M tven brief information about the writer. Brief biography of Mark Twain, an outstanding American writer

(ratings: 9 , the average: 4,33 out of 5)

Mark Twain, whose real name is Samuel Lenghorne Clemens, was born November 30, 1835 in Florida. In fact, he was ill all his childhood, although this is not strange: as the newspapers reported, only half of Americans lived to adulthood. Unknown diseases that raged in Florida at that time claimed the lives of countless people ...

One of the entertainments in the childhood of the future writer was watching the arrival of the steamer. Having matured, he no longer simply watched the ships, but also controlled them. However, young Samuel was still that tomboy: he stole sweet apples and watermelons, hunted possums at night, and once even rolled a large boulder down the hill onto the city (fortunately, only the coppersmith's workshop was damaged). Clemens also, like Tom Sawyer, wandered through a terrible cave - and, like his hero, one day he got lost there and almost died.

Samuel's father, John Clemens, left the family debts and a land inheritance. He died without knowing that the land, which he considered a priceless gift and a source of wealth for his children, turned into a heavy burden that all Clemens had to bear.

Young Sam took a job at a newspaper, first at the Missouri Courier and later at a publishing house owned by his brother. In 1953, he realized that the profession of a typesetting journalist did not bring joy, and set off on a journey. Without staying in one place for more than a week, he visited many American cities. Sam writes short essays about his travels and sends them to his brother: in this way, the family newspaper is constantly updated with new materials.

Travels lead him aboard the old ship "Paul Jones". Here Clemens becomes an apprentice to pilot Horace Bixby. After a while, Sam got a job on the big steamer Pennsylvania. He did not forget about the journalistic craft, but regularly sent his texts to the New Orleans periodicals.

Clemens was also struck by the gold rush: he, like almost everyone at that time, went in search of his tidbit. Trying in vain to make a fortune, Sam returned to writing - and a little later, on the same site, another person nevertheless found the coveted gold. At the age of 27, Clemens had already finally decided to devote his life to creativity.

The pseudonym "Mark Twain" is associated with his pilot past: Mark twain literally translates as "mark two" (fathoms). This is about 4 meters of depth, that is, the minimum depth for the free passage of ships. Working in the editorial office of the Enterprise, Samuel Clemens turns into the well-known Mark Twain.

After the unexpected success of one of his stories, Mark decides to take a short break from journalism and go on a road trip. In New York, he finds his love - Olivia Langdon, who would later become his chief editor (despite the fact that she herself had a bourgeois outlook). As Twain said, she edited not only the works, but also himself.

For 10 years, Mark Twain and his family lived in many European countries - Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland. The beginning of the twentieth century brought the writer heavy losses: three of his daughters and wife passed away. He himself died on April 21, 1910 - after the second time he witnessed Halley's comet (for the first time it flew over the Earth, oddly enough, in the year of his birth).

Mark Twain, bibliography

All books by Mark Twain

• 1867 - "The famous jumping frog of Calaveras", a collection of short stories
• 1868 - "The Story of Mamie Grant, Missionary Girl"
• 1869 - "Simples abroad"
• 1871 - "Hardened"
• 1873 - "The Gilded Age"
• 1875 - "Old and New Essays"
• 1875 - "Old Times on the Mississippi"
• 1876 ​​- ""
• 1881 - ""
• 1883 - "Life on the Mississippi"
• 1884 - "

Mark Twain is an American writer, journalist and public figure. His work is full of sharp humor and satire, but he wrote many works in the genre of journalism and philosophical fiction.

Based on the novels and stories of Twain, dozens of feature films and animated films, and his "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is known all over the world.

So in front of you short biography Mark Twain.

Biography of Twain

Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri.

On the day of his birth, Halley's comet flew over the Earth. An interesting fact is that on the day of the writer's death, the same comet will again sweep over the Earth (see).

Mark Twain's father, John Marshall, worked as a judge, and his mother, Jane Lampton, was a housewife. However, despite the seemingly good position of the father, the family experienced serious financial difficulties.

In this regard, the Clemens family decided to move to the shipping city of Hannibal. It was this small town with its sights that left many pleasant and warm memories in the memory of the future writer, playing an important role in Twain's biography.

Childhood and youth

When Twain was 12 years old, his father died of pneumonia, leaving behind a lot of debt. For this reason, the children had to leave school and go to work.

Soon, Twain's older brother began publishing a newspaper. As a result, Mark began to work in it as a compositor. It was then that the young man began to sometimes write his own articles.

At the age of 18, Twain goes on a trip to the cities of America.

During this period of his biography, he awakens a special interest in. He long time spends in libraries, reading different genres.

