Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, widely known as F. Scott Fitzgerald, was a prominent American author, renowned for his novels and short stories that vividly evoke the Jazz Age, a term he himself coined. Fitzgerald's works are celebrated for their portrayal of the flamboyance and excess of the 1920s, a decade that he helped define and which later came to be known as the "Lost Generation."

Fitzgerald was born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and was primarily raised in New York state. He attended Princeton University, where he formed a close friendship with future literary critic Edmund Wilson. He left Princeton in 1917 to join the Army during World War I. It was during his time in Alabama, while stationed at a military camp, that he met Zelda Sayre, a Southern debutante. Initially rejecting his marriage proposal due to his financial instability, Zelda eventually agreed to marry him after the success of his first novel, This Side of Paradise (1920).

His subsequent novels, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), The Great Gatsby (1925), and Tender Is the Night (1934), further cemented his reputation. Despite initial commercial failures, The Great Gatsby garnered posthumous acclaim as a classic of American literature. Fitzgerald also wrote numerous short stories, many of which explored themes of youth, promise, despair, and aging.

Fitzgerald struggled financially during the Great Depression and moved to Hollywood, where he attempted a screenwriting career. He had a notable romantic relationship with columnist Sheilah Graham toward the end of his life. Fitzgerald battled with alcoholism, and he passed away from a heart attack in 1940 at the age of 44. His unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, was published posthumously, edited by his friend Edmund Wilson.

Fitzgerald's literary style was described as "romantic, but also cynical," with a blend of bitterness and ecstasy. His works remain an iridescent and intriguing exploration of the human spirit and social mores of his time.