Ellis, Havelock

Ellis, Havelock (Henry Havelock Ellis), 1859–1939, English psychologist and author. He became a qualified physician but devoted himself to scientific study and writing. Although the first volume of the Studies in the Psychology of Sex (7 vol., 1897–1928; completed ed. 4 vol., 1936) was banned on charges of obscenity, the series—Ellis's major work—constituted a valuable contribution to the study of sex problems and had an important influence in changing the public attitude toward them. In 1891, Ellis married Edith Lees. The story of their marriage is the chief theme of his My Life (1940). His other works include, besides poems and essays, A Study of British Genius (1904), The Dance of Life (1923), and Man and Woman (rev. ed. 1934).

Bibliography

See biographies by J. S. Collis (1959) and A. Calder-Marshall (1960).

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Ellis, (Henry) Havelock

Havelock Ellis

(credit: The Mansell Collection)

(born Feb. 2, 1859, Croydon, Surrey, Eng.—died July 8, 1939, Washbrook, Suffolk) British sexuality researcher. A medical doctor, he gave up his practice to devote himself to scientific and literary work. His major work, the seven-volume Studies in the Psychology of Sex (1897–1928), was a comprehensive, groundbreaking encyclopaedia of human sexual biology, behaviour, and attitudes whose topics included homosexuality, masturbation, and the physiology of sexual behaviour. Sale of the first volume led to a trial when the salesman was arrested on obscenity charges; the later volumes had to be published in the U.S. and were legally available only to the medical profession until 1935. Ellis viewed sexual activity as a natural expression of love and sought to dispel the widespread fear and ignorance surrounding it. He was also known as a champion of women's rights.