Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, (1835-1910), was an American humorist, lecturer, journalist and novelist who acquired international fame for his adventure stories of boyhood, especially "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as well as for his travel narratives, especially "The Innocents Abroad", "Roughing It", and "Life on the Mississippi". Twain transcended the apparent limitations of his origins to become a popular public figure and one of America's most beloved writers.