The English poetess, Elizabeth Barrett Browning died on 29th June 1861 in Florence.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning had spent 15 years living in Italy with her husband, the poet Robert Browning, after being disinherited by her father who disapproved of their marriage.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning spent 15 years living in Italy with her husband, the poet Robert Browning. Her father disinherited her as he disapproved of their marriage. The Brownings’ home in Florence, Casa Guidi, is now a memorial to the two poets. Their only child, Robert Weidemann Barrett Browning, known as Pen, was born there in 1849.
Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. She enjoyed popularity in both Britain and the United States during her lifetime. From around the age of 15, she suffered from health problems and lived a quiet life in her father’s house, focusing on her writing. A volume of her poems, published in 1844, inspired Robert Browning to send her a letter praising her work.
Marriage and life with Robert Browning
Their legendary courtship began in secret after they were introduced by a mutual acquaintance. They married in 1846, and after Elizabeth spent a week in her father’s home, they fled to Italy. Settling in Florence, they continued to write, inspired by art, the Tuscan landscape, and their interactions with other writers and artists.
In 1851, Barrett Browning wrote “Casa Guidi Windows,” expressing her personal impressions of political events in Italy. The poets lived in Siena for a time. There Barrett Browning wrote poetry supporting the Italian struggle for independence from foreign rule.
As her health declined, they returned to Florence.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning died in her husband’s arms on June 29, 1861, at the age of 55. She is buried in the Protestant English Cemetery in Florence.