Over time, Mark Twain becomes a pilot on a ship. In his own words, he really liked this profession, which requires attention and knowledge of the fairway.

However, when in 1861 the Civil War, private shipping fell into disrepair. As a result, the guy had to look for another job.

Creative biography of Twain

Over time, Mark Twain goes to the Wild West to mine precious metals. Despite the fact that the mines did not make him rich, during this period of his biography he managed to compose several witty stories.

In 1863, the writer signs his books for the first time with the pseudonym Mark Twain, taken from shipping practice. In the future, he will publish all his works only under this name, and it is with him that he will go down in the history of world literature.

The debut work in Twain's biography was The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras. This humorous story gained great popularity throughout America.

After that Twain began actively engage writing activities. He was offered to cooperate with many authoritative publications that wanted them to publish the works of a rising literary star.

Soon, Mark discovers his gift as an orator, in connection with which he often begins to speak in different halls in front of a large audience. During this period of his biography, he meets his future wife Olivia, who was the sister of his friend.

Twain's works

At the peak of his popularity, Mark Twain wrote several books in the realism genre, which received many positive feedback at the critics.

In 1876, the famous story "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" came out from under his pen, which brought him even greater popularity. Interestingly, it contained many autobiographical episodes from the life of the author.

After that, a new historical novel Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper. In America, the book was a resounding success. Later this work will translate, thanks to which Soviet citizens will be able to appreciate this wonderful novel.

In the mid-1880s, Mark Twain opened his own publishing house, in which he printed the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Later, he publishes the best-selling book Reminiscences, which he dedicates to U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.

Twain's printing house lasted about 10 years until it completely went bankrupt due to economic crisis that started in the USA.

It is worth noting that latest works Twain, although they were quite popular, they no longer had such success as the first ones.

At this time, the peak of fame and recognition was observed in the biography of the writer: he was awarded doctoral degrees at various American universities and was honored in every possible way.

Friends of Mark Twain

Mark Twain was very interested. He had a friendly relationship with a famous inventor. Together with him, he could spend a long time in the laboratory, observing the research of the Lightning Lord.

Another close friend of Twain was the oil tycoon Henry Rogers. Interestingly, by nature, Henry was a very stingy person. However, after a long conversation with the writer, he changed dramatically.

The tycoon helped Mark Twain to get out of financial difficulties, and also began to donate substantial amounts of money to charity. Moreover, many of his donations became known only after the death of Rogers.

Death

AT last decade Mark Twain's life had to experience many tragedies associated with his family. He survived the death of three children and his wife Olivia, whom he loved very much.

Perhaps that is why in this period of his biography he finally lost faith in God and began to promote atheism. This was especially noticeable in the works "The Mysterious Stranger" and "Letter from the Earth", published after the death of the classic.

Samuel Clemens, known to the world as Mark Twain, died on April 21, 1910 at the age of 74.

The official cause of his death was angina pectoris. The writer was buried in the state of New York at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira.

Twain's photo

Below you can see the few photos of Mark Twain that even exist.

If you liked Twain's short biography - share it in social networks. If you like biographies of great people in general and in particular, subscribe to the site. It's always interesting with us!

Liked the post? Press any button.

Mark Twain (real name - Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was born on November 30, 1835 in a large family of John Marshal and Jane. Until the age of four he lived in small town Florida, Missouri. Then, together with his family, he moved to another small town in Missouri - Hannibal. It was him that Twain later immortalized on the pages of his works.

When the future writer was 12 years old, his father died. He left his family a large number of debts. Twain had to get a job. He was hired as an apprentice compositor for the Missouri Courier. Soon, Mark Twain's older brother, Orion, began publishing his own newspaper. It was originally called Western Union. Then it was renamed "Hannibal Journal". Mark Twain tried to help his brother, acting as a typesetter and occasionally as an author.

From 1853 to 1857 Twain traveled throughout the United States. Among the places he managed to visit are Washington, Cincinnati, New York. In 1857, Twain was going to go to South America, but instead he was apprenticed to a pilot. Two years later he was issued a pilot's certificate. Twain admitted that he could devote his whole life to this profession. His plans were intervened by the civil war that began in 1861 and put an end to the private shipping industry.

For two weeks, Twain fought on the side of the southerners. From 1861 to 1864 he lived in the territory of Nevada, where, among other things, he worked for several months in the silver mines. In 1865 he again decided to try his luck as a prospector. Only this time he started looking for gold in California. In 1867, Twain's debut collection, The Famous Jumping Frog and Other Essays, was published. From June to October, the writer traveled to European cities, including visiting Russia. In addition, he visited Palestine. The impressions received formed the basis of the book "Simples Abroad", published in 1869 and enjoyed great success.

