Mildmay Fane (1600 — 1666) Mildmay Fane was born around 1600, probably in Kent, to Francis Fane, first Earl of Westmorland, and his wife Lady Mary Mildmay, daughter of Queen Elizabeth’s Treasurer. From around 1615 until 1617, Fane attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge, which had been founded by his grandfather, Sir Walter Mildmay. Fane served as MP for Peterborough (1620-21;1626-28) and for Kent (1625), and was created a Knight of the Bath...

Mark Twain (1835 – 1910) Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Taylor Clemens,) was an American writer, journalist and humorist, who won a worldwide audience for his stories of the youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Sensitive to the sound of language, Twain introduced colloquial speech into American fiction. Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, of a Virginian family. He was brought up in Hannibal, Missouri....

Maksim Gorky (1868 – 1936) Maksim Gorky, pseudonym of Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov, Soviet novelist, playwright, and essayist, who was a founder of socialist realism. Although known principally as a writer, he was also prominent in the Russian revolutionary movement. Gorky was born on March 16, 1868, in Nizhniy Novgorod (renamed ‘Gorky in his honour from 1932 to 1991), into a peasant family. He was self-educated. Compelled to earn his own living...

Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888) Louisa is primarily remembered for her children’s classics, especially for Little Women and its sequels. Contemporary research has revealed that Louisa Alcott wrote works aimed at adult audiences also, though under a pseudonym. She was also active as a nurse and a suffragette. She was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. In 1840 the family moved to Con-cord. Louisa enjoyed acting out plays...

Lewis Carroll (1832 — 1898) Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), the author of Alice in Wonderland, of mathematical treatises, and of a quantity of  stories and poems, serious and humorous, was the son of a churchman and the eldest of eleven children. His mother and father were first cousins, and unusually religious. At the time of his birth, his father, Dr. Dodgson, was the vicar of Daresbury, Cheshire (he later was...

Leo Tolstoy (1828 1910)     Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author, whose classic novels include War and Peace (1863-69) and Anna Karenina (1875-77). He was born on August 28, 1828 at Yasnya Polyana; in Tula Province. His parents died when he was a child, and he was brought up by relatives. In 1844 Tolstoy started his studies of law- and oriental languages at Kazan University, but he never took a...

Lancelot Andrewes (1555 – 1626) Lancelot Andrewes was born at Allhallows, Barking, in 1555. He was an excellent scholar at Merchant Tailor’s School, and gained a fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge. When Jesus College, Oxford, was founded, young Andrewes was invited to be one of its foundation fellows, and in 1580 he took holy orders. He was a great favourite with Queen Elizabeth, who appointed him one of her chaplains and...

Lady Mary Wroth Lady Mary Wroth was the daughter of Robert Sidney, later Earl of Leicester, and the wealthy heiress Barbara Gamage, first cousin to Sir Walter Ralegh. Robert Sidney was himself a poet. Mary spent much of her early childhood at the house of Mary Sidney, Countess of Montgomery. In 1604 Mary was married to Sir Robert Wroth, a wealthy landowner in favour with James I. Although the marriage was...