Phyllis Wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley (born around 1753, died 1784) - an American poet, of African descent. She was the first African-American author who won recognition in the United States.

At the age of seven she was kidnapped from Senegal or Gambia and sold into slavery to America. Because she was seriously ill, the merchant wanted to get rid of her quickly. Susanna Wheatley took the girl. She grew up in her and her husband John Wheatley's home and received his name. Wheatley, however, used it for housework, they took care of her education, especially in literacy, which determined her literary career. Phyllis, as a child, learned not only English, but also some Greek and Latin. She got acquainted with the Bible and the works of the classics. She wrote the first poem, To the University of Cambridge, at the age of fourteen. Her first published song was On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield (1770). On August 18, Phyllis was baptized at the Old South Meeting House, which was an exceptional event, because the slaves were denied priestly ministry in the churches. In 1772, Boston publishing house refused to publish a poet's volume for racial reasons. John Wheatley sent a manuscript to Great Britain, to the publisher Archibald Bella, who presented it to Selinie Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. In view of Phyllis's poor health, the family doctor recommended her going to England with Nathaniel, the son of Wheatley. when in 1773 a poet's poems entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) appeared in England, it became a social attraction. In 1774, after the death of his wife, John Wheatley officially released Phyllis. In 1778, Phyllis married John Peters. She gave birth to three children. Two of them died during her lifetime. The third survived it very briefly. Phyllis Wheatley died in Boston on December 5, 1784.

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