Hugh Lofting
Hugh Lofting | |
|---|---|
 Lofting in 1935 | |
| Born | Hugh John Lofting 14 January 1886 Maidenhead, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 26 September 1947 (aged 61) |
Resting place | Evergreen Cemetery, Killingworth, Connecticut, US |
| Occupations | Novelist, poet |
| Spouses | Flora Werner Small
(m. 1912; died 1928)Katherine Ganson Harrower
(m. 1928; died 1929)Josephine Fricker (m. 1935) |
| Children | 3 |
| Writing career | |
| Genres | Children's literature, fantasy |
| Notable work | Doctor Dolittle series |
| Notable awards | Newbery Medal 1923 |
Hugh John Lofting (14 January 1886 – 26 September 1947) was an English-American writer, trained as a civil engineer, who created the classic children's literature character Doctor Dolittle. The fictional physician talking to animals, based in an English village, first appeared in illustrated letters to his children which Lofting sent from British Army trenches in the First World War. Lofting settled in the United States soon after the war and before his first book was published.