Iris Murdock

Dame Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) was an Irish-born British novelist and philosopher renowned for her 26 novels exploring themes of morality, good and evil, sexual relationships, and the unconscious, with her debut *Under the Net* (1954) and Booker Prize winner *The Sea, The Sea* (1978) among her most acclaimed works. Educated at Oxford, she taught philosophy there for decades and authored influential philosophical texts like *The Sovereignty of Good* (1970). She was married to literary critic John Bayley until her death from Alzheimer's disease.