Tobias George Smollett (19 March 1721 (baptised) – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his ‘picaresque’ novels, such as “The Adventures of Roderick Random” (1748), “The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle” (1751) and “The Expedition of Humphry Clinker” (1771). These works influenced later novelists, including Charles Dickens.

The picaresque novel (Spanish: “picaresca”, from “picaro”, meaning "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction that depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt society. Smollett’s eponymous heroes reflected aspects of Smollett’s own early life experiences.

Smollett was a qualified surgeon, naval surgeon, historian, and translator. He had a medical practice in Downing Street, London. He associated with prominent figures in arts and the theatre such as David Garrick, Laurence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, and Samuel Johnson. In 1755 he published an English translation of Miguel de Cervantes's novel “Don Quixote”, and in 1756, he became the first editor of the influential newspaper “The Critical Review”.

Smollett is one of the 16 Scottish writers and poets depicted on the lower section of the Scott Monument in Princes Street, Edinburgh. Literary references to Smollett have been made in works by Thackeray, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, and Walpole.

Smollett is buried in the old English cemetery in Livorno, Italy.

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