Countee Cullen was born May 30, 1903 Louisville, Kentucky. Countee Cullen lost both his parents and brother, resulting to him being raised by his grandmother. His grandmother died during was in his teen years. He was then taken in by Carolyn Belle and Reverend Frederick A. Cullen. Frederick A. Cullen was a conservative minister at a renowned Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem. Countee Cullen attended DeWitt Clinton High School from 1918- 1921. He edited the school newspaper and literary magazines. During his High School years he won many awards for his poetry. He went on to attend New York University and graduated in 1925. He also won the Witter Brynner Poetry Prize. He graduated with a master's from Harvard University in 1926. He also joined the editorial staff of Opportunity magazine. Cullen was influenced by the works of John Keats (Cullen's favorite poet), Percy Bysshe and A.E. Housman. He relied upon traditional European writing structures and verse, though he incorporated ideas around African-American racial origin and experience in much of his work. Cullen was seen as a leading light of the Harlem Renaissance. He married Yolande Du Bois, daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois, shortly divorcing after in 1930. Cullen returned to America after traveling to France. Cullen's poetic output diminished as the 1930's began, and in 1934 he started teaching French at Frederick Douglass Junior High School. Sadly, Countee died from uremic poisoning and high blood pressure January 9, 1946.