Mark Twain

November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called “The Great American Novel.”

Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer’s and Huckleberry Finn’s exploits. After an apprenticeship with a printer, Twain worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to the newspaper of his older brother, Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. In 1865 his humorous story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” was published, based on a story he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, where he spent time as a miner. The short story brought international attention, and was even translated into classic Greek. His wit and satire in prose and in speech earned praise from critics and peers alike, and he befriended presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.

Although Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he invested in ventures losing a great deal of money, notably the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter, which failed because of its complexity and imprecision. In the wake of these financial setbacks, he filed for protection from his creditors via bankruptcy, and with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain chose to pay his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, although he did not have any legal responsibility to follow through.

Twain was born shortly after a visit by Halley’s Comet, and he predicted he would “go out with it” too; he died the day after the comet returned. He was lauded as the “greatest American humorist of his age,” and William Faulkner called Twain “the father of American literature.”