(1832-1888)

Who Was Louisa May Alcott?

Louisa May Alcott was an American author who wrote under various pseudonyms and only started using her own name when she was ready to commit to writing. Her novel Little Women gave Alcott financial independence and a lifetime writing career. She died in 1888.

Early Life

Alcott was born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Alcott was a best-selling novelist of the late 1800s, and many of her works, most notably Little Women, remain popular today.

Alcott was taught by her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, until 1848, and studied informally with family friends such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker. Residing in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts, Alcott worked as a domestic servant and teacher, among other positions, to help support her family from 1850 to 1862. During the Civil War, she went to Washington, D.C. to work as a nurse.

Acclaimed Author: ‘Little Women’

Unknown to most people, Alcott had been publishing poems, short stories, thrillers and juvenile tales since 1851, under the pen name Flora Fairfield. In 1862, she also adopted the pen name A.M. Barnard, and some of her melodramas were produced on Boston stages. But it was her account of her Civil War experiences, Hospital Sketches (1863), that confirmed Alcott’s desire to be a serious writer. She began to publish stories under her real name in Atlantic Monthly and Lady’s Companion, and took a brief trip to Europe in 1865 before becoming editor of a girls’ magazine, Merry’s Museum.

The great success of Little Women gave Alcott financial independence and created a demand for more books. Over the final years of her life, she turned out a steady stream of novels and short stories, mostly for young people and drawn directly from her family life. Her other books include Little Men (1871), Eight Cousins (1875) and Jo’s Boys (1886). Alcott also tried her hand at adult novels, such as Work (1873) and A Modern Mephistopheles (1877), but these tales were not as popular as her other writings.

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QUICK FACTS

  • Name: Louisa May Alcott
  • Birth Year: 1832
  • Birth date: November 29, 1832
  • Birth State: Pennsylvania
  • Birth City: Germantown
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Female
  • Best Known For: Louisa May Alcott was an American author who wrote the classic novel ‘Little Women,’ as well as various works under pseudonyms.
  • Industries
    • Fiction and Poetry
  • Astrological Sign: Sagittarius
  • Death Year: 1888
  • Death date: March 6, 1888
  • Death State: Massachusetts
  • Death City: Boston
  • Death Country: United States

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CITATION INFORMATION

  • Article Title: Louisa May Alcott Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/louisa-may-alcott
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: April 19, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

QUOTES

  • Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
  • I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.
  • Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know.