Virginia Woolf biography Born into a privileged English
household in 1882, writer Virginia Woolf was raised by free-
thinking parents. She began writing as a young girl and
published her first novel, The Voyage Out, in 1915. Her
nonlinear, free form prose style inspired her peers and earned
her much praise. She was also known for her mood swings and
bouts of deep depression. She committed suicide in 1941, at the
age of 59. English writer Virginia Woolf was raised in a
remarkable household. Her father, Sir Leslie Stephen, was an
historian and author, and also one of the most prominent figures
in the golden age of mountaineering. Woolf’s mother, Julia
Prinsep Stephen (née Jackson), had been born in India and later
served as a model for several Pre-Raphaelite painters. She was
also a nurse and wrote a book on the profession. Woolf had three
full siblings and four half-siblings; both of her parents had
been married and widowed before marrying each other. The eight
children lived under one roof at 22 Hyde Park Gate