Mark Twain (pseudonym 〈笔名〉 of Samuel Langhorne Clemens), was an American writer, journalist and humorist, who won a worldwide audience for his stories of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

　　Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri, of a Virginian family.He was brought up in Hannibal, Missouri.After his father's death in 1847, he was apprenticed (当学徒) to a printer and wrote for his brother's newspaper.He later worked as a Iicensed (得到许可的) Mississippi river­boat pilot.The Civil War put an end to the steamboat traffic and Clemens moved to Virginia City, where he edited the Territorial Enterprise.On February 3, 1863, "Mark Twain" was born when Clemens signed a humorous travel account with that pseudonym.

　　In 1864 Twain left for California, and worked in San Francisco as a reporter.He visited Hawaii as a correspondent (通讯员) for The Sacramento Union, publishing letters on his trip and giving lectures. He set out on a world tour, traveling in France and Italy.His experiences were recorded in 1869 in The Innocents Abroad, which gained him wide popularity.

　　Between 1876 and 1884 he published several masterpieces.During his long writing career, Twain also produced a considerable number of essays.Twain died on April 21, 1910.