Don't You Want Somebody to Love? Quiz

Answer: J.R.R. Tolkien

Edith Bratt was born in 1889 from her mother's relationship with a Birmingham businessman. By the time Edith turned 14, both her parents had died. After a few years in boarding school, her guardian found her lodging at a boarding house in Birmingham. There, in 1908, 19-year-old Edith met 16-year-old John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, who was also an orphan. The two young people became close friends and eventually fell in love. However, Ronald's guardian, Father Morgan, worried that his charge might neglect his studies, forbade any contact between the two before Ronald turned 21. Edith moved to Cheltenham, where she got engaged to a friend's brother. In early 1913, however, Ronald turned 21 and wrote to her, asking her to marry him. Edith accepted and broke off her engagement, becoming engaged to Ronald only a week later. The pair got married on 22 March 1916 - shortly before Ronald left to serve in WWI on the Western Front.

Edith and Ronald had four children, one of whom, Christopher, became an academic like his father and was responsible for publishing much of his work posthumously. Not everything was moonlight and roses between them, as they were very different people with different interests. Edith, who had dreamed of becoming a concert pianist, was not an intellectual and felt uncomfortable in Ronald's academic milieu. She often felt lonely and left out of Ronald's circle of close male friends, which included another influential writer, C.S. Lewis. However, there was a genuine bond of love and respect between the pair, which grew stronger as they grew older.

When Edith died on 29 November 1971, Ronald was devastated and outlived her by less than two years. Their headstone in Oxford's Wolvercote Cemetery bears the names "Beren" and "Lúthien" - the main characters of one of Tolkien's best-known stories from his Middle-earth legendarium. The character of the beautiful elf-maid, who renounces immortality for love of a mortal man, was inspired by Edith and a tender moment shared by the couple in a woodland glade during a brief respite from the war.

Answer: Claude Monet

Claude Monet had married Camille Doncieux in 1870 after living with her for a few years. The young woman, who was a frequent subject of the artist's early paintings, became ill a few years later and passed away in 1879, at the age of 32. During the last two years of Camille's life the Monets shared a house in the village of Vétheuil, northeast of Paris, with the family of Ernest Hoschedé, a wealthy businessman and art collector who had commissioned several paintings from the artist before going bankrupt. His wife Alice (born in 1844, and thus only four years younger than Monet) nursed Camille during her illness, and her friendship was of great comfort to Monet and his two young sons.

At that difficult time of Monet's life, love grew between him and Alice. Her presence at his side motivated him to resume painting. The two blended families (Alice's six children and Monet's two) moved to Giverny in 1883. The house with its beautiful gardens provided not only a stable, serene environment for the painter, but also plenty of inspiration for his work. In addition, Alice's upper-middle-class background and her firm but warm-hearted handling of their brood of children made the Monet family respectable in the eyes of the villagers. However, for years Monet lived with the fear of that Alice might go back to her husband, who lived in Paris because of his work as a journalist. When Ernest died in 1891, the pair were free to marry. Sadly, Monet outlived his second wife too: Alice died of leukemia in 1911, leaving him heartbroken. He outlived her by 15 years, dying of lung cancer in 1926 at the age of 86.

Answer: Robert Schumann

Clara Wieck was born in 1819 in Leipzig (Kingdom of Saxony). When her parents got divorced, five-year-old Clara remained with her father, a rigid, controlling man who planned her life meticulously, but also gave her daily piano lessons and made sure she received an extensive musical education. Clara made her debut as a pianist in 1828 at age nine, and in the same year she met 18-year-old Robert Schumann, another gifted pianist from Saxony. In the intervening years, Clara became an accomplished performer and toured Europe, accompanied by her father. Schumann proposed to her in 1837, when she was 18, but her father refused permission, so the pair sued him and were eventually allowed to marry in 1840, on the day before she turned 21.

