F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September

24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American author of novels and short stories

His works are regarded as the defining writings of the Jazz Age (a term he coined)

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century

Fitzgerald is considered a member of the ‘Lost Generation’ of the 1920s.

He finished four novels. A fifth, unfinished novel was published posthumously.

Early Years

Born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to an upper-middle class family

His parents were Mollie (McQuillan) and Edward Fitzgerald

Family was devout Catholic

Education

Attended Catholic primary schools and a prestigious Catholic high school

Started Princeton in 1914, where he became very involved in literary groups. He ignored his academics and as a result went on academic probation

Fitzgerald dropped out of college in 1917

Army Career

Fitzgerald dropped out of school to join the U.S. Army.

Fitzgerald was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry and assigned to Camp Sheridan outside of Montgomery, Alabama.

The war ended in 1918, before Fitzgerald was ever deployed, and upon his discharge he moved to New York City. 

Zelda Sayre While at a country club, Fitzgerald met and fell in

love with Zelda Sayre, the daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court justice and the "golden girl," in Fitzgerald's terms, of Montgomery youth society. 

Zelda accepted his marriage proposal, but he was unable to convince her that he would be able to support her, leading her to break off the engagement. 

Zelda and Fitzgerald resumed their engagement upon publication of one of his novels in 1919

Fitzgerald and Zelda were married in New York in 1920

Zelda Fitzgerald She was an icon of the 1920s—dubbed by

her husband "the first American Flapper." 

Had a volatile personality, which would be later diagnosed as bipolar disorder

During her first stay in a sanatorium, she wrote a novel, which was closely based on her tumultuous relationship with her husband

She died in 1948 in a fire

Marriage and Family Life As newlyweds, the Fitzgeralds lived the life of

lavish celebrities in New York Their only child, Frances Scott (Scottie)

Fitzgerald, was born in 1921 They had a marriage filled with jealousy,

Fitzgerald’s alcoholism and Zelda’s mental illness.

During their marriage they lived in Rome, France (The Riviera and Paris), Switzerland and different parts of America

Their daughter went to boarding school at the age of 14

The Fitzgeralds became estranged in 1937, with Fitzgerald moving to Hollywood and starting a new relationship while Zelda spent the rest of her life in and out of mental hospitals

The Jazz Age

The Fitzgeralds went to France in the spring of 1924 .

Paris in the 1920s proved the most influential decade of Fitzgerald's development.

The Fitzgeralds made several trips to Europe, mostly Paris and the French Riviera, and became friends with many members of the American expatriate community in Paris, notably writer Ernest Hemingway. 

Hollywood In 1937, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood

Besides writing, he also started to get involved in the film industry.

Spent the second half of the 1930s in Hollywood, working on commercial short stories and scripts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

 In 1939, MGM ended the contract, and Fitzgerald became a freelance screenwriter.

Illness and Death

Fitzgerald suffered from severe alcoholism

He became notorious during the 1920s for his extraordinarily heavy drinking, leaving him in poor health by the late 1930s

Fitzgerald suffered two heart attacks. After the first, he was ordered by his doctor to avoid strenuous exertion. He moved in with his girlfriend after the first heart attack

He suffered a second heart attack in 1940 which was fatal. He was 44 years old when he died.

His Works (Novels)

This Side of Paradise (1920)

The Beautiful and Damned (1922)

The Great Gatsby (1925)

Tender Is the Night  (1934)

The Love of the Last Tycoon – originally The Last Tycoon – (unfinished, published posthumously, 1941)