Poet, nuvelist, scriitor de piese de teatru si povestiri scurte.
Nascut in Dublin la 16 octombrie 1854
Membru al Francmasoneriei

A absolvit Oxford-ul in anul 1878, imediat dupa aceea mutandu-se in Londra

Sustinator al conceptului "arta de dragul artei" a devenit in scurt timp un propovaduitor al curentului pe care englezii l-au numit "Aestheticism"

In 1890 apare singurul roman al lui Oscar Wilde: "The Portrait of Dorian Gray"

In lumea teatrului s-a facut cunoscut in perioada 1892-1895 cu piese precum: Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

In urma unor zvonuri conform carora Wilde (casatorit si cu doi copii) avea o relatie intima cu poetul Alfred Douglas a ajuns sa fie judecat pentru homosexualitate (ilegala la acea vreme) si condamnat la doi ani de inchisoare.

Dupa eliberarea sa, in 1897, a scris "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" in care vorbea despre conditiile inumane din inchisorile prin care trecuse.

Trei ani mai tarziu, la varsta de 46 de ani trece la Romano-Catolicism si, in scurt timp (30 Noiembrie 1900), moare la Paris, intr-un hotel. Desi diagnosticul a fost meningo-encefalita, au fost oameni care au sustinut ca scriitorul ar fi fost sifilitic.

Citate celebre:

There is only one thing in the world that is worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

The aim of life is self-development. To realize one"™s nature perfectly"”that is what each of us is here for.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability.

The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

I am not young enough to know everything.

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.

Andrei Rosca