Louisa May Alcott

American novelist (1832-1888) · United States · Writers · Died at 55

Louisa May Alcott is read about 1,651 times a day, in 75 languages.

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She turned a childhood spent broke in a transcendentalist commune into Little Women, the novel that made girlhood seem worth writing about. The irony: Alcott wrote it for the money, not the art - and spent years before it publishing lurid thrillers under a pen name to keep her family fed.

Writers Writer / Author Literature Poetry Fiction United States Americas 19th Century

A life in dates

1888Died6 March 18881885“If I can do no more, let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won.”In their wordsOctober 1885From a letter ("Louisa M. Alcott to the American Woman Suffrage Association", October 1885) in support of women's voting rights, quoted inRead the whole statement

1870“Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling.”In their wordsAn Old-Fashioned Girl (1870), Ch. 13 : The Sunny SideRead the whole statement

“The child has talent, loves music, and needs help. I can't give her money, but I can teach her; so I do, and she is the most promising pupil I have.”In their wordsAn Old-Fashioned Girl (1870), Ch. 13 : The Sunny Side; this has often been quoted as "Helping one another, is part of the religion of ourRead the whole statement

1866“Suppose I broke away and left you, or made it impossible for you to stay.”In their wordsPhillip and Rosamund, p. 46.Read the whole statement

“No, I never wish that. I don't intend to die till I've enjoyed my life. Everyone has a right to happiness and sooner or later I will have it.”In their wordsA Long Fatal Love Chase (1866)Read the whole statement

“Even at the cost of what is called honor and honesty? That is comfortable philosophy, and having preached and practiced it all my days I've no right to condemn it.”In their wordsA Long Fatal Love Chase (1866)Read the whole statement

1832Born29 November 1832

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Louisa May Alcott, c. 1870 - Warren's Portraits, Boston

5425 Germantown

Alcott School Dobbs Ferry jeh

Indianapolis Herald, June 30, 1888 - DPLA - 14953c8467e77a718a1bfab8965fc0c6 (page 2)

L M Alcott

Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern (1896) (14782626804)

Louisa May Alcott 1869 sketch of Thoreau in boat Walden

PS10 Alcott 511 7th Av Park Slope jeh

In their own words 10

Louisa May Alcott

10 statements, newest first

If I can do no more, let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won.
Oct 1885, From a letter ("Louisa M. Alcott to the American Woman Suffrage Association", October 1885) in support of women's voting rights, quoted in, Own words
I believe that it is as much a right and duty for women to do something with their lives as for men and we are not going to be satisfied with such frivolous parts as you give us.
1876, Rose in Bloom (1876), Ch. 1 : Coming Home, Own words
Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling.
1870, An Old-Fashioned Girl (1870), Ch. 13 : The Sunny Side, Own words

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Awards

National Women's Hall of Fame1996

Family

Parents

Louisa May Alcott

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About this person

Raised in New England by transcendentalist parents who counted Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne as neighbors, Alcott grew up intellectually rich and materially poor. She took odd jobs from an early age to support the family, and began writing for money - first sensation novels under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard, then Hospital Sketches in the 1860s, drawn from her service as a Civil War nurse. Little Women arrived in 1868, loosely based on her childhood with three sisters, and became the success that anchored her career through three sequels. An abolitionist, feminist, and lifelong advocate for temperance and suffrage, she never married. After her sister's death she raised the daughter left behind, and died of a stroke in Boston two days after her father, buried at Sleepy Hollow.

Country

United States

Writers from the United States 6

Michael J. Knowles73.3

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