Beyond the fairytale aspects of their romance, Clara and Robert Schumann enjoyed a true artistic and personal partnership - even keeping a diary of their life together. Marriage brought stability to Schumann's life and constant inspiration for his musical endeavours. On the other hand, Clara - who was the better-known of the two - sacrificed part of her career to motherhood, as the couple had eight children together. Sadly, their happiness was disrupted by Robert's severe mental health issues, which also affected his physical condition. After years of ups and downs, Robert's health took a turn for the worse in early 1854, when he attempted suicide by throwing himself in the Rhine and was committed to a private sanatorium. In the following two and a half years, Clara was only able to see him once - two days before he died of pneumonia at the age of 46.

In those difficult years, Clara found support and solace in her friendship with another great German composer, Johannes Brahms, whom the pair had befriended in 1853. Brahms, who was 17 years younger than Clara, was in love with her, but she chose not to marry him (or anyone else) to devote herself to her large family and musical career. Clara Wieck continued to perform, write and teach music for decades. When she died in 1896, at the age of 76, she was buried in Bonn next to her husband.

Answer: George Eliot

In 1851, 32-year-old Mary Ann Evans - who would achieve everlasting fame with the pseudonym of George Eliot - was living in London and writing for the radical journal "The Westminster Review". Through her commitment to progressive causes, she met philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes, who was two years her senior. Lewes was married to Agnes Jervis, with whom he had an open marriage. Evans and Lewes became close and in 1854 decided to live together, as Lewes was unable to divorce his wife. In the same year, they traveled together to Germany for research purposes, regarding the trip as a honeymoon of sorts.

Despite the scandal, the couple refused to hide their unconventional (for that time) relationship and considered themselves married. Mary Ann referred to Lewes as her husband and signed her name as Mary Ann Evans Lewes - legally assuming the name after Lewes' death. She even adopted Lewes' first name as part of her pen name when she started writing and publishing her own fiction. The relationship was beneficial to both parties, as Evans blossomed as a novelist and wrote most of her finest work during the 25 years she spent at Lewes' side. By the time her first complete novel, "Adam Bede", was published in 1859, her real identity had been revealed: however, her increasing popularity caused the scandal attached to her private life to fade relatively quickly. As for Lewes, the stability he gained by having Evans in his life helped him to produce what is regarded as his best work, "Life of Goethe" (1855).

After suffering from poor health for a couple of years, Lewes died in 1878. Eighteen months later, Evans, herself not in the best of health, married her long-time friend John Walter Cross, whose companionship had been of great comfort to her in her bereavement. She died after a few months, on 22 December 1880, at the age of 61. She is buried next to Lewes in Highgate Cemetery, not far from the grave of Karl Marx.

Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson

Born in 1840 in Indianapolis, Fanny Vandegrift came from a modest family. At the age of 17 she married Samuel Osbourne, a member of the state governor's staff. After the American Civil War, Fanny and her daughter Isobel joined her husband in a silver mining town in Nevada, facing a long journey and then difficult living conditions - which, however, taught her self-reliance. The family then moved to California, where the couple had two more children. Their marriage, however, did not survive Osbourne's constant philandering, and in 1875 Fanny left him for good, moving to Europe with her children.

When living in northern France, where she supported herself and her children with her writing, Fanny met Robert Louis Stevenson. The two formed a deep attachment: when in the summer of 1879 Fanny went back to her husband in California, he followed her there despite his family's opposition and nearly died during the grueling journey. Fanny, whose health had also been impacted by the emotional rollercoaster, eventually decided to divorce Osbourne. Stevenson and Fanny got married in San Francisco in May 1880, and a few months later moved to Great Britain. The family moved several times to find a favourable climate for Stevenson, whose health was poor. In 1888 they sailed to Western Samoa, where they spent a few happy years before Stevenson's sudden death in 1894, at the age of 44.

