The Google Doodle on Thursday celebrated writer and feminist icon Virginia Woolf’s 136th birth anniversary. Born Adeline Virginia Stephen in Kensington, London, in 1882, she is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest novelists and essayists.
Woolf began to write at an early age, with her first piece published at the age of 22. She and her husband Leonard, whom she married in 1912, were part of an influential group of writers – known as the Bloomsbury Group – in London during the early 20th century.
Her first novel The Voyage Out was published in 1915. Her other works include Night and Day (1919), Between the Acts (1941), Mrs Dalloway (1925), To The Lighthouse (1925) and Orlando (1928).
“Woolf’s lyrical writing thrived on the introspection of her characters, revealing the complex emotions underlying seemingly mundane events,” Google said. “Created by London-based illustrator Louise Pomeroy, today’s Doodle celebrates Woolf’s minimalist style — her iconic profile surrounded by the falling autumn leaves.”
Nicole Kidman won an Oscar for portraying Woolf in the 2002 film The Hours, an adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that was a tribute to Woolf and Mrs Dalloway.
Throughout her life, she suffered a number of psychotic episodes, which began with her mother’s death in 1895. She suffered an even more serious breakdown after her father’s death in 1904. On March 28, 1941, she drowned herself in the river Ouse near her home in Sussex, and her body was not found for three weeks.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!