In 1873, Twain traveled to England, where he took part in public readings held in London. He managed to get acquainted with many eminent writers. Among them is the outstanding Russian writer I. S. Turgenev. In 1876, the story "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was first published, which later became one of the most popular works Twain. The book tells about the adventures of an orphan boy who lives in the fictional town of St. Petersburg and is raised by his aunt. In 1879, Twain traveled with his family to European cities. During the trip, he met with I. S. Turgenev, the English naturalist and traveler Charles Darwin.

In the 1880s, the novels The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Rape of the White Elephant and Other Stories were published. Twain's own publishing house, Charles Webster and Company, opened in 1884. In the late 1880s and early 1890s, the writer's financial situation got worse and worse. The publishing house went bankrupt - Twain spent a significant amount on the purchase of a new model of the printing press. As a result, it was never put into production. An important role in Twain's life was played by his acquaintance in 1893 with the oil tycoon Henry Rogers. Rogers helped the writer escape from financial ruin. At the same time, friendship with Twain had a significant impact on the character of the magnate - from a miser who was not very worried about the problems of outsiders, he turned into a person who was actively involved in charity work.

In 1906, Twain met in the United States with the writer Maxim Gorky, after which he publicly called for support for the Russian revolution. Mark Twain died on April 21, 1910 from angina pectoris. The writer was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, located in Elmira, New York.

Brief analysis of creativity

Twain's writing activity began after the civil war, which ended in 1865 and had a huge impact on both public and literary life USA. He was a representative of the democratic direction of American literature. In his works, realism was combined with romanticism. Twain was the heir to the American romantic writers of the 19th century and at the same time their ardent opponent. In particular, already at the very beginning of his career, he composed poisonous parodies in verse of Longfellow, the author of The Song of Hiawatha.

Twain's early works, among them - "Simples Abroad", which ridicules old Europe, and "Light", which tells about the New World, are filled with humor, cheerful fun. creative path Twain - the path from humor to bitter irony. At the very beginning, the writer created unpretentious humorous couplets. His later works are essays on human morals filled with subtle irony, sharp satire criticizing American society and politicians, and philosophical reflections on the fate of civilization. Twain's most important novel is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book was published in 1884. Hemingway called it the most significant work of Mark Twain and all previous US literature.

US Literature

Mark Twain

Biography

Mark Twain (eng. Mark Twain, pseudonym, real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens - Samuel Langhorne Clemens; 1835-1910) - an outstanding American writer, satirist, journalist and lecturer. At the peak of his career, he was probably the most popular figure in America. William Faulkner wrote that he was "the first truly American writer, and since then we have all been his heirs," and Ernest Hemingway wrote that "all modern American literature came out of one book by Mark Twain called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "". Of the Russian writers, Maxim Gorky and Alexander Kuprin spoke especially warmly about Mark Twain.

Nickname

Clemens claimed that the pseudonym "Mark Twain" (Eng. Mark Twain) was taken by him in his youth from the terms of river navigation. Then he was a pilot's assistant on the Mississippi, and the term "mark twain" called the minimum depth suitable for the passage of river vessels (this is 2 fathoms, 365.76 cm). However, there is an opinion that in reality this pseudonym was remembered by Clemens from the time of his fun days in the West. They said “Mark Twain!” when, after drinking a double whiskey, they did not want to pay immediately, but asked the bartender to write it down on the account. Which of the variants of the origin of the pseudonym is correct is unknown. In addition to "Mark Twain", Clemens signed once in 1896 as "Mr. Louis de Conte" (fr. Sieur Louis de Conte).

early years

Sam Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, USA. He was the third of four surviving children of John and Jane Clemens. When Sam was still a child, the family moved to the city of Hannibal (in the same place, in Missouri) in search of a better life. It was this city and its inhabitants that were later described by Mark Twain in his famous works, especially in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Clemens' father died in 1847, leaving many debts. The eldest son, Orion, soon began publishing a newspaper, and Sam began to contribute as much as he could as a printer and, occasionally, as a writer of articles. Some of the newspaper's liveliest and most controversial articles had just come from the pen of a younger brother, usually when Orion was away. Sam himself also occasionally traveled to St. Louis and New York.

But the call of the Mississippi River eventually drew Clemens to a career as a steamboat pilot. A profession that, according to Clemens himself, he would have practiced all his life if the civil war had not put an end to private shipping in 1861. So Clemens was forced to look for another job.

