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Swift, Jonathan (1667 - 1745): Anglo-Irish clergyman, poet, and satirist.

Born in Dublin, he became an Anglican priest in 1695 and served as secretary to Sir William Temple in England, where he met Hester Johnson (1681-1728), the Stella of his letters recounting his life in London and later collected as Journal to Stella (1710-13). He was also close to Esther Vanhomrigh (1690-1723), whom he called Vanessa in his writings. While in England, he wrote the satire A Tale of a Tub (1704) and became the leading Tory political journalist from about 1710. After the accession of George I in 1714 and the fall of the Tories, he returned to Dublin, where he had been appointed dean of St Patrick's Cathedral. During this period he concerned himself with Irish affairs and wrote his satirical masterpiece, Gulliver's Travels (1726), the story of an imaginary voyage. His last years were clouded by illness and mental decay.

The Macmillan Encyclopedia, © Market House Books Ltd 2003



Konnbronn...

Le mot de Cambronne:

Fr - When General Cambronne was asked to surrender at Waterloo, he is reported to have said Merde!-a mildly indecent expletive. His response was altered by popular accounts to read, La garde meurt ... (q. v.)

Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Abbreviations, © Kevin Guinagh 1983