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Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer from Edinburgh. His most popular works include the pirate-themed adventure novel "Treasure Island" (1883), the poetry collection "A Child's Garden of Verses" (1885), the Gothic horror novella "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (1886) which depicted a man with two distinct personalities, and the historical novels "Kidnapped" (1886) and "The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses" (1888). Stevenson spend the last years of his life in Samoa, where he tried to act as an advocate for the political rights of Polynesians.
In 1850, Stevenson was born in Edinburgh. His father was Thomas Stevenson (1818-1887), a civil engineer, lighthouse designer, and meteorologist. Thomas was a co-founder of the Scottish Meteorological Society, and one of the sons of the famed engineer Robert Stevenson (1772-1850). Thomas' brothers were the engineers David Stevenson and Alan Stevenson. Stevenson's mother (and Thomas' wife) was Margaret Isabella Balfour, a member of a centuries-old gentry family. Stevenson's maternal grandfather was Lewis Balfour (1777-1860), a minister of the Church of Scotland. Lewis was himself a grandson of the philosopher James Balfour (1705-1795).
Both Stevenson's mother and his maternal grandfather had chronic problems with coughs and fevers. Stevenson demonstrated the same problems throughout his childhood. His contemporaries suspected that he was suffering from tuberculosis. Modern biographers have suggested that he was instead suffering from bronchiectasis (a congenital disorder of the respiratory system) or sarcoidosis (an autoimmune disease which affects the lungs).
Stevenson's parents were Presbyterians, but they were not particularly interested in indoctrinating their son. Stevenson's nurse was Alison "Cummy" Cunningham, a fervently religious woman. While tending to Stevenson during his recurring illnesses, she read to him passages from the Bible and from the works of the Puritan preacher John Bunyan (1628-1688). She also narrated to him tales of the Covenanters, a 17th-century religious movement.
Stevenson's poor health as a child kept him away from school for extended periods. His parents had to hire private tutors for him. He did not learn to read until he was 7 or 8-years-old. However, he developed an interest in narrating stories in early childhood. When he learned to write, he started writing tales as a hobby. His father Thomas was happy about this hobby, as he was also an amateur writer in his early life. In 1866, Stevenson completed his first book. It was "The Pentland Rising: A Page of History, 1666", a historical narrative of a Covenanter revolt. It was published at his father's expense.
In November 1867, Stevenson entered the University of Edinburgh to study engineering. He showed little interest in the subject matter. He joined both the debating club Speculative Society, and an amateur drama group organized by professor Fleeming Jenkin (1833-1885). During the annual holidays, Stevenson repeatedly joined his father in travels to inspect the family's engineering works. He displayed little interest in engineering, but the travels turned his interests towards travel writing.
In April 1871, Stevenson announced to his father that he wanted to become a professional writer. His father agreed, on the condition that Stevenson should also study to gain a law degree. In the early 1870s, Stevenson started dressing in a Bohemian manner, wore his hair long, and joined an atheist club. In January 1873, Stevenson explained to his father that he no longer believed in God, and that he had grown tired of pretending to be pious. He would eventually rejoin Christianity, but remained hostile to organized religion until his death.
In late 1873, Stevenson visited London. He had an essay published in the local art magazine "The Portfolio" (1870-1893), and started socializing with the city's professional writers. Among his new friends was the poet William Ernest Henley (1849-1903). Henley had a wooden leg, due to a childhood illness which led to amputation. Stevenson later used Henley as his inspiration for the one-legged pirate Long John Silver.
Stevenson qualified for the Scottish bar in July 1875, at the age of 24. He never practiced law, though his legal studies inspired aspect of his works. In September 1876, Stevenson was introduced to the American short-story writer Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne (1840-1914). She had separated from her unfaithful husband, and lived with her daughter in France. Fanny remained in his thoughts for months, and they became lovers in 1877. They parted ways in August 1878, when she decided to move back to San Francisco.
In August 1879, Stevenson decided to travel to the United States in search of Fanny. He arrived to New York City with little incident. The journey from New York City to California negatively affected his health, and he was near death by the time he arrived in Monterey, California. He and Fanny reunited in December 1879, but she had to nurse him to recovery. His father cabled him money to help in his recovery.
Stevenson and Fanny married in May 1880. Th groom was 29-years-old, and the bride was 40-years-old. They spend their honeymoon at an abandoned mining camp on Mount Saint Helena. The couple sailed back to the United Kingdom in August 1880. Fanny helped Stevenson to reconcile with his father.
Stevenson and his wife moved frequently from place to place in the early 1880s. In 1884, they settled in their own home in the seaside town of Bournemouth, Dorset. Stevenson named their new residence "Skerryvore". He used the name of a lighthouse which his uncle Alan had constructed. In 1885, Stevenson reacquainted himself to his old friend, the novelist Henry James (1843-1916). James had moved to Bournemouth to care for his invalid sister. Stevenson and James started having daily meetings to converse over various topics. Stevenson wrote several of his popular works while living in Bournemouth, though he was frequently bedridden.
