Swift, Jonathan

Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745), b. Dublin, Ireland.

Jonathan Swift was a dean in the Church of Ireland but he made many visits to London.

He was very interested in politics and he wrote a number of pamphlets and books about political matters. These were mainly satires. In them, Swift put forward ideas that made people laugh but also called their attention to serious matters.

His most famous book, Gulliver's Travels (1726), was a satire about the way people behaved. But it was also a good story. It soon became popular with children and is still popular today.

It has been translated into every widely used language and also made into various movies.