Mark Twain
Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), was an American writer, humorist, lecturer, and social critic whose novels and essays became central to nineteenth-century American literature. Born in Florida, Missouri, and raised in Hannibal, Missouri, Clemens worked as a printer and typesetter before becoming a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, an experience that supplied both his pen name and much of the material for his later writing. After the Civil War, he established himself as a journalist and humorist, gaining national attention with stories such as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865). His major works include The Innocents Abroad (1869), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889). Twain’s writing combined regional speech, satire, humor, and social criticism, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in particular is widely regarded as a landmark of American literature for its treatment of race, slavery, morality, and individual conscience. His later work became increasingly dark and skeptical, reflecting his disillusionment with human institutions, imperialism, organized religion, and social injustice. Although Twain achieved considerable financial success, investments and publishing ventures contributed to serious financial difficulties later in life, and he spent his final years as one of the most recognizable literary figures in the United States.