9. T.S. Eliot
T.S. Eliot, born in 1888, was a modernist poet whose works, such as ‘The Waste Land,’ reshaped 20th-century literature. However, his legacy is complicated by instances of anti-Semitism in both his poetry and personal life. In ‘Gerontion,’ Eliot writes, ‘And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner [of my building] / Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp.’ Additionally, in his 1933 lectures, he stated, ‘Reasons of race and religion combine to make any large number of free-thinking Jews undesirable.’ These elements have sparked ongoing debates about the extent and impact of Eliot’s anti-Semitic sentiments. (Cambridge University Press)
