On this day in 1818, author Emily Brontë was born.Image: Brass plaque at St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Haworth / dulhunk, Flickr CC BY 2.0 Emily was born on July 30, 1818 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. She was the fifth of six children born to Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell. When she was three, her mother died of cancer shortly after the birth of her younger sister, Anne. Four years later, her older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died of tuberculosis after contracting the illness at school. The three remaining sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne) and their brother Branwell were then educated at home by their father and aunt. Inspired by a box of toy soldiers Branwell received as a gift, the children began to write stories of imaginative worlds populated by the toy soldiers. The siblings would remain very close throughout their lives. Their interest in writing continued as they grew older, with the sisters each publishing poetry and novels under pen names.In 1847, Emily published her novel Wuthering Heights under the pen name Ellis Bell. It would be her first and only published novel. A year after its publication, Emily died of tuberculosis on December 19, 1848 at the age of 30. The family had suffered terrible loss during this time. Her brother had died suddenly only two months earlier, and then eight months after Emily’s death, her sister Anne also died of tuberculosis.Although Emily was almost unknown during her lifetime, today her novel is considered to be a classic of English literature.Explore Emily Brontë’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re connected to the English author.View Emily Brontë’s Geni Profile iframe{ border: 1px solid #999; } The post Profile of the Day: Emily Brontë first appeared on About Geni.