Havelock Ellis

He married the writer and feminist Edith Lees in 1891. Their marriage was very unconventional as Ellis suffered from impotence and Lees was openly lesbian. They had an open marriage and Lees had affairs with several women.

After the death of his wife he developed relationship with a woman called Francoise Lafitte. He was interested in what he called ‘undinism’—deriving sexual pleasure by watching women urinate.

He was the eldest child of Edward Peppen Ellis and Susannah Mary. He had four sisters. His father worked as a sea captain.

He went to local schools as a child and was a voracious reader. He was deeply influenced by the writings of philosopher Ernest Renan, and the poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Algernon Charles Swinburne. He attended French and German College near Wimbledon.

He sailed to Australia on his father’s ship in 1875 and found employment as a master at a private school in Sydney. However, he was fired when his lack of experience was discovered. He made his living working as a private tutor before obtaining a position as a master at a grammar school.

While in Australia he read ‘Life in Nature’ by James Hinton who wrote on religious, social, and sexual matters. Reading this book provided some clarity to Ellis’ confused mind and he experienced a spiritual transformation.

He returned to England in 1879 with the aim of pursuing medical education. He wanted to study sexual issues and felt that he should first acquire knowledge about the human anatomy. He joined St. Thomas’s Hospital as a medical student.

A socialist, he became a member of the organization, Fellowship of the New Life which was founded by Thomas Davidson in 1883. Other prominent members of the group included Edith Lees, Edward Carpenter, Isabella Ford, and Frank Podmore.

Along with other members of the group, Ellis formed a socialist debating group the Fabian Society in 1884. It was named so in the honour of the Roman General, Quintus Fabius Maximus.

His book, ‘Sexual Inversion’ which he co-authored with John Addington Symonds was the first medical textbook on homosexuality. The book contained 33 original cases of homosexual men and women, and explored the concept from intellectual and emotional viewpoints. It was considered a text for both students and historians of psychiatry and sexuality.