James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891

Lowell graduated from Harvard College in 1838 with a degree in law, but had no desire to pursue a career in that profession. In 1844 he married poet Maria White, who had inspired the poems in his 1841 A Year's Life.

With the publication of literary essays, political pamphlets and satirical works, such as the Bigelow Papers, which expressed satirical opposition using New England dialect to the Mexican War and the spread of slavery, made Lowell a popular figure in American literature.

Lowell's wife and three of his four children died in 1853. In 1855 Lowell replaced Longfellow as professor of modern languages at Harvard. He spent the years 1855-1856 traveling and studying in Italy and Germany, and then returned to hold his professorship for the next 20 years.

From 1857 to 1861 he was editor of The Atlantic Monthly, which was published by Ticknor and Fields. From 1864 to 1872 Lowell co-edited The North American Review with Charles Eliot Norton.

In 1876 President Hayes appointed Lowell Minister to Spain, and in 1880 he became Ambassador to Great Britain, where he won great popularity in literary and political circles.

After the death of his second wife in 1885, Lowell retired from public life. Although Lowell's literary successes were largely confined to his youth, he remained through his life America's quintessential literary figure.