O.Henry is the pen name of the famous American writer William Sydney Porter. He is well-known for his short stories with surprising ends. Most of the stories are optimistic as he wrote about poor people and felt great pity for them. His stories are full of love and wonders. His characters struggle to be happy and they succeed. But his life was full of tragic events.

Read the short biography of O. Henry to get to know this American writer. His stories are waiting for you to be read. Do start, please!

The Biography of O. Henry

Part One

He was born on September 11, 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. His life was full of sorrow from the early childhood. When William was three, his mother died. His father, a penniless physician, became to drink hard and soon turned into a good-for-nothing alcoholic.

He was raised by his grandmother and aunt. He spent his childhood in North Carolina. He received only formal education at the school of his Aunt Lina, where he developed a lifelong love of books. But at the age of fifteen he had to leave school and begin to work in a drugstore of his uncle. It was bad for his health to spend all day long being surrounded with different medicines, mixtures for cough and powders. His health began to worsen. That’s why he went to Texas and began to work on a sheep ranch. He was twenty at that time. Some time later he moved to Houston, where he had a number of jobs, including that of a bank clerk.

In 1884 Porter moved to Austin and started a humorous magazine The Rolling Stone. It was at that time that he began drinking.

In 1887 he married Athol Estes Roach; they had a daughter. The magazine failed and he had to work as a reporter to support his family.

In 1894 Porter was accused of having stolen money from the bank, where he had worked before. Being afraid to be put into prison he had to leave his wife and the young daughter in Austin and flee to New Orleans, then to Honduras. Little is known about Porter’s stay in Central America. He rambled in South America and Mexico. But after hearing news that his wife was dying, he returned in 1897 to Austin. He was in time for saying his last words to her. She died some days later.

At once after the funeral the police arrested William. He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in an Ohio prison. He kept silence during the trial.

There are still some doubts if he was guilty or not. Indeed he badly needed money at that time for his ill wife and for publishing his magazine, but on the other hand the owners of the bank were sure to have unclean hands.

While in prison William Porter started to write short stories to earn money to support his daughter Margaret. On receiving money for his first story he bought and sent her a Christmas gift.

It is believed that Porter found his pen name while in prison; one of the guards was called Orrin Henry.

He never spoke about those years. But it was there, in prison, he wrote his first story. It was called « «. Before sending it to newspaper, he read the story to his cellmates. One of them remembered: “ From that minute when Porter began to read his story in his low soft a little stuttering voice a dead silence fell in the cell. We were afraid to move. At last Raindler sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes with his mutilated hand. “Damn you, Porter. It is for the first time in my life. Before I have never known what a tear is”.

Three years later, he emerged from prison and changed his name to O. Henry. He moved to New York City.

His stories gained an immediate success among readers. One of the reasons was that the readers of American newspapers didn’t like long stories. They couldn’t stand philosophy and tragic endings.

He signed a contract with a New York magazine for a 100 dollars for a story. It was very good money for those times. But the point was that he must send a story every week. Such furious pace of work could kill even a healthier person than O. Henry. He worked from morning till night and when he lacked in plots he had to buy them from his friends. He worked like a machine. He became tired and exhausted. Besides he drank. He ruined his health.

The Biography O. Henry. Рart Two

But his stories didn’t bring him money. It was the editors and publishers who became rich. O. Henry was a weak nature, very unpractical, he never bargained, never agued about money. If he was told that he had owed 175 dollars, but he knew that the sum was not more than 25, he didn’t say a word but simply gave the required sum and left.

Being a very reserved person he avoided public and preferred being alone, he didn’t give interview. He liked to wander about the streets of New York for several days, spending nights on the benches in the parks. Coming back home he locked himself up inside his room and wrote, wrote and wrote….

It was there in the streets of New York which he called «Bagdad-on-the-Subway» (Багдад -над -подземкой) he found the charachters for his stories. Wandering he got to know the big city, his sounds and lights, his hopes and tears, his sensations, his failures. O. Henry said «There are stories in everything. I’ve got some of my best plots from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands.»

He was a poet of New York underworld. He was a dreamer of narrow lanes. And there in those narrow streets appeared his Cinderellas and Quixotes [`kwiksət] who were always ready to help hopeless and dying to make a story with a happy end.

O. Henry lived in New York for ten years before his death in 1910. He published over 300 stories and became a favorite short story writer all over the world.

The last days of his life he spent in a poor room at a hotel. He was very ill and could not work. O. Henry died on the 5 th of June in 1910, in New York at the age of forty seven. He died penniless.

This is short biograpghy of O.Henry. More the information about the life of the writer you will find on the websites:

Русско-английский перевод ФОРД, ГЕНРИ

Еще значения слова и перевод ФОРД, ГЕНРИ с английского на русский язык в англо-русских словарях.
Что такое и перевод ФОРД, ГЕНРИ с русского на английский язык в русско-английских словарях.