In 1887, Thomas Stevenson died. Stevenson felt that nothing tied him to the United Kingdom, and his physician had advised him that a complete change of climate might improve his health. Stevenson and much of his surviving family (including his widowed mother) traveled to the state of New York. They spend the winter at a cottage in the Adirondacks, with Stevenson starting to work on the adventure novel "The Master of Ballantrae" (1889).
In June 1888, Stevenson chartered the yacht "Casco" to transport him and his family to San Francisco. The sea air helped restore his health for a while. Stevenson decided to spend the next few years wandering in the Pacific islands. He visited the Hawaiian Islands, and befriended the local monarch Kalakaua (1836-1891, reigned 1874-1891) and his niece Ka'iulani (1875-1899). Stevenson's other voyages took him to the Gilbert Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand and the Samoan Islands.
In December 1889, Stevenson and his family at the port of Apia in the Samoan islands. He decided to settle in Samoa. In January 1890, he purchased an estate on the island. He started building Samoa's two-story house, and also started collecting local folktales. He completed an English translation of the moral fable "The Bottle Imp".\
Stevenson grew concerned with the ongoing rivalry between Britain, Germany and the United States over their influence in Samoa. He feared that the indigenous clan society would be displaced by foreigners. He published various texts in defense of the Polynesians and their culture. He also worked on "A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa" (1892), a detailed chronicle of the Samoan Civil War (1886-1894) and the international events leading up to it.
Stevenson's last fiction writings indicated his growing interest in the realist movement, and his disdain for colonialism. In December 1894, Stevenson suffered a stroke while conversing with his wife. He died hours later, at the age of 44. The local Samoans provided a watch-guard to protect his body until a tomb could be prepared for it. Stevenson was buried at Mount Vaea, on a spot overlooking the sea. A requiem composed by Stevenson himself was inscribed on the tomb.
Stevenson was seen as an influential writer of children's literature and horror fiction for much of the 20th century, but literary critics and historians had little interest in his works. He was re-evaluated in the late 20th century "as an artist of great range and insight", with scholarly studies devoted entirely to him. The Index Translationum, UNESCO's database of book translations, has ranked him as the 26th most translated writer on a global level. Stevenson ranked below Charles Dickens (25th) in the index, and ahead of Oscar Wilde (28th). His works have received a large number of film adaptations.- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr was an American jurist and legal scholar who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. He is one of the most widely cited U.S. Supreme Court justices and most influential American common law judges in history, noted for his long service, concise, and pithy opinions-particularly for opinions on civil liberties and American constitutional democracy-and deference to the decisions of elected legislatures. Holmes retired from the court at the age of 90, an unbeaten record for oldest justice on the Supreme Court. He previously served as a Brevet Colonel in the American Civil War, in which he was wounded three times, as an associate justice and chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and as Weld Professor of Law at his Alma mater, Harvard Law School. His positions, distinctive personality, and writing style made him a popular figure, especially with American progressives.
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Juventino Rosas was born on 25 January 1868 in Santa Cruz de Galeana, Guanajuato, Mexico. He was a composer, known for Heavenly Creatures (1994), Pitch Perfect (2012) and Irrational Man (2015). He died on 13 July 1894 in Surgidero de Batabanó, Cuba.- Czar Aleksandr III was born on 10 March 1845 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was married to Czarina Maria Fyodorovna. He died on 2 November 1894 in Livadiya, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine].
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Alphons Czibulka was born on 14 May 1842 in Kirchdrauf/Szepeváralja, Hungary, Austrian Empire [now Spisské Podhradie, Slovak Republic]. Alphons died on 27 October 1894 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria].- Writer
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Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was born on 26 June 1838 in Kathalpara, Naihati, Bengal Presidency, British India. Bankim Chandra was a writer, known for Krishnakanter Will (1926), Bisha Brikshya (1928) and Bishabriksha (1922). Bankim Chandra died on 8 April 1894 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India.- Composer
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Anton Rubinstein, the founder of St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music who regarded music as an international language, was also a word-class piano virtuoso who performed a longest concert marathon in the 19th century.
He was born Anton Grigorjewitsch Rubinstein into a Russian-Jewish family on November 16, 1829, in the village of Vikhvatinets near Rybnitsa in the south of the Russian Empire (now the Republic of Moldova). He learned the piano from an early age and began public performances at the age of 9. He studied music in Paris and in Berlin, where he was supported by Felix Mendelssohn. He achieved a reputation of one of the greatest piano virtuosi and was regarded as a rival to Franz Liszt. At age 19 he left a teaching job in Vienna, after being hired by the family of the Tsar's brother in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1862, Anton Rubinstein together with his brother, Nikolai Rubinstein, founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where their students were such composers as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff among others.
