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Oliver Goldsmith, oil painting from the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1770; in the National … (credit: Courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery, London)

(born Nov. 10, 1730, Kilkenny West, County Westmeath, Ire. — died April 4, 1774, London, Eng.) Irish-born British essayist, poet, novelist, and dramatist. Goldsmith attended Trinity College in Dublin before studying medicine in Edinburgh. Settling in London, he began writing essays, some of which were collected in The Citizen of the World (1762). In 1764 he became an original member of Samuel Johnson's famous Club. He won a reputation as a poet with The Traveller (1764), confirmed by his famous pastoral elegy The Deserted Village (1770). The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) revealed his skill as a novelist. The charming farce She Stoops to Conquer (1773) was his most effective play. Noted for his exceptionally graceful, lively style, Goldsmith was a friend of many literary lights of his day, who agreed that he was one of the oddest personalities of his time.

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