Charlotte Brontë (April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855) was an 
English writer.

Brontë was born at Thornton, in Yorkshire, England, the eldest 
surviving daughter of a clergyman, Patrick Brontë (who had changed 
his surname from Brunty or Prunty) and his wife, Maria Branwell. In 
1820 the family moved to the now world-famous rectory at Haworth, 
where the children created their own fantasy world which would 
inspire them to take up writing. Charlotte's mother died of cancer 
on 15 September 1821. In August 1824 she was sent with three of her 
four sisters to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in 
Lancashire where the appalling conditions caused them to be brought 
home separately in 1825. Charlotte and Emily were the last to 
leave, they returned on 1 June. Her two elder sisters, Maria and 
Elizabeth, died soon after their return from the tuberculosis that 
they had contracted whilst at the school.

Charlotte continued her education at home until she joined Roe 
Head school in Mirfield on 17 January 1831, where she stayed 
until June 1832. In 1835 Charlotte returned to her former school 
to work as a teacher, a career in which she continued, on and 
off, until 1838. In 1839 she took up the first of many positions 
as governess to various families in Yorkshire, a career she 
pursued until 1841. In 1842 she travelled to Brussels with 
Emily, where they enrolled in a pensionnat ran by M. and 
Mme. Constantin Heger. In return for board and tuition, 
Charlotte taught English and Emily taught music. Their time at 
the pensionnat was cut short when Elizabeth Branwell, their 
aunt who joined the family after the death of their mother to 
look after the children, died of internal obstruction in 
October 1842. Charlotte returned alone to Brussels in January 
1843 to take up a teaching post at the pensionnat. Her second 
stay at the pensionnat was not a happy one; she became lonely, 
homesick, and somewhat attracted to M. Heger and finally 
returned to Haworth in January 1844. Her time at the 
pensionnat and the characters of M. and Mme. Heger can be 
seen as the inspiration for some of the settings, events, 
and characters in her later novels The Professor and 
Villette.

In May 1846, she and her two younger sisters, Anne and Emily, 
published a joint collection of poetry under male pseudonyms. 
Charlotte used the name 'Currer Bell'. Charlotte continued 
to use the same pseudonym when publishing her first two 
novels.

Her novels are:

    * Jane Eyre, published 1847
    * Shirley, published 1849
    * Villette, published 1853
    * The Professor, originally written before Jane Eyre and 
    rejected by many publishing houses, was eventually published 
    posthumously in 1857

Patrick Branwell, the only son of the family, died of chronic 
bronchitis and marasmus in September 1848, although Charlotte 
believed his death was due to tuberculosis. Emily and Anne both 
died of pulmonary tuberculosis in December 1848 and May 1849, 
respectively. Branwell's death was exacerbated by heavy drinking 
and a debauched lifestyle. Charlotte and her father were now 
left alone. In view of the enormous success of Jane Eyre, 
Charlotte was persuaded by her publisher to occasionally visit 
London, where she revealed her true identity and began to move 
in a more exalted social circle; however, she never left 
Haworth for more than a few weeks at a time as she did not 
like to leave her aging father's side.

In June 1854 Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's 
curate. She died during her pregnancy (her death certificate 
gives the cause of death as phthisis (tuberculosis) but there 
is a school of thought that suggests she may have died from her 
excessive vomitting during pregnancy) and was interred in The 
Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Haworth, West Yorkshire, 
England.