Anton Rubinstein regarded music as an international language. He believed that music may communicate beyond words directly to human souls. He also made a humorous self-definition, "To the Christians I am a Jew, to the Jews I am a Christian, to the Russians I am a German, to the Germans I am a Russian.", wittily describing his place in the world. His ancestry was Russian, Jewish, and German, and his parents converted to Christianity because of the fear of anti-Semitism in the Russian Empire. Anton Rubinstein and his brother Nikolai did not exhibit any Russian nationalism in their music, albeit their student Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky became popularly identified with Russia.
In the season of 1872-73 Anton Rubinstein made a triumphant eight-month tour of the United States. It was a sensational marathon of 215 piano recitals in many cities across the USA. Upon his return to Russia, Anton Rubinstein wrote Variations on the theme of Yankey Doodle. His other compositions include six symphonies, four piano concerti, and many chamber works for piano and strings or ensemble music with piano. Among his 20 operas, "The Demon" stands out for it's lavish score, inspired by the eponymous Romantic poem of Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov.
Anton Rubinstein died on November 20, 1894, in Peterhof, a royal suburb of St. Petersburg, and was laid to rest in the Necropolis of the Masters of Arts at St. Aleksander Nevsky Monastery next to the tomb of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The street in St. Petersburg, Russia, where Rubinstein lived, is now named the Rubinstein Street. The main concert hall of St. Petersburg Conservatory is named The Rubinstein Hall.- R.M. Ballantyne was born on 24 April 1825 in Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland, UK. He was a writer, known for The Coral Island (2000) and The Coral Island (1983). He was married to Jane Grant. He died on 8 February 1894 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
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Emmanuel Chabrier was born on 18 January 1841 in Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, France. He was a writer, known for Hawaii Calls (1938), Television Theater (1953) and Detective (1985). He was married to Marie Alice Dejean. He died on 13 September 1894 in Paris, France.- Sir Austen Henry Layard GCB PC (March 1817 - 5 July 1894) was an English Assyriologist, traveler, conformist, art historian, draftsman, collector, politician and diplomat. He was born to a mostly English family in Paris and largely raised in Italy. He is best known as the excavator of Nimrud and of Nineveh, where he uncovered a large proportion of the Assyrian palace reliefs known, and in 1851 the library of Ashurbanipal. Most of his finds are now in the British Museum. He made a large amount of money from his best-selling accounts of his excavations. He had a political career between 1852, when he was elected as a Member of Parliament, and 1869, holding various junior ministerial positions. He was then made ambassador to Madrid, then Constantinople, living much of the time in a palazzo he bought in Venice. During this period he built up a significant collection of paintings, which he bequeathed to the National Gallery (as the Layard Bequest) and other museums.
- Egnate Ninoshvili was born on 17 February 1859 in Kela, Georgia, Russian Empire. Egnate was a writer, known for Qristine (1916), Djanki Guriashi (1928) and Dariko (1936). Egnate died on 12 May 1894 in Chirchveti, Georgia, Russian Empire.
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Guillaume Lekeu was born on 20 January 1870 in Verviers, Belgium. He was a composer, known for He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (2002), Lost and Beautiful (2015) and Slack Bay (2016). He died on 21 January 1894 in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France.- Writer
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Christina Georgina Rossetti was born on 5 December 1830 in London, England, UK. She was a writer, known for The Hunt (2012), Joy (2015) and The Heart of Me (2002). She died on 29 December 1894 in London, England, UK.- Composer
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Emilio Arrieta was born on 21 October 1821 in Puente la Reina, Spain. He was a composer, known for Teatro Apolo (1950), Espérame en el cielo (1988) and Banda sonora (2007). He died on 11 February 1894 in Madrid, Spain.- Pio Pico was born on 5 May 1801 in San Gabriel, California, USA. He was married to María Ignacia Alvarado. He died on 11 September 1894 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Steele MacKaye was born on 6 June 1842 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Hazel Kirke (1916), Hazel Kirke (1912) and The Miller's Daughter (1905). He was married to Mary Ellen Keith Medbury and Jeannie Spring. He died on 25 February 1894 in Timpas, Colorado, USA.
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Victor Koning was born on 4 April 1842 in Belleville, Paris, France. Victor was a writer, known for Airs de France (1955), La fille de Madame Angot (1935) and Jacquot of Nantes (1991). Victor was married to Raphaële Sisos and Jane Hading. Victor died on 1 October 1894 in Suresnes, France.- Writer
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Xisto Bahia was born on 6 August 1841 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. He was a writer, known for Como É Boa Nossa Empregada (1973) and All the Dead Ones (2020). He died on 30 October 1894 in Caxambu, Minas Gerais, Brazil.- Robun Kanagaki was born on 6 January 1829 in Edo, Japan. He was a writer, known for Takahashi Oden - Zempen (1926) and Takahashi Oden - Kôhen (1926). He died on 8 October 1894 in Tokyo, Japan.
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Francisco Asenjo Barbieri was born on 3 August 1823 in Madrid, Spain. He was a composer, known for El Barberillo de Lavapiés (1996) and Antología de la zarzuela (1971). He died on 17 February 1894 in Madrid, Spain.