Fanny outlived her husband by twenty years, passing away in 1914. Her ashes were taken to Western Samoa by her daughter Isobel and are buried next to Stevenson's on top of Mount Vaea. The plaque over her grave bears her Samoan name, Aolele ("Flying Cloud").

Answer: D. H. Lawrence

Frieda von Richthofen was born in 1879 in Metz (now in France) from a noble German family; the famous WWI ace known as the Red Baron was a distant relative of hers. At the age of 20 she married Ernest Weekley, a British professor of modern languages, who was 14 years older than her. The couple had three children together and settled in Nottingham, where Ernest taught at the university and Frieda began to translate English literature in German.

In 1912, Frieda met a former student of her husband's, David Herbert Lawrence, who was six years younger than her and at the beginning of his writing career. Though they came from very different social backgrounds, Frieda and Lawrence were drawn to each other so strongly that they took the decision to elope together to Germany. This decision cost Frieda her children, whom she had to leave with Weekley when he filed for divorce. Despite the deep love between them, her life with Lawrence - whom she married in 1914 - - was not easy because of the tense climate of wartime Europe and Lawrence's frail health. After the war the couple traveled a lot: their experiences in various countries (Italy in particular) are reflected in some of Lawrence's best writings. Sadly, Lawrence's worsening condition put an end to their travels, though not to his writing. Lawrence died of tuberculosis in March 1930 during a stay in Vence, in southern France.

After Lawrence's death, Frieda moved back to the ranch in Taos, New Mexico, where she and her husband had lived for some time. In 1950 she married an Italian officer, Angelo Ravagli, an old friend of the couple, and passed away in 1956. Lawrence's last novel, the scandalous "Lady Chatterley's Lover" (1928), was partly based on his relationship with Frieda prior to their marriage, as well as on other episodes of the couple's life.

Answer: John Everett Millais

Euphemia "Effie" Chalmers Gray was born in Perth, Scotland, in 1828. At the age of 12 she met 21-year-old John Ruskin, a budding writer and critic whose parents were acquainted with hers; Ruskin wrote his only work of fiction, the fairy tale "The King of the Golden River" for her. In 1847, when Ruskin returned to Britain from his travels in continental Europe, he became engaged to Effie with the blessing of both their families; the couple married in April 1848. To say that the marriage was unhappy would be an understatement: not only did the two have different personalities that often clashed, but Ruskin - for reasons still unclear - was unwilling (or unable) to consummate the marriage.

During those troubled years Effie started modeling for Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais, who painted her as the wife of a Highland Jacobite soldier in "The Order of Release" (1852-53). The two fell in love while Millais was staying with them in Scotland to work on Ruskin's portrait. When they returned to London, Effie left Ruskin, returned her wedding ring to him and filed for an annulment with the full support of her family and friends. The annulment was granted in 1854: when the echo of the scandal had faded, Effie and Millais got married the following year. Unlike her unfortunate experience with Ruskin, Effie's marriage to Millais was a great success. The couple had eight children between 1856 and 1868; Effie also continued modeling for her husband and actively helped his career. In 1885, Millais was made a baronet by Queen Victoria and Effie became Lady Millais. After 41 years of marriage, Millais passed away in August 1896. Effie died less than two years later, in December 1897. Her story has been dramatized in various media.

Answer: Mark Twain

Olivia Langdon was born in 1845 in Elmira (New York) from a wealthy family. Unfortunately, her health was frail since childhood - which, however, did not stop her from getting an education. In December 1867 she met Samuel Langhorne Clemens - better known by his pen name Mark Twain - who had become acquainted with her brother Charles during a voyage to the Holy Land. Twain, who was ten years older, claimed that he had fallen in love with Olivia just by seeing her photograph. After they met in person, the two became friends and corresponded for a year.Though Olivia rejected the writer's first marriage proposal, they eventually became engaged at the end of 1868. They got married in Elmira in 1870; one of the ministers who officiated at the wedding was Twain's close friend Thomas K. Beecher, one of the brothers of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

