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Mark Twain, real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was an American humanist writer, journalist, and social activist.
As a young man, Samuel worked in the printing press and in the gold mines, then went on a steamboat trip to Europe and the "Holy Land". His travel letters, full of vivid descriptions and ironic observations, were very well received by the public and were later revised into his first book, Innocents Abroad, published in 1869.
The pseudonym "Mark Twain" first appeared in 1863 under one of Samuel Clemens' short stories, and since then all his significant works have been signed by that name.
A talented storyteller, a peculiar humorist and moralist, Twain knew and loved his many diverse characters. His scandalizers and dreamers, caring aunts and ambitious politicians, grumpy widows and lying aristocrats, cunning but generous slaves, sentimental moralists, brave and naive children - all these types of American people Twain gave voice to thanks to his masterful command of colloquial language, slang and jargon. Twain wrote a lot and in a variety of genres: humor and satire, philosophical fiction and journalism and others, but he always stood on the position of humanist and democrat.
Mark Twain became world famous for his travel stories and adventure novels about his childhood, these are "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1885). Twain is still one of America's, and indeed the world's, best and most beloved writers. His works have been and are still being published in many languages around the world.
Geoffrey Chaucer was a medieval English poet and novelist, one of the founders of the literary English language.
Geoffrey Chaucer came from a wealthy family, in 1357 became a civil servant of Countess Elizabeth of Ulster and remained at the British court all his life. Later in his royal service, he traveled on diplomatic missions to France, Spain, and Italy. He made important contributions to the management of public affairs as a courtier, diplomat and civil servant. And very importantly, in these travels Chaucer was exposed to the works of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, which later had a profound influence on his writing.
"The Canterbury Tales" became Geoffrey Chaucer's most famous and recognized work, although this voluminous work remained unfinished. He also wrote the popular science treatise "A Treatise on the Astrolabe", the historical poems "Troilus and Criseyde" and "Legends of Glorious Women", and many poems.
Geoffrey Chaucer is called the forerunner of the literature of the English Renaissance. He was the first to write works in his native language instead of Latin, for which he earned the title of "father of English poetry." Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey, and his grave became the first in the so-called "Poet's Corner", where Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling and Alfred Tennyson were later buried.
