Fitzgerald was on September 24, 1896, in St Paul, Minnesota. His full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, derived from his distant relation to Francis Scott Key, author of the The Star Spangled Banner. He is the son of Edward and Mary Fitzgerald (Tate 3).
Fitzgerald went to various boarding schools in his youth, and was never a good pupil. He attend Princeton for several semesters but never earned a degree. After Princeton, Fitzgerald joined the Army and was stationed in Alabama, where he met Zelda Sayre. After much trial and the publication of his first novel, Zelda agreed to marry Scott (Tate 7).

Early years