Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564–30 May 1593) was a major dramatist, poet, and translator of English Renaissance drama. Swinburne has written that: "Marlowe is a Father of English Tragedy and the creator of English blank verse and therefore also the teacher and guide of Shakespeare." He is the best Elizabethan tragedian. He was born the same year as Shakespeare, or at least baptised, but lived only to the age of 29, when he was murdered in a brawl.