Poet T.S Eliot died of emphysema complications

Thomas Stearns (T.S.) Eliot was a habitual smoker throughout his life, which led him to develop “floppy” lungs. Experts at MedlinePlus explained emphysema is “a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)”. The lung disease causes difficulty with breathing, as the air sacs in the lungs become damaged.

Normally, air sacs are “elastic or stretchy”, filling up like a small balloon with each inhale and deflating with each exhale.

“In emphysema, the walls between many of the air sacs in the lungs are damaged,” the experts noted. “This causes the air sacs to lose their shape and become floppy.”

The experts added: “The damage can also destroy the walls of the air sacs, leading to fewer and larger air sacs instead of many tiny ones.

“This makes it harder for your lungs to move oxygen in and carbon dioxide out of your body.”

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T.S. Eliot died of emphysema complications on January 4, 1965; he was cremated and left in a church in East Coker, Somerset.

Having left this world at 76 years of age, the 1948 winner of the Noble Prize has imprinted his legacy onto modern literature.

The distinguished writer turned his hand to plays during his lifetime, including Sweeney Agonistes, Murder In The Cathedral, and The Family Reunion.

And, for that, he earned the title as “The Most Influential English Poet Of His Time”, in his obituary in The Times.