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Tom Marvolo Riddle (born 31 December 1926 or January 1, 1927) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series. He is named for the first time in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in which his diary plays a major role, and also figures prominently in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He was a student at Hogwarts fifty years before the events of the books.
Riddle is the son of Tom Riddle Jr. and Merope (née Gaunt) Riddle, who had bewitched his father into marrying her. His father (a non-magical person, or Muggle) left Merope when she lifted the enchantment. Merope gave birth to Tom on New Year's Eve at the orphanage where he would be raised for the next eleven years, and died soon after, but not before naming her baby: Tom, after his father, and Marvolo, after her own.
In the summer following his eleventh birthday he was visited by Albus Dumbledore, who invited him to study at Hogwarts. Even as a child, Riddle had developed some control over his abilities, a sign of his immense potential as a wizard. During this their first meeting, Tom already showed signs of his future personality, including cruelty, a disregard for others, a tendency to abuse his magical abilities, and a lack of moral judgement; he, in fact, matches the clinical definition of antisocial personality disorder.
Tom Riddle attended Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945 as a member of Slytherin house. Riddle was a model student, perhaps even the best ever to have studied at Hogwarts. As the last surviving heir of Salazar Slytherin (through his mother's side), Riddle found the fabled Chamber of Secrets in his fifth year and opened it, unleashing the basilisk which lived inside.
On June 13, 1943, the basilisk killed one of the students, leading to widespread panic and worries that the school might be closed down. If that had happened, Riddle would have been indefinitely returned to the Muggle orphanage, where he already spent holidays. To avoid this, he once again closed the Chamber of Secrets and successfully framed Rubeus Hagrid, who was also a student at the time, for the attacks. Hagrid already had a reputation for taking care of large, monstrous animals and had been caring for an Acromantula when this accusation was made. He was promptly expelled from Hogwarts. Riddle received an award for his supposed discovery of Hagrid's secret, but Albus Dumbledore, professor of Transfiguration at the time, wasn't convinced, and managed to secure Hagrid a job as gamekeeper at Hogwarts. So that some means of reopening the Chamber remained, and as an attempt at immortality, Riddle put a part of his soul into his diary, using it as a Horcrux.
At around the same time, Riddle took on the name "Lord Voldemort", the identity by which he is best known. It was initially known only to a few of his followers, but he soon began using it exclusively in place of the name he acquired from his father, whom he despised. His chosen name is an anagram of his given name:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE → I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
Before Voldemort graduated from Hogwarts, he returned to Little Hangleton, the village where he was born, hoping to meet his maternal grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt. Instead, he met his uncle Morfin, learned of his grandfather's death and his father's non-magical nature. Voldemort stole an heirloom ring from Morfin, murdered his father and Muggle grandparents, and modified his uncle's memory so that Morfin would confess having committed the murders. The only person to notice Voldemort was Frank Bryce, the Riddles' gardener, who fell under suspicion from the Muggle police, as the door had not been forced and Bryce was the only person with keys to the house. A cause of death could not be determined, however, and Bryce was released, although he was regarded with suspicion by the other villagers until his death in 1994 at Voldemort's own hand.
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