After a short acquaintance with the people's militia (he colorfully described this experience in 1885), Clemens left the war for the west in July 1861. Then his brother Orion was offered the position of secretary to the governor of Nevada. Sam and Orion traveled across the prairies in a stagecoach for two weeks to a Virginia mining town where silver was mined in Nevada.

The experience of living in the Western United States shaped Twain as a writer and formed the basis of his second book. In Nevada, hoping to get rich, Sam Clemens became a miner and began mining silver. He had to live for a long time in the camp with other prospectors - this way of life he later described in literature. But Clemens could not become a successful prospector, he had to leave silver mining and get a job at the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in the same place in Virginia. In this newspaper, he first used the pseudonym "Mark Twain". And in 1864 he moved to San Francisco, California, where he began to write for several newspapers at the same time. In 1865, Twain's first literary success came, his humorous story "The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras" was reprinted throughout the country and called " the best work humorous literature created in America up to this point.

In the spring of 1866, Twain was sent by the Sacramento Union newspaper to Hawaii. During the journey, he had to write letters about his adventures. Upon their return to San Francisco, these letters were a resounding success. Colonel John McComb, publisher of the Alta California newspaper, invited Twain to tour the state, giving exciting lectures. The lectures immediately became wildly popular, and Twain traveled all over the state, entertaining the audience and collecting a dollar from each listener.

Twain's first success as a writer was on another journey. In 1867, he begged Colonel McComb to sponsor his trip to Europe and the Middle East. In June, as Alta California correspondent for the New York Tribune, Twain travels on the Quaker City steamer to Europe. In August, he also visited Odessa, Yalta and Sevastopol (in the "Odessa Herald" of August 24, the "Address" of American tourists written by Twain is placed). Letters written by him on a trip to Europe were sent and printed in a newspaper. And upon his return, these letters formed the basis of the book "Simples Abroad". The book was published in 1869, distributed by subscription and was a huge success. Until the very end of his life, many knew Twain precisely as the author of "Simples Abroad". During his writing career, Twain traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa and even Australia.

In 1870, at the height of the success of The Stupid Abroad, Twain married Olivia Langdon and moved to Buffalo, New York. From there he moved to the city of Hartford, Connecticut. During this period, he lectured frequently in the United States and England. Then he began to write sharp satire, sharply criticizing American society and politics, this is especially noticeable in the collection of short stories Life on the Mississippi, written in 1883.

Twain's greatest contribution to the American and world literature considered the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Many consider it generally the best literary work ever created in the United States. Also very popular are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and the collection real stories"Life on the Mississippi". Mark Twain began his career with humorous couplets, and ended with terrible and almost vulgar chronicles of human vanity, hypocrisy and even murder.

Twain was an excellent orator. He helped create and popularize American literature as such, with its distinctive themes and colorful, offbeat language. Having received recognition and fame, Mark Twain spent a lot of time searching for young literary talents and helping them to break through, using his influence and the publishing company he acquired.

Twain was fond of science and scientific problems. He was very friendly with Nikola Tesla, they spent a lot of time together in Tesla's laboratory. In his work A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain introduced time travel, which resulted in many modern technologies appeared in England during the time of King Arthur. You had to have a good understanding of science to create such a plot. And later, Mark Twain even patented his own invention - improved braces for pants [source?].

Two other well-known hobbies of Mark Twain were playing billiards and smoking pipes. Visitors to Twain's home sometimes said that there was such tobacco smoke in his office that Twain himself could no longer be seen.

Twain was a prominent figure in the American Anti-Imperial League which protested the American annexation of the Philippines. In response to the massacre, which killed about 600 people, he wrote The Philippines Incident, but the work was not published until 1924, 14 years after Twain's death.

AT recent times In the United States, attempts were made to ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of naturalistic descriptions and verbal expressions that offend African Americans. Although Twain was an opponent of racism and imperialism and went much further than his contemporaries in his rejection of racism, there are indeed elements in his books that in our time can be perceived as racism [source?]. Many of the terms that were in common use during the time of Mark Twain really do sound like racial slurs now[source?]. Mark Twain himself was joking about censorship. When the Massachusetts Public Library decided to withdraw The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from its collection in 1885, Twain wrote to his publisher: "They have removed Huck from the library as 'slum-only rubbish', because of this we will undoubtedly sell another 25,000 copies. books."

From time to time, some of Twain's works were banned by American censors for various reasons. This was mainly due to the active civil and social position Twain. Some works that might offend religious feelings people, Twain did not print at the request of his family. For example, The Mysterious Stranger remained unpublished until 1916. Perhaps Twain's most controversial work was a humorous lecture at a Parisian club, published under the title Reflections on the Science of Onanism. The central idea of ​​the lecture was: "If you have to risk your life on the sexual front, don't masturbate too much." It was only published in 1943 in a limited edition of 50 copies. A few more anti-religious writings remained unpublished until the 1940s.

