-
Fitzgerald is born in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Edward and Mary McQuillan Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was named after his distant relative Francis Scott Key, the author of the star spangled banner. -
His family moves back to St. Paul after moving to Buffalo NY for his father’s work, and he begins attending St. Paul Academy, where he publishes his first piece of writing (a detective story) at age 13
-
Enters the Catholic preparatory Newman School in Hackensack, New Jersey; meets Father Sigourney Fay, who encourages his writing. Father Fay encouraged Fitzgerald to pursue writing seriously and inspired his ambition to attend Princeton University. He later dedicated one of his writings to him, ‘This Side of Paradise’
-
Leaves Princeton and enlists in the U.S. Army
F. Scott Fitzgerald left Princeton University before graduating to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War I. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and underwent officer training at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama. He never saw combat. -
Begins attending Princeton University as part of the class of 1917. He writes for the humor magazine and becomes active in student dramatics. He contributed stories, poems, and humor pieces to the Princeton Triangle Club and The Princeton Tiger, which helped him develop his distinctive voice -
While stationed at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama, he meets Zelda Sayre, the daughter of a prominent Montgomery family.
-
Moves to New York City, works briefly in advertising. after Zelda breaks off their engagement due to Zelda’s worries of his uncertain finances, he returns to St. Paul to work on his novel
-
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in March 1920. The book was an immediate success, earning him fame and financial rewards while capturing the pride and the worries. of post–World War I youth. A week after the novel’s publication, Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre married on April 3, 1920, in New York City. -
His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned, is published; his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age also appears.
-
The Fitzgeralds and their daughter (born in 1921, a girl named Frances Scott Fitzgerald) move to France and then to the French Riviera, joining the upper class community
-
While in France, Fitzgerald completes what becomes his most famous novel, The Great Gatsby. He drew inspiration from the fancy lifestyle of the upper class community, the wealthy elite he observed in both Europe and the United States, and his own experiences with ambition, love, and social aspiration. -
Zelda suffers a severe mental breakdown and enters clinics in Europe; Fitzgerald’s own drinking escalates; he publishes only one novel in this period, Save Me the Waltz (1932), based loosely on their marriage endeavors.
-
The novel comes from personal experiences, particularly Zelda’s mental health struggles and the complexities of their marriage, exploring themes of love, ambition, mental illness, and the decline of the wealthy elite. Was not a huge success.
-
Fitzgerald moves to Hollywood and works as a scriptwriter; he meets journalist Sheilah Graham and begins a relationship amid his declining health and finances. He never divorces Zelda, keeping the relationship a secret.
-
Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack in Hollywood at the young age of 44. His incomplete novel The Last Tycoon is published a year after he dies.