Marriage and Family
Although Maugham's first and many other sexual relationships were with men, he also had sexual relationships with a number of women. He had an affair with Syrie Wellcome, the wife of Henry Wellcome, the American-born English pharmaceutical magnate. They had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth Wellcome, (1915–1998). Henry Wellcome sued his wife for divorce, naming Maugham as co-respondent.
In May 1917, following the decree absolute, Syrie Wellcome and Maugham were married. Syrie Maugham became a noted interior decorator who in the 1920s popularized "the all-white room." Their daughter was familiarly called Liza and her surname was changed to Maugham.
Syrie finally divorced him in 1929, finding his relationship and travels with Haxton too difficult to live with.
Read more about this topic: W. Somerset Maugham
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