Edward Fitzgerald

Edward FitzGerald or Fitzgerald (31 March 1809 – 14 June 1883) was an English poet and writer. His most famous poem is the first and best-known English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which has kept its reputation and popularity since the 1860s.

Edward FitzGerald was born into an Irish family as Edward Purcell at Bredfield House in Bredfield, some two miles north of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, in 1809. In 1818, his Irish father, John Purcell, assumed the name and arms of his wife's family, the FitzGeralds of County Waterford. His elder brother John used the surname Purcell-Fitzgerald from 1858.

The change of family name occurred shortly after FitzGerald's mother inherited a second fortune. She had previously inherited over half a million pounds from an aunt, but in 1818, her father died and left her considerably more than that. The FitzGeralds were one of the wealthiest families in England. Edward FitzGerald later commented that all of his relatives were mad; further, that he was insane as well, but was at least aware of the fact.