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Fitzgerald’s father later takes a job that moves the family to New York. After the birth of Fitzgerald. -
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is born in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Edward and Mary Fitzgerald. -
The Fitzgerald family moves back to St. Paul after Fitzgerald’s father loses his job.
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He publishes his first piece of writing, at the age of 13. The piece is a detective story published in the school newspaper. -
A Catholic preparatory school in Hackensack, New Jersey.
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He writes for The Princeton Tiger, the school’s humor magazine. At Princeton he becomes a leading figure in literary life and writes scripts for the Triangle Club, a drama club at the university. -
During the summer of 1918 he is stationed near Montgomery, Alabama, and meets Zelda Sayre, daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge. -
He lands a job at an advertising agency, making $90 a month. He works there for several months. -
He marries Zelda in April. They become a celebrated couple. Writer Ring Lardner describes them as the prince and princess of their generation.
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His first book, This Side of Paradise, is published. The novel brings him fame and money. -
Fitzgerald’s second novel, The Beautiful and Damned, is published. Tales of the Jazz Age, a collection of short stories, is also published. -
The Fitzgeralds, leave for France. After spending some time in Paris, the family moves to the Riviera. -
While in France, Fitzgerald completes his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. -
Zelda suffers a mental breakdown in 1930. She spends the next year in European clinics. After she is released in 1931, they move back to the United States. She has a second breakdown in 1932 from which she never fully recovers.
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She publishes her first and only novel, Save Me the Waltz, which is based on the Fitzgeralds’ troubled marriage. -
Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack in Hollywood on December 21, 1940.