One of the greatest author and humorist in the field of English Literature-

Mark twain is the famous American author and humorist who is famous for his novels noted among them are – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer- 1876 and its sequel – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- 1885. The latter novel is labeled as the “The Great American Novel” of its time. The original name of Mark Twain was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Mark Twain acclaimed into fame when he wrote a humorous story titled- “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” that became quite popular and brought a nationwide attention. The travelogues written by Mark Twain are quiet popular and were well received at that time. Mark Twain achieved great success as a writer, public speaker and his satires and wit won him great accolades the critics, peers and the world over. He was quiet friendly with the presidents, industrialists, authors, artists and European royalty of that time. He was proclaimed as the “Greatest American Humorist of his age”. Mark Twain is also regarded as the “Father of American Literature.”

Quick Facts:

Nick/Pen Name:      Mark Twain.

Original Name:         Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Date of Birth:           Nov.30^th-1835.

Place of Birth:          Florida, Missouri- United States of America.

Nationality/Origin:  United States of America

Profession:               Author, Humorist

Known for:                Writing novels such as the “Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, Huckleberry Finn”

Website:                    www.cmgww.com

Childhood and Growing up years:

Mark twain alias Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born as a sixth child of John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens in a small town of Florida, Missouri. After four years of Mark Twain’s birth, the Clemens family moved to thirty-five miles east to the town of Hannibal. Hannibal was a growing city at that time and lie along the banks of river Mississippi. The father of Mark Twain was a judge and as a youngest Mark Twain was confined to indoors because of health problems. Mark Twain attended a private school at Hannibal by the age of nine after recovering from his ailments.

When Samuel (Mark Twain) was at the age of twelve, his father passed away due to pneumonia and at the age of thirteen, Samuel left the school to become an apprentice to a printer. After a period of two years, Samuel joined his brother’s newspaper named “Orion” as a printer and editorial assistant. Young Samuel recognized his writing skills and abilities at this point of time. At the age of seventeen- Samuel- left Hannibal to pursue his career as a printer in a job at St. Louis.  While residing at St. Louis, Samuel became the apprentice of a river pilot. In 1858, he became a licensed river pilot. Samuel got the idea of penning for him a pseudo name known as “Mark Twain” while working as a river pilot. The meaning of “Mark Twain” means a river that meant twelve feet or two fathoms in case the depth of the water for a boat when it is being navigated. In true sense, Mark Twain means navigation safety. Due to the Civil War in 1861, there occurred deadlock in river trade and due to which Samuel began to work as a newspaper reporter for several newspapers covering the whole nation of United States. These travelling experiences inspired him to provide material for his future novel “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. Samuels’ travelling regime ended in the city of Virginia, Nevada where he worked as a miner in the silver mines of this city. However, the working as a miner was short lived as he failed as a miner and then he worked at a Virginia City newspaper popularly known as “Territorial Enterprise”. Samuel first used the pet name- “Mark Twain” while working in this newspaper where he signed a humorous travel account titled- “Letter from Carson”.

Claim to Fame:

Mark Twain later on moved to San Francisco, California in 1864 and worked as a journalist. Here he met famous writer such as Dan DeQuille, Bret Harte, and Artemus Ward. Mark Twain tasted his first success as a writer when his humorous tell tale titled “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” was published in a New York Weekly named – “The Saturday Press” on November-18-1865. This tells tale story brought Mark Twain the national attention that was due to him. After a year, he went to Hawaii as a reporter for the “Sacramento Union”. Mark Twain’s travelogues became quite popular during these years and thereby becoming the basis for his first lectures.

During 1867- A local newspaper newspaper funded trip to the Mediterranean and Mark Twain during this tour to Middle East and the Europe, wrote a popular collection of travel letters, that were latter compiled as “The Innocents Abroad” in 1869. Upon returning to the United States from this trip, Mark Twain was offered the honorary membership of the secret society Scroll and Key of Yale University in the year-1868.

Marriage and Children:

In the year-1870- Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon and they were blessed with four children one whom died in infancy and the other two of whom died in their twenties. The last surviving child Clara lived until the age of eighty without having any children. Therefore, Mark Twain has had no direct descendents living right now.

Fame at its Peak /Helm:

From 1874-1876 Mark Twain spent his life in Hartford and at Quarry Farm and during this period he wrote many of his classic novels among them that are most popular even to this day are:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – 1876

The Prince and the Pauper – 1881

Life on the Mississippi – 1883

Adventures of the Huckleberry Finn- 1885

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – 1889

The above-mentioned novels brought him immense popularity in not only the United States of America but also the world over was swooned by his literary works. Mark Twain was also a master in the interpretation of the colloquial speech and helped in creating and popularizing the typical American literature that is built on American themes and language. As a featured speaker, he was quite popular in performing solo humorous talks that are parallel to a standup comedy. Mark Twain also used to give paid up talks to many men’s club that included the “Authors Club”, “Beefsteak Club, White Friars etc. Mark Twain was also made the honorary member of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. He was also elected as an honorary member of the “Savage Club” in London during the late 1890’s.

Awards and other Recognitions received:

Mark Twain during his lifetime received the following below mentioned awards during his lifetime that included the below mentioned ones:

Honorary M.A. in 1888 from Yale University,

M.A. Litt. D in 1901 from Yale University,

D.Litt from University of Missouri -1902,

D.Litt from American Academy of Arts and Literature – 1904,

D.Litt from Oxford University – 1907

Later life of Mark Twain

In the year-1880, Mark Twain made a second tour to Europe the travelogue of which was described in his book titled “A Tramp Abroad”. Mark Twain also undertook a global voyage in 1895 that encircled many countries including the Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Mauritius, South Africa and England. He gained much experience by traveling everywhere the globe that helped him with his writings. During his three months stay in India he wrote an extensive and quite intensive book of 712 pages titled- “Following the Equator”. This book received much acclaim and popularity as a travelogue. Although Mark Twain made lot of money due to his writings, he lost a huge amount of money in the investments that were made mostly on new inventions and technology. However, he recovered from his financial mess combined with the help of his new friend named Henry Rogers and through his (Mark Twain) writings and lecturers. In the year-1894, Mark Twain again ventured on an around the world trip especially to pay off his creditors. In the mid of 1900’s he was guest of the newspaper proprietor Hugz Gilzean Reid at the Dollis Hill House. He returned to United States of America in the year- 1900 to pay off his debts from his earnings during his world tour.  The later life of Mark Twain was quiet depressive that began with 1896 when his daughter died of meningitis and later the death of his wife Olivia and his daughter Jean in the year-1909 made him quiet depressive. His gloom deepened with the death of his close friend Henry Rogers’s in 1909. In the month of April-21-1910 Mark Twain died of heart attack in Redding, Connecticut. The day coincided with the visibility of Hailey’s Comet in that year.

Personal Quotes of Mark Twain:

“The lack of money is the root of all evil”

“A sin takes on a new and real terror when there seems a chance that it is going to be found out.”

“When in doubt tell the truth”

“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”