Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) Dodgson created his famous pen name from his own: the Latin for 'Charles' is 'Carolus', thus 'Carroll'; 'Lutwidge' (Dodgson's mother's maiden name) = 'Lugwig', the German for 'Lewis'. Dodgson became an undergraduate of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1851 and, when he took up photography in 1856, was a Student (Fellow) and Mathematics Lecturer of the college. He published many pamphlets on academic affairs, as well as on mathematics, and, despite his stammer, occasionally preached in church. Dodgson remained at Christ Church throughout his life and it was there that he wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871).

Text © National Portrait Gallery, London