"LewisCarroll,"creatorofthebrilliantlywittyAlice'sAdventuresinWonderland,wasapseudonymforCharlesLutwidgeDodgson,ashyOxforddonwithastammer.
HewasbornatDaresbury,CheshireonJanuary27,1832,sonofavicar.Astheeldestboyamongelevenchildren,helearnedearlytoamusehissiblingsbywritingandeditingfamilymagazines.HewaseducatedatChristChurchCollege,Oxford,wherehelecturedinmathematicsfrom1855to1881.In1861hewasordainedasadeacon.
Dodgson'sentryintotheworldoffictionwasaccidental.Ithappenedone"goldenafternoon"asheescortedhiscolleague'sthreedaughtersonatripuptheriverIsis.Thereheinventedthestorythatmighthavebeenforgottenifnotforthepersistenceoftheyoungestgirl,AliceLiddell.Thankstoher,andtoherencouragingfriends,Alicewaspublishedin1865,withdrawingsbythepoliticalcartoonist,JohnTenniel.AfterAlice,DodgsonwrotePhantasmagoriaandOtherPoems(1869),ThroughtheLooking-Glass(1871),TheHuntingofShark(1876,andRhyme?andReason?(1883).
AsamathematicianDodgsonisbestknownforEuclidandHisModernRivals(1879).Hewasalsoasuperbchildren'sphotographer,whocapturedthedelicate,sensuousbeautyofsuchlittlegirlsasAliceLiddellandEllenTerry,thefutureactress.W.H.Audencalledhim"oneofthebestportraitphotographerofthecentury."Dodgsonwasalsoaninventor;hisprojectsincludedagameofarithmeticcroquet,asubstituteforglue,andanapparatusformakingnotesinthedark.Thoughhesoughtpublicationforhislightverse,heneverdreamedhistruegift–tellingstoriestochildren–meritedpublicationorlastingfame,andheavoidedpublicityscrupulouslyCharlesDodgsondiedin1898ofinfluenza.