Bram Stoker

Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish writer, barrister, literary critic, and theatre manager. He was the author of the Gothic horror novel Dracula (1897) and the creator of the fictional character Count Dracula. The work and its antagonist are regarded as milestones in the fields of Gothic and vampire literature. Stoker was the third of seven children and was bedridden for the first seven years of his life with an undiagnosed illness. He received his initial education at home, before enrolling at Trinity College Dublin in 1864. He excelled as a rugby athlete and was a prominent member of both the university's student union and the philosophical society. It was also during this period that Stoker was introduced to literature, becoming the auditor of the society and writing his first paper. During the early part of his career, Stoker spent ten years in the civil service at Dublin Castle, during which time he was also a drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. Following this, he was employed as a theatre critic for several newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph, and occasionally wrote short stories and theatre commentaries. During his life, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and the business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned. During his time as a theatre critic, Stoker founded the "Dublin Sketching Club" in 1879, which dealt mostly with art collections. He regularly travelled during his