Henry
Havelock Ellis,
the son of a sea captain, was born in Croydon in 1859. He travelled
widely in Australia and South America before studying
medicine at St.
Thomas's Hospital in London.
In 1883 Ellis joined a socialist debating group established by Edith
Nesbit and Hubert Bland. In January,
1884, the group became known as the Fabian Society.
At these meetings Ellis met several people who were to have a dramatic
influence on British culture. This included Annie
Besant, Graham Wallas, George
Bernard Shaw, Edward Carpenter,
Walter Crane, H. G.
Wells, Sidney Webb and Beatrice
Webb.
Havelock Ellis, like several members of the Fabian
Society, was a supporter of sexual liberation. His interests in
human biology and his own personal experiences, led Havelock Ellis
to write his six volume Studies in the Psychology
of Sex. The books, published between 1897 and 1910 caused
tremendous controversy and were banned for several years.
Other books written by Havelock Ellis included The
New Spirit (1890), Man and Woman
(1894) Sexual Inversion (1897)
and The Erotic Rights of Women
(1918). Henry Havelock Ellis died in 1939. His autobiography, My
Life was published posthumously in 1940.
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
