Oliver Goldsmith ( 10 November 1730 -- 4 April 1774 ) was writer , poet , and physician famous for his novel , The Vicar of Wakefield ( 1776 ) . Oliver Goldsmith ( 10 November 1730 -- 4 April 1774 ) was an Anglo-Irish writer , poet , and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield ( 1766 ) , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village ( 1770 ) ( written in memory of his brother ) , and his plays The Good-Natur 'd Man ( 1768 ) and She Stoops to Conquer ( 1771 , first performed in 1773 ) .