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 The Life of Virginia Woolf 
 There is perhaps no female writer in Western literary history more popular than Virginia Woolf . Born Adeline Virginia Stephen , Woolf is the author of such famed books as To the Lighthouse and The Waves , and her feminist essay “ A Room of One ’ s Own , ” which explores women ’ s writing and its historical economic and social underpinnings . Her voice as an early modern feminist has inspired writers and activists alike since the early 1900 s , and continues to inform the women ’ s rights movement today . And as with all great authors , we can look to her upbringing and personal life to understand how she developed into the prolific writer that she was . 
 Woolf was born into an upper - class household in London on January 25 , 1882 . Her father was Sir Leslie Stephen , a historian and author who served as the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography . Her mother was Julia Prinsep Stephen , a nurse and an author of a book on the profession . Both of her parents had been married and widowed before coming together , and both had children from their previous marriages . Thus , Virginia Woolf was raised in a household of eight children — four full siblings and three half - siblings — at their 22 Hyde Park Gate home in Kensington . Between this home and the family ’ s summer cottage in St . Ives , a beach town at the very southwestern tip of England that was within walking distance to the Godrevy lighthouse depicted in her later modernist works , is where Virginia ’ s formative years were spent . 
 Woolf ’ s parents were both freethinkers , and were quite progressive for their time . They were well connected within artistic and literary circles , and thus Virginia grew up in an environment that supported her creative endeavours . What ’ s more , her parents believed in education for women , so Virginia and her sisters were educated at home , with uncensored access to her father ’ s extensive Victorian library . Virginia often writes in her essays about the joy of being able to hide away in the library and get lost in the world of stories , poetry and plays . This early literary influence prompted her to start writing as a very young girl , creating a family newspaper called The Hyde Park Gate News that documented her family ’ s humorous anecdotes . 
 However , Virginia ’ s childhood was as infused with trauma and hardship as it was with joy and learning , which helps explain her lifelong battle with severe depression . Most researchers agree that her inner struggles began after being sexually abused by her half - brothers George and Gerald Duckworth in 1888 at the age of six . This , followed by the sudden death of her mother in 1895 , resulted in Virginia having her first nervous breakdown . Her mental health issues were then exacerbated two years later when her half - sister Stella , who had taken up responsibility for the family following their mother ’ s death , passed away at the very early age of 28 upon return from her honeymoon . 
 Despite her nervous breakdowns , Virginia managed to take classes in German , Greek and Latin at the Ladies ’ Department of King ’ s College in London and to continue writing , most essays and short stories . During her four years at King ’ s College she met a number of radical feminists who were at the helm of educational reforms , and with whom she resonated in terms of purpose and perspective . Her life began to pick up , and she found herself in the midst of a very exciting and meaningful movement . Unfortunately , the death of her beloved father in 1904 sent her into new depths of despair , and she was subsequently institutionalised for a number of months . 
 After she was released that same year , her sister Vanessa and brother Adrian sold their Hyde Park Gate family home and purchased a house in the Bloomsbury area of London . The move proved extremely difficult for Virginia at first due to her attachment to her childhood home , and in particular her father ’ s library . However , her life in Bloomsbury soon blossomed . By the end of 1904 she started reviewing and writing articles for the Time Literary Supplement . She also met , through her siblings ’ connections , an intellectual circle of artists and writers that formed the Bloomsbury Group . The group was most famous for their 1910 Dreadnought Hoax , a practical joke in which members of the group dressed up as a delegation of Ethiopian royals and successfully persuaded the English Royal Navy to show them their warship . 
 Virginia ’ s role in the stunt as a bearded man caught the attention of Leonard Woolf , a writer and member of the Bloomsbury Group . He took quite a fancy to Virginia , and they were subsequently married in 1912 . More than just husband and wife , Virginia and Leonard were professional collaborators , and Leonard Woolf a caring husband for the chronically moody and depressed Virginia . Leonard supported Virginia ’ s writing career , which already taken off with the publication of her first novel , The Voyage Out , in 1915 , a novel that she had been working on since 1908 . As a therapy for her mental health condition , he purchased Virginia a small hand printing press that the Woolfs used to print their personal works . But by about 1922 their small printing hobby turned into a full - time publishing press , and Hogarth Press became a business . From this point on until her eventual death by suicide in 1941 , Woolf published most of her works — including Ms . Dalloway ( 1925 ) , To the Lighthouse ( 1927 ) , “ A Room of One ’ s Own ” ( 1929 ) , and The Waves ( 1931 ) — through Hogarth Press , leaving behind an incredible literary legacy . 
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