More meanings of this word and English-Russian, Russian-English translations for ФОРД, ГЕНРИ in dictionaries.

• ГЕНРИ — m. henry
  Russian-English Dictionary of the Mathematical Sciences
• ФОРД — Ford
  
• ГЕНРИ — Henry
  Русско-Американский Английский словарь
• ГЕНРИ — henry
  Англо-Русско-Английский словарь общей лексики - Сборник из лучших словарей
• ГЕНРИ — Henry, henry h, Henry, henry
  Русско-Английский словарь общей тематики
• ГЕНРИ — м. нескл. эл. henry
  Русско-Английский словарь
• ГЕНРИ — м. нескл. эл. henry
  Russian-English Smirnitsky abbreviations dictionary
• ФОРД — (Ford, Ford Madox) (1873-1939), наст. имя - Форд Мэдокс Хюффер (Hueffer), английский писатель. Родился 17 декабря 1873 в Мертоне (графство …
  Русский словарь Colier
• ГЕНРИ — (Henry, Joseph) (1797-1878), американский физик-экспериментатор. Родился 17 декабря 1797 в Олбани (шт. Нью-Йорк). Учился в Олбани в Академии (1819-1822). В …
  Русский словарь Colier
• ФОРД
  Русский словарь Colier
• ГЕНРИ — henry
  Русско-Английский толковый словарь терминов и сокращений по ВТ, Интернету и программированию
• ФОРД — Ford ford
  
• ГЕНРИ — муж. h, Henry, henry henry
  Большой Русско-Английский словарь
• ФОРД — форд ford
  
• ГЕНРИ — генри henry
  Русско-Английский словарь Сократ
• ХАДСОН, ГЕНРИ — Henry Hudson
  Русско-Американский Английский словарь
• О.ГЕНРИ — (О.Henry; псевд., наст. имя - Уильям Сидни Портер, Porter) (1862-1910), американский писатель. Родился 11 сентября 1862 в Гринсборо (шт. Сев. …
  Русский словарь Colier
• YOUNG — 1. прил. 1) а) молодой, юный young at heart ≈ молодой сердцем young in spirit ≈ молодой душой He is …
  
