British writer (1870-1916). Real name: Hector Hugh Munro. He was born in British India -- his father was an Inspector General for the Indian Imperial Police. Just two years after he was born, his mother, on a home visit to England, was charged by a cow. The shock caused her to miscarry, and she died soon afterwards. His father shipped him and his two older siblings back to England, where they were cared for by their grandmother and two maiden aunts, all three horrible people who were overly strict and religious. Hector used his aunts as models for characters for years afterwards.
Hector eventually followed his father into the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, but he returned home after just 15 months due to illness. He then decided to move to London to be a writer. He got his start writing for newspapers and magazines and published his first book, a nonfiction work titled "The Rise of the Russian Empire." He turned to fiction soon after that, and soon began using the pseudonym "Saki" -- a reference to the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam. He continued his work as a reporter and foreign correspondent, traveling to the Balkans, Russia, and Paris. He finally returned to London in 1908, hoping to live the life of a gentleman at leisure, as well as continuing to write fiction.
His short stories are considered some of the best and most clever ones out there. They were generally satires of the culture of Edwardian society. They were often fairly macabre, as well. Some of his most famous include "Gabriel-Ernest," "The Open Window," "Laura," "Mrs. Packletide's Tiger," "Sredni Vashtar," "The Storyteller," "The Lumber Room," "The Wolves of Cernogratz," "The Guests," "The Penance," "The Interlopers," and "The Mappined Life."
He was homosexual at a time when it was illegal to be homosexual. Oscar Wilde had already gone to prison for being gay, so Munro had to keep his sexual preferences a secret.
At the beginning of World War I, he joined the army as a common trooper and was eventually promoted to lance sergeant. He was known for returning to the battlefield when officially too sick or injured to be on the field. He died in November 1916 when he was shot by a sniper near the Battle of the Ancre. It was said that his last words were "Put that bloody cigarette out!" He has no known gravesite.