Burney Burney English writer Date of Birth: 13.06.1752 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Fanny Burney

Fanny Burney was an English writer born on June 13, 1752, in King's Lynn, Norfolk. Her father, a fashionable musician and music teacher, later became a renowned composer. In 1760, he relocated the family to London, where he had longstanding connections in literary, artistic, and theatrical circles.

Fanny began keeping a systematic diary in March 1768, which she continued for over seventy years. Her diary revealed her acute observation skills, exceptional memory, talent for mimicry, ability to notice the amusing, and concern for the rules of social etiquette.

In 1778, Fanny Burney anonymously published the novel "Evelina," which was extremely well-received. Her authorship was soon revealed. Following her father's advice, the young writer abstained from publishing the play "The Witlings." Her second novel, "Cecilia; or Memoirs of an Heiress" (1782), did not achieve the same level of success.

In 1792, Burney met royalist emigrants who had fled from revolutionary France, and in July 1793, she married Chevalier Alexandre d'Arblay. In the county of Surrey, where the newlyweds resided, Madame d'Arblay wrote the moral novel "Camilla; or Picture of Youth" (1796). In 1802, she traveled to Paris to join her husband, who hoped to salvage at least part of his fortune. The Napoleonic blockade of England delayed their return for ten years.

Returning alone to England in 1814, Burney published the novel "Wanderer; or Female Difficulties" – a weak work, but one that brought her income. During the Hundred Days, she was once again on the European continent. General d'Arblay, who fought on the side of the royalists, sustained injuries from which he never fully recovered. He passed away in May 1818, and the widow soon moved to London.

In her later years, Burney only published "Memoirs of Doctor Burney..." (1832). She passed away on January 6, 1840.

Fanny Burney's literary works did not always bring success. In 1790-1791, she wrote four tragedies in blank verse. One of them, "Edwy and Elgiva," featuring the famous Sarah Siddons, was staged by R.B. Sheridan at Drury Lane. The production failed, and the play was immediately withdrawn. There were also four unpublished comedies, including "A Busy Day" – a lively, realistic, and original moral comedy.

Her most significant and notable work remains "Evelina; or Young Lady's Entrance into the World," a novel in letters that exudes the genre's casualness.