Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was a prolific British novelist, a pioneer of the adventure genre, and known for his stories set in Africa and ancient Egypt. Born in Bradenham, Norfolk, he was the son of a lawyer and a writer. After studying at Ipswich high school and working in South Africa as the secretary to the governor of Natal, Haggard returned to England in 1882. There, he wrote a story about the Zulus and prepared to enter the Bar, although his literary career soon eclipsed his legal practice.
His greatest success came with King Solomon's Mines (1885), an African adventure novel that introduced the character Allan Quatermain. This book marked the beginning of the "lost worlds" subgenre and was followed by She (1887), which became a classic of fantasy literature. The protagonist of She, Ayesha, was cited by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung as a prototype of the feminine.
Throughout his career, Haggard wrote more than 60 novels, many of them set in Africa or other parts of the British Empire. His work influenced later writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. He was knighted in 1912 for his services in the agricultural reform of the British Empire. He died in 1925 in London and was buried at St. Mary's Church in Ditchingham, Norfolk.
Although his novels reflect the imperialist ideals of his time, they also show a remarkable sympathy towards the native African populations, which distinguishes them from other colonial works of his time.
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