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Rosenberg
was born in Bristol to a family of Russian Jewish émigrés,
who later moved to the East End of London. He was a
sickly child but showed a talent for drawing and writing.
At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to an engraver
as his family could not afford to send him to art school.
In 1911 three lady benefactors financed his entry to
the Slade School of Art. By 1914 his health was deteriorating
and he went to visit his sister in the warmer climate
of South Africa.
He
returned to Britain in 1915 and, unable to make a living,
enlisted in the army. Although he wanted to join the
medical services because of his hatred of killing, his
short height meant that he was only suited for a 'Bantam'
battalion. Towards the end of the year he enlisted in
the 12th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment. He was eventually
transferred to the 11th Battalion, The King's Own Royal
Lancaster Regiment, but was regarded as an inept soldier.
By June 1916 he was in France. He wrote many of his
poems on scraps of paper during brief interludes in
the trenches. Rosenberg was killed while out on patrol
in the early hours of 1 April 1918. His body was buried
with nine others on the battlefield.
Focus
On - Isaac Rosenberg from www.FamilyRecords.gov.uk
FirstWorldWar.com
- Isaac Rosenberg
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