David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930), known as D. H. Lawrence, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist. His modernist works are notable for their reflections on modernity, social alienation, and industrialization, while championing themes of sexuality, vitality, and instinct. Lawrence faced controversy over several of his novels, including Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, Women in Love, and Lady Chatterley's Lover, which were subjected to censorship trials due to their radical portrayals of sexuality and use of explicit language.

Throughout his life, Lawrence endured persecution and public misrepresentation of his work, leading him to spend much of his life in voluntary exile, a period he described as a "savage enough pilgrimage". At the time of his death, he was criticized as tasteless, avant-garde, and a pornographer whose success was attributed to erotica. However, English novelist and critic E. M. Forster, in an obituary notice, described him as "the greatest imaginative novelist of our generation". English literary critic F. R. Leavis also praised his artistic integrity and moral seriousness, securing Lawrence's position within the English literary canon.