Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) was an English poet and writer. She was born in Durham as the first of eleven children and wrote poetry and dramas from an early age. In 1846, she secretly married the poet Robert Browning; their son Robert was born in 1849. She advocated Italian unity, opposed slavery in the United States, and campaigned against poverty and the suffering of children. She died of a lung illness in 1861.