Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), American abolitionist and author. She was born as Harriet Beecher in Litchfield, Connecticut, USA. Seventh of 13 children, she was the daughter of a Calvinist preacher. Stowe was educated at a seminary run by her sister, learning subjects such as the classics, languages and mathematics that were normally reserved for male students at the time. She became a teacher herself in 1832 in Cincinnati and in 1836 married Calvin Stowe, a prominent abolitionist and teacher. Harriet went on to write 30 books, including novels and travel memoirs, the most famous of which is 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' of 1852. This searing indictment of slavery showed how its effects touched all of society for the worse. In her later years she became troubled by dementia, most likely Alzheimer's disease, and she died in 1896 at the age of eighty five. |