Author. He was an English poet and writer. His "Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám" is the 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains attributed to Omar Khayyam, who was dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of Persia". Edward FitzGerald was born to Irish parents between Woodbridge and Bredfield, in Suffolk, England. The surname FitzGerald was his mother's maiden name, which his father, John Purcell, assumed in 1818, after the death of his grandfather. Upon his grandfather's death, his mother inherited a fortune, making his family one of the wealthiest in England. Born the seventh of eight children, he was educated at King Edward VI's School in Bury St. Edmunds and at Trinity College in Cambridge. After graduating in 1830, he retired to the life of a country gentleman, learning Spanish and the Persian language. In 1856, he married Lucy Barton, the daughter of Quaker poet, Bernard Barton, but the marriage was not a success and the pair separated within months. FitzGerald made generous financial provisions for his wife on condition that they never meet again. In the same year, he began his translation of his masterpiece, "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," the Persian poet. This was published in 1859 but was ignored for two years, until other English authors such as Dante Gabriel Rosetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne and others recognized its merits. FitzGerald was not acknowledged as the translator until 1875. His masterpiece was updated in five editions, with the last being published posthumously. Fitzgerald made translations of other Persian works including: "Bird Parliament" by Attar and "Salaman and Absal" by Jami. His translations are said to be freely translated. Besides his translations, he wrote his own poems. He was a close friend with a college classmate, Alfred Tennyson, who dedicate his 1885 poem "Tiresias" to Fitzgerald's memory. He died in his sleep at Merton in Norfolk, while visiting the Rev. George Crabbe, the grandson of the poet of the same name. His family are buried next to him, in a mausoleum. Although FitzGerald became disenchanted with Christianity, the inscription on the North side of his grave, "It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves", is taken from Psalms 100:3. Ten years after his death, a rose tree was planted at the head of his grave, which was originally from a cutting from a rose bush near the tomb of Omar Khayyam at Nishapur. Sources say that the then Vicar of Boulge objected to the name of Omar, "a heathen poet and philosopher," being mentioned on the plaque placed near the rose bush.