Mark Twain's success gradually began to fade. Until his death in 1910, he suffered the loss of three of his four children, and his beloved wife, Olivia, also died. In his later years, Twain was deeply depressed, but he could still joke. In response to an erroneous obituary in the New York Journal, he delivered his famous phrase: Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Twain's financial situation was also shaken: his publishing company went bankrupt; he invested a lot of money in a new model of the printing press, which was never put into production; plagiarists stole the rights to several of his books.

In 1893, Twain was introduced to the oil tycoon Henry Rogers, one of the directors of the Standard Oil Company. Rogers helped Twain to profitably reorganize his financial affairs, and the two became close friends. Twain often visited Rogers, they drank and played poker. We can say that Twain even became a family member for the Rogers. The sudden death of Rogers in 1909 deeply shocked Twain. Although Mark Twain repeatedly publicly thanked Rogers for saving him from financial ruin, it became clear that their friendship was mutually beneficial. Apparently, Twain significantly influenced the mitigation of the tough temper of the oil magnate, who had the nickname "Cerberus Rogers." After Rogers' death, his papers showed that friendship with famous writer made a real philanthropist and philanthropist out of a ruthless miser. During his friendship with Twain, Rogers began to actively support education, organizing educational programs, especially for African Americans and talented people with disabilities.

Mark Twain House Museum in Hartford

Twain himself died on April 21, 1910 from angina pectoris (angina pectoris). A year before his death, he said: "I came in 1835 with Halley's Comet, a year later it arrives again, and I expect to leave with it." And so it happened.

In the city of Hannibal, Missouri, the house in which Sam Clemens played as a boy, and the caves that he explored as a child, and which were later described in the famous Adventures of Tom Sawyer, have been preserved, tourists now come there. Mark Twain's home in Hartford has been turned into his personal museum and declared a National Historic Site in the United States.

Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorn Clemens) is a famous American writer and journalist. Born November 30, 1835 in the family of a judge, Missouri, Florida village. When the boy was 4 years old, the family moved to the city of Hannibal. The entire childhood of the future writer was spent in this city, which became the main source for his subsequent works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

At the age of twelve, Sam starts working. Constant distress forces him to go to Nevada, as his older brother did. However, to put it mildly, he was unlucky, and he got a job at the editorial office of the newspaper. From that moment on, he published for the first time under the pseudonym Mark Twain.

Still, luck smiled at Mark Twain, "The famous jumping frog from Calaveras" brought special success to the writer. This story was written based on folklore. Such a triumph was consolidated by the book "Simples Abroad" (1769). Mark Twain was not only recognized by a large number of Americans, they knew the whole story of his life. And it's all thanks to the book.

In 1876, the successful works of Mark Twain came out into the world: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and in 1885 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Early 90s is a rather difficult period. His publishing company abruptly went bankrupt. This fact forced the writer to go to extreme measures in order to have at least some small income. He decides to speak to readers.

Mark Twain, real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, USA - died April 21, 1910 in Redding, Connecticut, USA. American writer, journalist and public figure.

His work covers many genres - humor, satire, philosophical fiction, journalism and others, and in all these genres he invariably takes the position of a humanist and democrat.

William Faulkner wrote that Mark Twain was "the first truly American writer, and since then we have all been his heirs", and Ernest Hemingway believed that all modern American literature came out of one book by Mark Twain, called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ". Of the Russian writers, Mark Twain was especially warmly spoken of by and.

Clemens claimed that the pseudonym "Mark Twain" was taken by him in his youth from the terms of river navigation. Then he was a pilot's assistant on the Mississippi, and the cry "mark twain" (English mark twain, literally - "mark deuce") meant that, according to the mark on the lotlin, the minimum depth suitable for the passage of river vessels was reached - 2 fathoms (about 3 .7 m).

However, there is a version about the literary origin of this pseudonym: in 1861, Artemus Ward's humorous story "The North Star" about three sailors, one of whom was named Mark Twain, was published in Vanity Fair magazine. Samuel was very fond of the comic section of this magazine and read Ward's works in his first stand-up performances.

In addition to "Mark Twain", Clemens once in 1896 signed as "Sieur Louis de Comte" (fr. Sieur Louis de Conte) - under this name he published his novel "Personal Memoirs of Joan of Arc by Sieur Louis de Comte, her page and secretary.

