty, and her portrait was painted by George Frederic Watts and Sir John Everett Millais. She had a photography studio in her home and made portraits of notable people, including Prime Ministers William Gladstone and Arthur Balfour, poet Robert Browning, and actorHenry Irving.
L. H. Myers attended school at Eton. He spent a year in Germany studying the language following his graduation. He then enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. He left college after his father’s death in 1901 without earning his degree. He and his mother traveled in the United States, and there he met Elsie Palmer, an heiress and the daughter of the builder of the Denver- Rio Grande Railroad. He proposed to her, but she did not agree to marry him until 1908; they later had two daughters. Meanwhile, Myers’s godfather died, leaving Myers an inheritance that made him wealthy.
Myers began his literary career by editing his father’s book and composing Arvat (1908), a long dramatic poem. His first novel, The Orissers (1922), took ten years to complete. Following the novel’s modest success, he associated briefly with the Bloomsbury Group, socializing with writers Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, and others. However, he became increasingly critical of these fashionable writers’ moral and philosophical positions, particularly their lack of interest in spirituality.
After his second novel, The Clio (1925), Myers began work on The Root and the Flower, a four-book series for which he is best known. The complete work consists of The Near and the Far (1929), Prince Jali (1931), Rajah Amar, which was published together with the first two books in a volume titled The Root and the Flower (1935), and The Pool of Vishnu (1940). The four volumes were published together as The Near and the Far (1943) in England and as The Root and the Flower (1947) in the United States. The series is set in sixteenth century India and was inspired by Lady Murasaki’s TheTale of Genji. The novels are notable for their thorough appraisals of paths to spiritual enlightenment. Various characters present views of Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The works incorporate the psychological symbolism of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung as well as the psychic theories Myers encountered during his childhood.
Myers advocated communism and critiqued English society during his final years. Increasingly dissatisfied with his life, Myers died from a drug overdose on April 8, 1944. He was the recipient of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Femina-Vie Heureuse Prize in 1936. Myers is remembered for his four-novel series, unique among fiction of the time for its intense exploration of spirituality.