What is Mark Twain's real name?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Today we will tell you about one world-famous American writer, public figure and journalist. Mark Twain's real name is Samuel Clemens. He was born in the state of Missouri, the village of Florida, in 1835, on November 30th. Samuel died on April 21, 1910. His work includes many genres - satire, humor, journalism, philosophical fiction and others, and everywhere he takes the same position - a democrat and a humanist.

Reviews of Mark Twain by other writers

William Faulkner said that Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain's real name) was the first truly American writer. And Ernest Hemingway believed that modern American literature came out entirely from one book by Twain called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In Russia, among Russian writers, Alexander Kuprin and Maxim Gorky spoke especially warmly about Samuel Clemens.

Origin of pseudonym

The real name of the writer Mark Twain was not used by him when publishing his works. He always signed with a pseudonym. The author himself claimed that the name that he began to call himself in his youth - Mark Twain - comes from the term river navigation. At that time, the future writer served on the Mississippi as a pilot's assistant, and this cry (from the English translation of "mark twain" sounds literally like "mark two") meant that the mark on the lotlin had reached the smallest depth suitable for passing various river vessels, which is 2 fathoms (approximately 3.7 meters).

But there is another version about the alleged literary origin of this pseudonym: in one of the American magazines in 1861, a humorous story "The North Star" by Artemus Ward appeared, which tells about three sailors, the name of one of which was Mark Twain (what is the real the name of Mark Twain, we have already found out). Samuel was very fond of the humorous section of this magazine called "Vanity Fair". The writer in the first speeches (which are described below) read exactly the works of Artemus Ward.

Besides the aforementioned pseudonym, in 1896 Samuel once signed with the name "Sieur Louis de Comte". Under it, he published one of his novels.

Childhood and youth of the writer

Samuel was born in a small town called Florida, located in the USA, in the state of Missouri. Later, he joked that he increased the number of its inhabitants by one percent by his birth. The child wasthe third of four children in the family of Jane and John Clemens. When he was still very young, his parents moved in search of a better life to the city of Hannibal in the same state. It was he and his inhabitants who were later immortalized in the famous works of Samuel Clemens, especially in the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer published in 1876.

First job

In 1847, Clemens' father died of pneumonia, leaving the children with many debts. The eldest son named Orion soon began to publish his own newspaper, and Sam began to make a contribution to the cause as a compositor, and sometimes the author of various articles. It turned out that some of the most controversial and lively texts of the newspaper were written just by the younger brother when Orion was away. Sam also occasionally traveled to New York and St. Louis.

The period before the start of a writer's career

The call of the Mississippi eventually attracted Mark Twain, and he began to serve on the steamer as a pilot. It was a profession to which, as Clemens admitted, he would like to devote his whole life, but a civil war broke out, which put an end to private shipping in 1861. The future writer was therefore forced to look for another occupation.

Joining a Masonic lodge

He joined the North Star Masons in May 1861 in St. Louis. Samuel sent a "hammer" to the lodge during his next trip from Palestine, to which he attached a letter in a humorous style. In it, he informed the brothers that the handlethis hammer was carved by him from the trunk of a Lebanese cedar, which was planted near the walls of Jerusalem by Gottfried of Bouillon.

Mark Twain (the real name and surname of the writer is Samuel Clemens) after a short acquaintance with the people's militia (an experience that he colorfully described in 1885), in July 1861 he left the war for the west. During this time, his brother Orion was asked to become secretary to the governor in charge of the Nevada Territory. Orion and Sam traveled across the prairie for two weeks in a stagecoach to Virginia, a silver mining town.

In the west

Twain as a writer was shaped by this very experience of living in the western United States. It formed the basis of the second book he created. Hoping to get rich in Nevada, Clemens took a job as a miner and began to mine silver. The writer had to live for a long time in the camp with other workers - this way of life was described by him later in the literature. But Samuel failed to become a successful prospector, he was forced to leave his mining and get a job in one newspaper in Virginia, where he first began to use the pseudonym Mark Twain that made him famous. The writer in 1864 moved to California, San Francisco, where he began to publish articles simultaneously for several newspapers. Twain had his first literary success in 1865, when a humorous story he created was considered the finest work of humor ever created in America and reprinted throughout America.

