Louisa May Alcott Biography | Poet

American novelist Louisa May Alcott worked hard her entire life and eventually was able to make a name for herself. Born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, Alcott came into the world as the daughter of two transcendentalist parents. She died on March 6, 1888 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was only 55 years old. Despite a relatively short life, she achieved a great deal of literary success and today she is best known for writing the young person's novel, “Little Women," a book that is still widely read today.

Louisa May Alcott’s major works include not just “Little Women,” but also “Little Men” and “Jo's Boys.” It is well known that “Little Women” was based loosely on her own life with her sisters. Despite the fact that it was written in the 1860s, it is still immensely popular today. She also adopted a pen name and wrote a number of novels for young adults under that name. She also was very skilled at writing poetry. All in all, Alcott was a very well rounded writer who was able to adapt to a wide variety of different literary genres.

In spite of her success, he did not have the type of high level education that many people might believe her to have. Instead, she received a lot of her education from her father and a few close family friends. She never attended public school, nor did she go to college. In fact, her father was very strict regarding his views on education and believed that it was best for her to receive her education from him. As a transcendentalist, he also believed that she should deny herself the luxury of attending a public school or going to college, among other things. In addition, the family had a number of financial problems and all of the children were forced to go to work at an early age in order to help support family. As a result, she held several different jobs while she was very young. One of those jobs was as a writer. She discovered that she had a knack for it and began to pursue it more earnestly.

Although Alcott became a significant writer, she participated in a lot of activities that were quite significant in addition to her writing. She was a feminist and an abolitionist, making sure that she would make her mark on the world in every way possible. She even served in the Civil War. As a result of her upbringing, coupled with her desire to make every moment of her life count by taking part in a number of important activities, she never married. Unfortunately, she suffered from a number of chronic health issues and died at a relatively young age after suffering a stroke. She died just two days after the death of her own father. However, her literary works remain immensely popular and as such, her legacy continues to flourish even today.