The Most Famous Georgian Era Female Author

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in Hampshire, England as the seventh child to Cassandra and George Austen. While not widely known in her own time, her reputation skyrocketed in the 20th century.

When Jane was young, she and her siblings were encouraged to read from their father's extensive library. The children also authored and put on plays and charades.In order to acquire a more formal education, Jane and Cassandra were sent to boarding schools during Jane's pre-adolescence. Fascinated by the world of stories, Jane began to write in bound notebooks. In the 1790s, during her adolescence, she started to craft her own novels and wrote Love and Friendship, a parody of romantic fiction organized as a series of love letters. The next year she wrote The History of England, a 34-page parody of historical writing that included illustrations drawn by Cassandra. These notebooks, encompassing the novels as well as short stories, poems and plays, are now referred to as Jane's Juvenilia.

She continued to write, developing her style in more ambitious works such as Lady Susan, another epistolary story about a manipulative woman who uses her sexuality, intelligence and charm to have her way with others. Jane also started to write some of her future major works, the first called Elinor and Marianne, another story told as a series of letters, which would eventually be published as Sense and Sensibility. She began drafting First Impressions, which would later be published as Pride and Prejudice, and Susan, later published as Northanger Abbey by Jane's brother, Henry, following Jane's death.

In 1801, Jane moved to Bath. Then, in 1805, her father died after a short illness. As a result, the family was thrust into financial straits. It was not until 1809 that they were able to settle into a stable living situation at Jane's brother Edward's cottage in Chawton.

Now in her 30s, Jane started to anonymously publish her works. In the period spanning 1811-1816, she pseudonymously published Sense and Sensibility,Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma.

In 1816, at the age of 41, Jane started to become ill with what some say might have been Addison's disease. She made impressive efforts to continue working at a normal pace, editing older works as well as start a new novel called The Brothers, which would be published after her death as Sanditon. At some point, Jane's condition deteriorated to such a degree that she ceased writing. She died on July 18, 1817, in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

While Austen received accolades for her works while still alive, it was not until after her death that her brother Henry revealed to the public that she was an author.

Today, Austen is considered to be one of the greatest writers in English history, both by academics and the general public. In 2002, as part of a BBC poll, the British public voted her No. 70 on a list of "100 Most Famous Britons of All Time." Austen's transformation from little-known to internationally renowned author began in the 1920s, when scholars began to recognize her works as masterpieces, thus increasing her general popularity.

Adapted from Bio.