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John Harington

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English courtier, Queens godson and author

United KingdomWritersLived 1560 to 1612 · aged 52
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Languages17
Peak1800s
In century#513

Sir John Harington, of Kelston, Somerset, England, but born in London, was an English courtier, author and translator popularly known as the inventor of the flush toilet.

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Writers from United Kingdom 6

About this person

Sir John Harington, of Kelston, Somerset, England, but born in London, was an English courtier, author and translator popularly known as the inventor of the flush toilet. He became prominent at Queen Elizabeth I's court, and was known as her "saucy Godson", but his poetry and other writings caused him to fall in and out of favour with the Queen. He was the author of the description of a flush-toilet forerunner installed in his Kelston house, appearing in A New Discourse of a Stale Subject, called the Metamorphosis of Ajax (1596), a political allegory and coded attack on the monarchy which is nowadays his best-known work.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1560 to 1612 · aged 52
Written about in
17 languages

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