Samuel Clemens ran the Sacramento Union in Hawaii in the spring of 1866. He had to write letters in the course of his journey aboutadventures that happened to him. Upon the writer's return to San Francisco, an unprecedented success awaited them. John McComb, colonel, publisher of a newspaper called "Alta California", suggested that Mark Twain go on a tour of the state with entertaining lectures. They immediately became wildly popular, and the writer, entertaining the public and collecting a dollar from each listener, traveled all over the state.

First published book

Mark Twain (the real name and surname of the writer were presented by us above) as a writer achieved the first success in his other journey. In 1867, he begged Mack Combe to sponsor his trip to the Middle East and Europe. In June of this year, as a correspondent, he went to the Old World on the steamer Cracker City. In August, the writer also reached Sevastopol, Y alta and Odessa. Mark Twain (Twain's real name is Samuel Clemens) as part of a ship's delegation visited the residence of the Emperor of Russia in Livadia.

The letters he wrote during his trip to Asia and Europe were sent to the editor and published in the newspaper, after which they became the basis of one of the books called "Simples Abroad". She was born in 1869, was a resounding success. Many knew this writer until the end of his life precisely as the creator of this work.

In 1870, Samuel married Olivia Langdon and went to live in the city of Buffalo, which is located in the US state of New York. He later moved to Hartford, Connecticut. This period is marked by lecturing in England and the USA. After that, the writer becamecreate sharp satire, criticizing politicians and American society. This is especially true for the collection published in 1883 en titled Life on the Mississippi.

Creative career

The most notable contribution of this writer to the literature of America and the world is his novel "The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn". The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Connecticut Yankee, and the aforementioned Life on the Mississippi collection of autobiographical stories were also very popular. The writer began his career with humorous, unpretentious couplets, and ended with essays on human mores full of subtle irony, as well as satirical pamphlets and philosophical reflections on the fate of the entire civilization.

Numerous lectures and public speeches were either not recorded or were lost, individual letters and works were banned from publication by the creator himself during his lifetime, as well as for decades after the death of the writer.

Mark Twain was a great speaker. Having earned fame and recognition, he spent a lot of time searching for young talents, whom he helped to break through with the help of his influence and the publishing company acquired by the writer.

Interest in science and friendship with Nikola Tesla

Samuel was fond of scientific problems. He was friends with Nikola Tesla, spent a lot of time in his laboratory. In a work called "A Connecticut Yankee," the writer included a trip tothe time that led to modern technology in the days of King Arthur in England. The technical details given in the novel indicate that the author was well aware of the achievements of science of his era.

Censored debate

Sometimes certain works of Mark Twain were banned by American censorship for publication for various reasons. This was due mainly to the active social and civic position of the author. Some of them could hurt the religious feelings of contemporaries, and therefore Twain did not publish these works. For example, "The Mysterious Stranger" remained unpublished until 1916. Some anti-religious works were not published until the 1940s.

In the 2000s, attempts were again made in the US to ban "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" due to the fact that it contains naturalistic descriptions, as well as verbal expressions that are offensive to blacks. Despite the fact that the author was an opponent of imperialism and racism, and in his rejection of the latter went much further than most of his contemporaries, the words that were in general use in the time of this author do sound today as racial insults. In the USA in 2011, in February, the first edition of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" appeared, created by the writer under the pseudonym Mark Twain (real name and surname -Samuel Langhorne Clemens), in which such expressions were replaced by others, politically correct.

This is a brief biography of this writer.

So we found out the real name of Mark Twain. Foreign literature (Grade 4) introduces us to this author for the first time. The novelist's works are liked by elementary school students. However, in the lower grades, it is rarely mentioned that Mark Twain is a pseudonym. Now you will know the real name of Mark Twain from the fairy tale "The Adventure of Tom Sawyer" - a work that is usually included in the school curriculum.