Author Benson Arthur Christopher

Arthur Christopher Benson (24 April 1862 – 17 June 1925) was a British essayist, poet and author, and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Benson was one of six children of Edward White Benson, a late nineteenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. An uncle of the family was philosopher Henry Sidgwick. The Benson family was exceptionally literate and accomplished, but their history was somewhat tragic. A son and daughter died young, and another daughter, as well as Arthur himself, suffered badly from a mental condition that was probably manic-depressive psychosis, which they had inherited from their father. None of the children ever married. He was gay, though his diaries suggest he had few or no sexual relationships.[1] Despite his illness, Arthur was a distinguished academic and a most prolific author. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge.[2] From 1885 to 1903 he taught at Eton, returning to Cambridge to lecture in English literature for Magdalene College. F