Oscar Wilde
1854–1900 · Playwright, poet, novelist
Magdalen undergraduate 1874–1878 — read Greats, won the Newdigate Prize for 'Ravenna', graduated with a double first.
Oscar Wilde came up to Magdalen College in 1874 to read Greats, the four-year combined course in Classics, ancient history and philosophy that was then Oxford's most prestigious degree. He stayed until 1878, won the 1878 Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna, and graduated with a double first.
Wilde's Oxford years were where his persona as wit, dandy and aesthete first crystallised — he furnished his Magdalen rooms with peacock feathers, blue china and lilies, applied unsuccessfully to the Oxford Union, and was once rusticated for a term after returning late from a trip to Greece. From this period on, Magdalen — the deer park, the New Buildings, the cloister — has been one of the literary world's standard pilgrimage sites for Wilde readers. He died in Paris in 1900 and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery; his Oxford footprint remains the four years at Magdalen and the prize-winning student poem.
Sources: Wikipedia: Oscar Wilde
Last verified: Sat May 02 2026 01:00:00 GMT+0100 (British Summer Time)