Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known worldwide as Mark Twain, was born in 1835 and grew up in the river port of Hannibal, Missouri. At the age of twelve, he left school in search of work. He worked as a steamboat captain, printer, soldier, gold prospector, mine worker, and reporter in the Western States. His experiences enriched him with a deep understanding of people, as well as the ability to handle their dialects and understand their customs. With his book "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865), he gained the interest of his fellow citizens, and with "The Innocents Abroad," he bolstered his reputation. However, it was only with his novel "Life on the Mississippi," written in 1883, and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in 1884, that he was recognized as one of America's greatest writers. Towards the end of his life, pursued by personal difficulties and financial problems, Twain lost his optimism, resulting in only the stories "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" and "The Mysterious Stranger" (published posthumously in 1916) being worthy of his great talent.