During their 34-year marriage, the couple moved often and travelled widely in Europe. Though Olivia and Twain were very close, their life together was troubled by the deaths of two of their four children, as well as financial issues and Olivia's poor health. Olivia's presence at her husband's side was invaluable, in particular in her role as an editor of his writings. Despite her precarious health she travelled with him on his round-the-world lecture tour of 1895-96. By the end of the 19th century, Olivia was forced to stay in the US while Twain travelled: the couple, however, kept in touch by exchanging love letters. In 1903, following their doctors' advice, the family moved to Florence (Italy), hoping the warmer climate would help Olivia to recover. Sadly, she died from heart failure barely six months later, in June 1904.

Twain was devastated by Olivia's death. He had her ashes interred in Elmira's Woodlawn Cemetery, where he was buried beside her when he died just a few years later, on 21 April 1910.

Answer: Agatha Christie

Born in London in 1904, Max Mallowan developed an interest in archaeology when studying the classics at Oxford. There he was introduced to eminent British archaeologist Leonard Woolley, whose apprentice he became. In February 1930, while working with Woolley at the archaeological site of Ur in Iraq, he met Agatha Christie, who at the age of 40 had already published several successful novels. Christie's first marriage had imploded a few years earlier, leaving her bitter and depressed. The author and the archaeologist hit it off almost immediately, and just a few months later got married in Edinburgh.

The marriage, a true intellectual as well as romantic partnership, brought Christie the serenity she needed to pursue her writing career. In 1934, after living in London for a few years, the couple bought a country house in Winterbrook, Oxfordshire, which became their main residence and the place where Christie wrote most of her works. Mallowan continued to work as an archaeologist in the Middle East and Christie regularly accompanied him on his expeditions, where she helped him by taking photographs, recording data and cleaning delicate artifacts. She also wrote about their experiences in the field in the autobiographical book "Come, Tell Me How You Live", published in 1946 under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

After a few years of poor health, Christie died in 1976 at the age of 85. Mallowan outlived her by a mere two years, passing away in 1978. They are buried together in the churchyard of St Mary's Church in Cholsey, their parish church in Oxfordshire.

Answer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

Natalia Alexandrovna Satina and Sergei Rachmaninoff had known each other for most of their lives, as Natalia's mother and Sergei's father were siblings. Born in 1877 in Veliky Novgorod (Russia), Natalia was the second of four children. Young Sergei, who was four years older than his cousin, came from a musical family and had already shown great promise in his teenage years. In 1889, while studying at the Moscow Conservatory, he was sent to live with the Satin family, where he and Natalia grew close. The two got engaged in 1901 but were faced with a considerable problem when they tried to obtain legal permission to marry. In fact, marriage between first cousins was forbidden by the Russian Orthodox Church. With the help of Natalia's family connections, the pair managed to bypass the obstacle by marrying in a military chapel on 29 April 1904.

Rachmaninoff, who was prone to depression, suffered greatly from the difficulties that preceded his marriage to Natalia: this emotional pain is reflected in some of his compositions dating from that time. The marriage, however, was beneficial to him, both as a person and as an artist. Natalia was a pillar of strength throughout their married life, supporting him during troubled times and protecting him from stress when she accompanied him on concert tours. She was also a gifted pianist: at least one recording exists of husband and wife performing a piano piece together. Natalia and Sergei had two daughters, Tatiana and Irina. The family left Russia in December 1917, just after the October Revolution, and eventually settled in New York City, though always keeping strong ties with Russia and their Russian heritage.

Rachmaninoff died on 28 March 1943, less than two months after he and Natalia had become US citizens. Because of his naturalization, he was unable to be buried in Russia as he wished, and is instead buried in Kensico Cemetery near Valhalla, New York. After his death, Natalia donated his archive to the US Library of Congress. She died in 1951 and was buried next to her husband.