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Fitzgerald is born
Scott Fitzgerald was born in St Paul, Minnesota, to his parents Edward and Molly Fitzgerald -
His time at Princeton
Fitzgerald neglected his academics to focus on his literature. He spent time writing in the Princeton tiger humor magazine. Shortly after, he was placed on academic leave and joined the army. -
Camp Sheridan
Fitzgerald was assigned to Camp Sheridan, near Montgomery, Alabama. There he fell in love with a celebrated belle, eighteen-year-old Zelda Sayre, the youngest daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge. -
Returned to New York City
The war ended just before he was to be sent overseas; after his discharge in 1919 he went to New York City to seek his fortune in order to marry. Unwilling to wait while Fitzgerald succeeded in the advertisement business and unwilling to live on his small salary, Zelda Sayre broke their engagement. -
Quit his job
Fitzgerald quit his job in July and returned to St. Paul to rewrite his novel as This Side of Paradise. It was accepted by editor Maxwell Perkins of Scribners in September. Set mainly at Princeton and described by its author as “a quest novel,” This Side of Paradise traces the career aspirations and love disappointments of Amory Blaine. -
Famous over night
The publication of This Side of Paradise made the 24-year-old Fitzgerald famous almost overnight, and a week later he married Zelda Sayre in New York. They embarked on an extravagant life as young celebrities. -
Birth of their daughter
When Zelda Fitzgerald became pregnant they took their first trip to Europe in 1921 and then settled in St. Paul for the birth of their only child, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald, who was born in October 1921. -
Family moves to Riviera
The Fitzgeralds, along with their daughter, Francis (called “Scottie”), who had been born in 1921, leave for France. After spending some time in Paris, the family moves to the Riviera. -
The great gatsby
While in France, Fitzgerald completes his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. After the success of this book, he writes several brilliant short stories, but eight years will pass before his next novel is published. -
Troubled marriage
After The Great Gatsby is published, Fitzgerald’s drinking becomes excessive, and Zelda suffers a mental breakdown in 1930. She spends the next year in European clinics. After she is released in 1931, they move back to the United States. She has a second breakdown in 1932 from which she never fully recovers. She publishes her first and only novel, Save Me the Waltz, which is based on the Fitzgeralds’ troubled marriage. -
“Tender is the night”
Fitzgerald’s last completed novel, Tender Is the Night, is published. It is one of his most moving books but is commercially unsuccessful. -
Zelda enters hospital
In 1936 Zelda enters Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. -
Fitzgerald moves to Hollywood
In 1937 Fitzgerald moves to Hollywood and becomes a scriptwriter. He meets and falls in love with Sheilah Graham, a famous Hollywood gossip columnist. -
“The last tycoon”
In 1939 he begins writing a novel about Hollywood entitled The Last Tycoon. The career of its hero, Monroe Stahr, is based on that of American film executive Irving Thalberg. -
Fitzgerald dies
Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack in Hollywood