Samuel Clemens born November 30, 1835 in a small town in Florida (Missouri, USA). He later joked that by being born, he increased its population by one percent. He was the third of four surviving children of John and Jane Clemens. When Sam was still a child, the family moved to the city of Hannibal (in the same place, in Missouri) in search of a better life. It was this city and its inhabitants that were later described by Mark Twain in his famous works, especially in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Clemens' father died in 1847 of pneumonia, leaving many debts. The eldest son, Orion, soon began publishing a newspaper, and Sam began to contribute as much as he could as a typesetter and occasionally as a writer. Some of the newspaper's liveliest and most controversial articles came from the pen of his little brother, usually when Orion was away. Sam himself also occasionally traveled to St. Louis and New York.

A profession that, according to Clemens himself, he would have practiced all his life if the civil war had not put an end to private shipping in 1861. So Clemens was forced to look for another job.

Twain entered Freemasonry at North Star Lodge No. 79 in St. Louis on May 22, 1861. During one of his travels, he sent from Palestine to the address of his lodge a “hammer”, to which a letter was enclosed in a humorous spirit. Twain informed his brothers that "The handle of the hammer was carved by Brother Clemens from the trunk of a Lebanese cedar, planted in a timely manner by Brother Goffred of Bouillon near the walls of Jerusalem."

After a short acquaintance with the people's militia (he colorfully described this experience in 1885), Clemens left the war for the west in July 1861. Then his brother Orion was offered the position of secretary to the governor of the Nevada Territory. Sam and Orion traveled across the prairies in a stagecoach for two weeks to a Virginia mining town where silver was mined in Nevada.

The experience of living in the Western United States shaped Twain as a writer and formed the basis of his second book. In Nevada, hoping to get rich, Sam Clemens became a miner and began mining silver. He had to live for a long time in the camp with other prospectors - this way of life he later described in literature.

But Clemens could not become a successful prospector, he had to leave silver mining and get a job at the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in the same place in Virginia. In this newspaper, he first used the pseudonym "Mark Twain".

In 1864 he moved to San Francisco, where he began to write for several newspapers at the same time.

In 1865, Twain's first literary success came, his humorous story "The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras" was reprinted throughout the country and called "the best work of humorous literature created in America to this point."

In the spring of 1866, Twain was sent by the Sacramento Union newspaper to Hawaii. During the journey, he had to write letters about his adventures.

Upon their return to San Francisco, these letters were a resounding success. Colonel John McComb, publisher of the Alta California newspaper, suggested that Twain go on a tour of the state, giving exciting lectures. The lectures immediately became wildly popular, and Twain traveled all over the state, entertaining the audience and collecting a dollar from each listener.

Twain's first success as a writer was on another journey. In 1867, he begged Colonel McComb to sponsor his trip to Europe and the Middle East. In June, as a correspondent for the Alta California and the New York Tribune, Twain traveled to Europe on the steamer Quaker City.. In August, he also visited Odessa, Yalta and Sevastopol (in the "Odessa Bulletin" dated August 24, 1867, the "Address" of American tourists written by Twain is placed). As part of the ship's delegation, Mark Twain visited the residence of the Russian emperor in Livadia.

Letters written by Twain during his travels in Europe and Asia were sent to his editor and published in the newspaper, and later formed the basis of the book. "Simples Abroad". The book was published in 1869, distributed by subscription and was a huge success. Until the very end of his life, many knew Twain precisely as the author of "Simples Abroad". During his writing career, Twain traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

In 1870, at the peak of success from the "Simples Abroad", Twain married Olivia Langdon and moved to Buffalo, New York. From there he moved to the city of Hartford (Connecticut). During this period, he lectured frequently in the United States and England. Then he began to write sharp satire, sharply criticizing American society and politicians, this is especially noticeable in the collection "Life on the Mississippi" written in 1883.

One of Mark Twain's inspirations was John Ross Brown's note-taking style.

Twain's greatest contribution to American and world literature is the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Also very popular "Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Prince and the Pauper", "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" and a collection of autobiographical stories "Life on the Mississippi".

Mark Twain began his career with unpretentious humorous couplets, and ended with sketches of human manners full of subtle irony, sharply satirical pamphlets on socio-political topics, and philosophically deep and, at the same time, very pessimistic reflections on the fate of civilization.

Many public performance and lectures were lost or were not recorded, individual works and letters were forbidden from publication by the author himself during his lifetime and for decades after his death.

Twain was an excellent orator. Having received recognition and fame, Mark Twain spent a lot of time searching for young literary talents and helping them to break through, using his influence and the publishing company he acquired.

