Writer and poet, one of the key American authors of the 20th century, a founding figure of American modernism and a member of the "Chicago Renaissance" circle. Born in 1876 in Ohio. As a teenager, he was forced to leave school to help support his family. In 1898 he took part in the Spanish–American War; upon his return, he studied at Wittenberg College in Springfield. He became best known as a short-story writer: his collections Winesburg, Ohio (1919), The Triumph of the Egg (1921), and Horses and Men (1923) had a substantial influence on 20th-century American prose. His first poetry publication appeared in 1917 in Poetry magazine. His debut poetry collection, Mid-American Chants (1918), was published in a Russian translation by Olga Anikina in 2026 (St. Petersburg: Aleteia).