Oliver Goldsmith

Goldsmith, Oliver (1730?–74), Anglo-Irish author. His best-known works include the novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), the comedies The Good-natured Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1773), and the pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770). A member of the literary circle around Samuel Johnson, he achieved considerable literary fame and widespread popularity in his day. His works attacked pedantry and sentimentalism and stressed simple virtues.