A famous writer of the 21st Century, Doris Lessing is the oldest person to ever win a Nobel Prize in Literature. Lessing took home the elite honor in 2007, she is also only the eleventh female to ever win the price. The Swiss Academy described Lessing as “that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny.”

Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in 1919 to Alfred Tayler and Emily Maude Tayler. Both of Lessings parents were of British and English nationality. While growing up, the Tayler family lived in Persia (currently Iran), and Southern Rhodesia (currently Zimbabwe). The writer received her education at Roman Catholic convent school, Dominican Convent High School. Lessing studied at the school until she was 13. After that, she continued her education on her own. When she was 15, Lessing left home to become a nursemaid. It was during this time she began nurturing her interest in reading and writing, thanks for material provided to her by her employer.

After the nursemaid job, Lessing moved back to her hometown and took a position as a telephone operator. In 1937, she married Frank Wisdom. The couple later had two children. The marriage concluded in 1943. Newly single, Lessing took up an interest in a communist book club. It was through the Left Book Club that she met her second husband, Gottfried Lessing. The couple had a child together prior to their marriage. This relationship too, however, was short lived and the two divorced in 1949.

By this point in her life, Lessing had acquired a significant taste for writing. She moved to London that same year and wrote her first novel, The Grass Is Singing. In 1962, she published her breakthrough novel, The Golden Notebook. Lessing is best known for writing fiction novels. Her work has consistently focused on three themes – communist, psychological, and science fiction.

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