Twain was fond of science and scientific problems. He was very friendly with, they spent a lot of time together in Tesla's laboratory. In his work A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain introduced time travel that brought many modern technologies to Arthurian England.

The technical details given in the novel testify to Twain's good acquaintance with the achievements of contemporary science.

Two of Mark Twain's other most famous hobbies were playing billiards and smoking pipes. Visitors to Twain's house sometimes said that there was such thick tobacco smoke in the writer's office that it was almost impossible to see the owner himself.

Twain was a prominent figure in the American Anti-Imperial League which protested the American annexation of the Philippines. In response to these events, in which about 600 people died, Twain wrote the pamphlet The Incident in the Philippines, but the work was not published until 1924, 14 years after his death.

From time to time, some of Twain's works were banned by American censors for various reasons. This was mainly due to the active civic and social position of the writer. Some works that could offend the religious feelings of people, Twain did not print at the request of his family. For example, The Mysterious Stranger remained unpublished until 1916.

One of Twain's most controversial works was a humorous lecture at a Parisian club, published under the title "Reflections on the Science of Onanism". The central idea of ​​the lecture was: "If you have to risk your life on the sexual front, don't masturbate too much." The essay was published only in 1943 in a limited edition of 50 copies. A few more anti-religious writings remained unpublished until the 1940s.

Twain himself treated censorship with irony. When the Massachusetts Public Library decided to withdraw The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, Twain wrote to his publisher: "They've taken Huck out of the library as 'slum-only rubbish', because of that we'll no doubt sell 25,000 more copies.".

In the 2000s, attempts were again made in the United States to ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of naturalistic descriptions and verbal expressions that were offensive to blacks. Although Twain was an opponent of racism and imperialism and went much further than his contemporaries in his rejection of racism, many of the words that were in common use during the time of Mark Twain and used by him in the novel do indeed sound like racial slurs now.

В феврале 2011 года в США вышло первое издание книг Марка Твена «Приключения Гекльберри Финна» и «Приключения Тома Сойера», в котором подобные слова и выражения заменены на политкорректные (например, слово «nigger» (негр) заменено по тексту на «slave» (slave)).

Until his death in 1910, he suffered the loss of three of his four children, including the death of his wife, Olivia. In his later years, Twain was deeply depressed, but he could still joke.

In response to an erroneous obituary in the New York Journal, he famously said: "Rumors of my death are somewhat exaggerated".

Twain's financial situation was also shaken: his publishing company went bankrupt, he invested a lot of money in a new model of the printing press, which was never put into production. Plagiarists have stolen the rights to several of his books.

In 1893, Twain was introduced to an oil tycoon. Henry Rogers, one of the directors of Standard Oil. Rogers helped Twain to profitably reorganize his financial affairs, and the two became close friends. Twain often visited Rogers, they drank and played poker. We can say that Twain even became a family member for the Rogers.

The sudden death of Rogers in 1909 deeply shocked Twain. Although Mark Twain repeatedly publicly thanked Rogers for saving him from financial ruin, it became clear that their friendship was mutually beneficial. Apparently, Twain significantly influenced the mitigation of the tough temper of the oil magnate, who had the nickname "Cerberus Rogers." After the death of Rogers, his papers showed that friendship with the famous writer made a real philanthropist and philanthropist out of the ruthless miser. During his friendship with Twain, Rogers began to actively support education, organizing educational programs, especially for African Americans and talented people with disabilities.

Twain died on April 21, 1910 from angina pectoris. A year before his death, he said: "I came in 1835 with Halley's Comet, a year later it arrives again, and I expect to leave with it." And so it happened.

Twain is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York.

In the city of Hannibal, Missouri, the house in which Twain played as a boy, and the caves that he explored as a child and which were later described in the famous Adventures of Tom Sawyer, have been preserved, tourists now come there. Mark Twain's home in Hartford has been turned into his personal museum and declared a National Historic Site in the United States.

A crater on Mercury is named after Twain. The only street in Russia named after Mark Twain is located in Volgograd.

Political views of Mark Twain:

With Mark Twain's views on perfect shape board and political regime can be found by reading his speech "The Knights of Labor - a new dynasty", which he delivered on March 22, 1886 in the city of Hartford, at a meeting of the Monday Night Club. This speech, titled "The New Dynasty," was first published in September 1957 in the New England Quarterly.

