Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809, the son of traveling actors. Despite an unsettled childhood, he received a broad education and excelled in ancient languages. Following his studies at the University of Virginia, Poe worked as an editor and literary critic. His own writing was met with growing acclaim, but despite his renown Poe struggled financially throughout his life. In 1836 he married his cousin Virginia Clemm, who died six years later from tuberculosis. The circumstances of Poe's own death in 1849, probably from alcohol abuse, remain shrouded in mystery.