Lafcadio Hearn

Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲; born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn; 27 June 1850 – 26 September 1904) was a Greek and Irish writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the Western world. His writings offered unprecedented insight into Japanese culture, especially his collections of legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Before moving to Japan and becoming a Japanese citizen, he worked as a journalist in the United States, primarily in Cincinnati and New Orleans. His writings about New Orleans, based on his decade-long stay there, are also well-known. His home in Orleans Parish is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum is in Japan. Hearn was born on the Greek island of Lefkada but moved to Dublin, where he was abandoned first by his mother, then his father, and finally by his father's aunt (who had been appointed his official guardian). At the age of 19, he emigrated to the United States, where he found work as a newspaper reporter, first in Cincinnati and later in New Orleans. From there, he was sent as a correspondent to the French West Indies, in Martinique, where he stayed for two years, and then in 1890 to Japan, where he would remain for the rest of his life. In Japan, Hearn married Koizumi Setsuko, with whom he had four children. His writings about Japan offered the Western world greater insight into a still largely unfamiliar culture.