August Derleth

August Derleth (1909-1971) was a prominent master of Fantasy and Mystery Literature, residing in Sauk City, Wisconsin, USA. He was the most dedicated disciple of H.P. Lovecraft and devoted a significant part of his life to preserving Lovecraft's memory. Derleth is credited with the dissemination and global recognition of his mentor's work. He founded the legendary publishing house Arkham House, with the aim of publishing Lovecraft's stories and those of his circle in high-quality editions. Simultaneously, he completed a large number of Lovecraft's unfinished stories and notes during their famous "posthumous" collaborations. Derleth's bibliography includes nearly 150 books, encompassing novels, short stories, poetry collections, essays, studies on nature, and more. He had thousands of collaborations with magazines and newspapers in the USA and beyond, and he edited hundreds of short story anthologies. He brought to prominence many authors of the Fantastic, including Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, and many others. Additionally, he is the one who named the Cthulhu Mythos, and as we know it today, it is more of Derleth's creation than Lovecraft's.