Bio of George Bernard Shaw, Famous Playwright and Socialist

George Bernard Shaw was born on July 26^th in Dublin, son of George Carr Shaw.  George Carr Shaw was a corn miller who made a very modest income.  He was unable to pay for a proper education for his son due to an equal combination of poverty and alcoholism.  Due to his unfortunate circumstances, Shaw attended local schools but was never given the opportunity to attend a proper university or receive higher education of any kind.

As a young adult, Shaw worked at an estate office in his hometown.  He moved to London in 1876, hoping to further advance his writing career. 

Throughout the next seven years, he composed five compelling yet unsuccessful novels.  Disappointed, he turned to journalism and experienced a reasonable amount of success while writing for the Pall Mall Gazette.

The newspaper's editor, William Stead took a liking to Shaw and his work.  Stead's interest in journalism was primarily related to power of the press in correlation with social reform.  His political views and interests eventually stirred up Shaw's own political curiosity, causing him to begin regularly attending lectures and meetings related to social reform.

In 1882, Shaw attended a lecture given by Henry George on land nationalization.  This lecture was a turning point for Shaw and was the foundation on which he would build his ideas pertaining to socialism.

Shaw immediately joined the Social Democratic Federation and was introduced to a plethora of socialism-inspired works including the popular works and essays of Karl Marx.  The theories and ethics described in Das Kapital immediately swayed Shaw and he became adamantly convinced that these principles could have a tremendous social impact, especially on the lower and middle classes.

Shaw became a quite active member of the Social Democratic Federation and quickly befriended others in the popular movement including Eleanor Marx, Annie Besant, William Morris, and Belfort Bax.