Editing Elizabeth Gaskell (section)

{{Short description|English novelist, biographer, and short story writer (1810–1865)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name        = Elizabeth Gaskell
| image       = Elizabeth Gaskell 1832.jpg
| caption     = 1832 [[portrait miniature|miniature]]
| pseudonym   =
| birth_name  = Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1810|09|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Chelsea, London]], England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1865|11|12|1810|09|29|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Holybourne]], [[Hampshire]], England
| occupation  = Novelist
| period      = 1848–1865
| genre       =
| subject     =
| movement    =
| spouse      = {{marriage|[[William Gaskell]]|1832}}
| children    = 5 
| relatives   =
| influences  =
| influenced  =
| signature   = Elizabeth Gaskell Signature.jpg
| website     =
}}

'''Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell''' (''née'' '''Stevenson'''; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as '''Mrs Gaskell''', was an English [[novelist]], [[biographer]], [[poet]], and [[short story]] writer. Her novels offer detailed studies of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] society, including the lives of the very poor. Her first novel, ''[[Mary Barton]]'', was published in 1848. Her only biography ''[[The Life of Charlotte Brontë]]'', published in 1857, was controversial and significant in establishing the Brontë family's lasting fame. Among Gaskell's best known novels are ''[[Cranford (novel)|Cranford]]'' (1851–1853), ''[[North and South (Gaskell novel)|North and South]]'' (1854–1855), and ''[[Wives and Daughters]]'' (1864–1866), all of which have been adapted for television by the BBC.