Mark Twain held the position that power should belong to the people and only the people: "The power of one person over others means oppression - invariably and always oppression; let not always conscious, deliberate, deliberate, not always severe, or heavy, or cruel, or indiscriminate - but one way or another - always oppression in one form or another. To whomever you give power, it will certainly manifest itself in oppression.Give power to the Dahomean king - and he will immediately begin to test the accuracy of his brand new rapid-fire rifle on everyone who passes by his palace; people will fall one after another, but not to him or his courtiers and it never enters his head that he does something inappropriate.Give power to the head christian church in Russia - to the emperor - and with one wave of his hand, as if driving away midges, he will send an uncountable multitude of young men, mothers with babies in their arms, gray-haired old men and young girls to the unimaginable hell of his Siberia, and he himself will calmly go to breakfast, without even feeling what barbarism has just been committed. Give power to Constantine or Edward IV, or Peter the Great, or Richard III - I could name a hundred more monarchs - and they will kill their closest relatives, after which they will fall asleep perfectly, even without sleeping pills ... Give power to anyone - and this power will oppress".

The first are few - the king, a handful of other overseers and assistants, and the second are many - these are the peoples of the world: the best representatives humanity, working people - those who earn their bread with their labor. Twain believed that all the rulers that have so far ruled the world sympathized with and patronized the classes and clans of gilded loafers, clever embezzlers of public funds, tireless intriguers, troublemakers of public peace, thinking only about their own benefit.

Mark Twain and Religion:

Twain's wife, a deeply religious Protestant (Congregationalist), was never able to "convert" her husband, although he tried to avoid sensitive topics during her lifetime. Many of Twain's novels (for example, "A Yankee in King Arthur's Court") contain extremely harsh attacks on the Catholic Church. In recent years, Twain has written many religious stories that ridicule the Protestant ethic (for example, "Inquisitive Bessie").

It is clear from posthumously published materials that Mark Twain was infinitely far from any existing religious denomination. He summed up his views in 1906 in Reflections on Religion: "Now let's talk about the true God, the real God, the great God, the highest and supreme God, the true creator of the real universe ... - a universe not handcrafted for an astronomical nursery, but brought into being in the boundless expanse of space at the command of the true God just mentioned, An unimaginably great and majestic God, in comparison with which all other gods, swarming in myriads in the miserable human imagination, are like a swarm of mosquitoes lost in the infinity of an empty sky ...

As we explore the countless wonders, splendor, brilliance and perfection of this infinite universe (we now know that the universe is infinite) and find that everything in it, from a stalk of grass to the forest giants of California, from an unknown mountain stream to a boundless ocean, from the course of the tides and ebbs to the majestic movement of the planets, unquestioningly obeys a strict system of precise laws that do not know exceptions, we comprehend - we do not assume, we do not conclude, but comprehend - that God, who with a single thought created this incredible complex world, and with another thought he created the laws that govern him - this God is endowed with unlimited power ...

Do we know that he is just, gracious, kind, meek, merciful, compassionate? No. We have no evidence that he possesses even one of these qualities - and at the same time, every passing day brings us hundreds of thousands of evidence - no, not evidence, but irrefutable evidence - that he does not possess any of them. .

Due to his complete absence of any of those qualities that could adorn a god, inspire respect for him, cause reverence and worship, a real god, a true god, the creator of an immense universe is no different from all the other gods available. Every day he shows quite clearly that he has no interest in either man or other animals - except to torture them, destroy them and extract some entertainment from this activity, while doing everything possible to keep his eternal and unchanging monotony he didn't like it".

Bibliography of Mark Twain:

"The Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras", a collection of short stories (1867)
"The Story of Mamie Grant, Missionary Girl" (1868)
"Simples Abroad, or the Way of the New Pilgrims" (1869)
"The Hardened" (1871), Russian translation under the title "Light" (1959)
The Gilded Age (1873), novel co-written with C. D. Warner
"Old and New Essays" (1875), collection of short stories
"Old Times on the Mississippi" (1875)
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876)
"The Prince and the Pauper" (1881)
"Life on the Mississippi" (1883)
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884)
"Knights of Labor - a new dynasty" (1886)
Letter from a Guardian Angel (1887), published 1946
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1889)
"Adam's Diary" (1893)
"Coot Wilson" (1894)
"Personal Memoirs of Joan of Arc by Sieur Louis de Comte, Her Page and Secretary" (1896)
"School Hill", left unfinished (1898)
"The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg" (1900)
"Deal with Satan" (1904)
"Eve's Diary" (1905)
"Three Thousand Years Among the Microbes (The Life of the Microbe, with Notes by the Same Hand Seven Thousand Years Later). Translated from microbial by Mark Twain. 1905" (1905)
"Letters from the Earth" (1909)
"No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger. An old manuscript found in a jar. Free translation from a jug”, remained unfinished (1902-1908)