William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English author of novels, plays and short stories. He qualified as a physician at St Thomas's Hospital, London, in 1897, and spent the next 10 years in Paris as a struggling author. In 1915 his semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage appeared, and in 1919 The Moon and Sixpence, based on the life of Gaugin. A number of his works were filmed. Card published London 1927.