JOHN RUSKIN

John Ruskin was born on the 8^th February on 1819 in London; Ruskin was a multi talented person being an artist, art critic, social critic, philosopher, a teacher, writer and an amateur geologist. His vision was that links must be made between the various subjects and disciplines, such as between religion and science. Ruskin managed to see the bigger picture and has been referred to as: “one of those rare men who think with their hearts.” (Ruskin Museum n.a,)

Ruskin was the son of John James and Margaret, which were in their 30’s by the time he was born. They were both very strict on him, giving him punishments whenever he disobeyed them. His mother Margaret was responsible for his education, which took place at their home, since she was an Evangelical Christian it was a priority for her to raise her son with Christian values.

In mid life Ruskin his travels had shown him ferocities of the world, which were poverty, ignorance, war, famine and unemployment, making him realize that it was not enough for him to interpret the world in a creative manner. His main intention therefore was to put the people together with their needs before the march of progress, he had a vision of which every human being had the need to transform into a better person, this would have been possible by help from the governments work in supporting education.

Ruskin formed ‘The Guild of St George’ with the intention to support small enterprises especially in local crafts; such things were totally obscure to the capitalist system of that time. Today we realize that Ruskin was a man before his time, since he had written about important issues in his books and letters about global warming, pollution, old age and unemployment.

Professor John Ruskin

Ruskin Museum n.a, 2003.Who was Ruskin. [online]

Available at: < http://www.ruskinmuseum.com/ruskin.htm>

[Accessed 25 December 2013].