• LIZZIE — сущ. 1) дешевый автомобиль, преим. форд (тж. tin lizzie) lizzie bum ≈ бродяга, путешествующий на дешевом автомобиле 2) сл. лесбиянка …
  Большой Англо-Русский словарь
• HENRY — сущ.; электр. генри (единица индуктивности) (электротехника) генри (единица индуктивности) henry эл. генри (единица индуктивности)
  Большой Англо-Русский словарь
• — I сущ.; мн. - As, A"s, Aes 1) первая буква англ. алфавита 2) муз. ля 3) амер. отлично (высшая отметка …
  Большой Англо-Русский словарь
• WIRT, WILLIAM — (1772-1834) Уэрт, Уильям Юрист, государственный деятель и писатель. В 1772 начал адвокатскую практику в вирджинской глубинке, затем в столице Вирджинии г. …
• PORTER, WILLIAM SYDNEY (O. HENRY) — (1862-1910) Портер, Уильям Сидни (О. Генри) Писатель, признанный мастер короткого рассказа, публиковался под псевдонимом О. Генри. Работал банковским служащим, в 1896 …
• MERCURY LYNX — авто "Меркурий Линкс" Экономичный компактный автомобиль с 4-цилиндровым двигателем, выпущенный отделением "Линкольн-Меркьюри" корпорации "Форд мотор" …
• JEEP — авто джип Небольшой полноприводной автомобиль повышенной проходимости. Был создан в 1940 компанией "Виллис-оверленд моторс" , выигравшей специальный конкурс Сухопутных сил …
• GIVE ME LIBERTY ... — "Дайте мне свободу..." Знаменитая фраза члена законодательного собрания Вирджинии П. Генри , которой на провинциальном конвенте Вирджинии (в 1974-77), республиканец. В 1935 окончил Мичиганский университет Г. Форда . В 1919-43 - президент компании, …
• FORD TRIMOTOR — "Форд Тримотор" Почтово-транспортный цельнометаллический моноплан, выпускавшийся компанией "Форд мотор" в 1927-33. В его основу был положен проект трехмоторного …
• FORD TORINO — "Форд Торино" Комфортабельный мощный автомобиль, выпускавшийся фирмой "Форд мотор" , на котором в 1972 испытывался опытный двигатель Стирлинга (двигатель …
• FORD TAURUS — авто "Форд Таурус", "Форд Торус" Автомобиль среднего класса, выпускаемый с середины 1980-х гг. компанией "Форд мотор" . Занимал одно из …
• FORD MUSTANG — авто "Форд Мустанг" Популярный полуспортивный автомобиль среднего класса, выпущенный компанией "Форд мотор" на базе модели "Фэлкон" в …
• FORD MODEL T — ист "Форд Т" Первый в мире дешевый массовый автомобиль, разработанный в 1908-10 годах в нескольких модификациях, который компания "Форд мотор" , который выпускался в 1928-31 с вариантами кузова "родстер" , "кабриолет" …
• FORD GRANADA — авто "Форд Гранада" Популярный автомобиль среднего класса компании "Форд мотор" , выпущенный в 1975 в ряде модификаций с 4-, 6- …
• FORD GALAXIE — авто "Форд Гэлакси" Большой комфортабельный автомобиль выше среднего класса, выпускавшийся компанией "Форд мотор" в 1957-80; вместе с моделями "Форд …
• FORD FAIRLANE — авто "Форд Фэрлейн" Большой комфортабельный автомобиль выше среднего класса, выпускавшийся фирмой "Форд мотор" в 1957-80; вместе с моделями "Форд …
• FORD EXP — "Форд ЭКСПИ" Дорогой полуспортивный двухместный экономичный автомобиль, рассчитанный "на 30-летнего холостяка", выпускавшийся в 1982-88 компанией "Форд мотор" . От …
• FORD ESCORT — "Форд Эскорт" Экономичный "компактный" автомобиль с 4-цилиндровым двигателем, выпущенный компанией "Форд мотор" в 1980 году одновременно …
• FORD BRONCO II — "Форд Бронко II" Джип "большого класса", производившийся в 1980-х компанией "Форд мотор" . Выпускался с V-образным 8- и 6-цилиндровыми …
• JEEP — авто джип Небольшой полноприводной автомобиль повышенной проходимости. Был создан в 1940 компанией "Виллис-оверленд моторс" , выигравшей специальный конкурс …
• WIRT, WILLIAM — (1772-1834) Уэрт, Уильям Юрист, государственный деятель и писатель. В 1772 начал адвокатскую практику в вирджинской глубинке, затем в столице Вирджинии …
• PORTER, WILLIAM SYDNEY — (O. Henry) (1862-1910) Портер, Уильям Сидни (О. Генри) Писатель, признанный мастер короткого рассказа, публиковался под псевдонимом О. Генри. Работал банковским …
• MERCURY LYNX — авто "Меркурий Линкс" Экономичный компактный автомобиль с 4-цилиндровым двигателем, выпущенный отделением "Линкольн-Меркьюри" корпорации "Форд мотор" , которой на провинциальном конвенте …
• FORD, GERALD RUDOLPH, JR. — (р. 1913) Форд, Джералд Рудолф, мл. 38-й президент США (в 1974-77), республиканец. В 1935 окончил Мичиганский университет , затем …
• FORD, EDSEL BRYANT — (1893-1943) Форд, Эдсел Брайант Сын основателя компании "Форд мотор" Г. Форда . В 1919-43 - президент …
• FORD TRIMOTOR — "Форд Тримотор" Почтово-транспортный цельнометаллический моноплан, выпускавшийся компанией "Форд мотор" в 1927-33. В его основу был положен проект …
• FORD TORINO — "Форд Торино" Комфортабельный мощный автомобиль, выпускавшийся фирмой "Форд мотор" , на котором в 1972 испытывался опытный двигатель Стирлинга …
• FORD MUSTANG — "Форд Мустанг" Популярный полуспортивный автомобиль среднего класса, выпущенный компанией "Форд мотор" на базе модели "Фэлкон" …
• FORD MODEL T — ист. "Форд Т" Первый в мире дешевый массовый автомобиль, разработанный в 1908-10 годах в нескольких модификациях, который компания "Форд мотор" …
• FORD GALAXIE — "Форд Гэлакси" Большой комфортабельный автомобиль выше среднего класса, выпускавшийся компанией "Форд мотор" в 1957-80; вместе с моделями …
• FORD FAIRLANE — "Форд Фэрлейн" Большой комфортабельный автомобиль выше среднего класса, выпускавшийся фирмой "Форд мотор" в 1957-80; вместе с моделями …
• ЭЛЕКТРИЧЕСТВО — ЭЛЕКТРИЧЕСТВО И МАГНЕТИЗМ В 1820 Г.Эрстед (1777-1851) обнаружил, что проводник с током воздействует на магнитную стрелку, поворачивая ее. Буквально неделей …
  Русский словарь Colier

Henry Ford (30.07.1863 - 07.04.1947) - American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company.

Henry Ford was born on 30 July 1863 near Detroit. His father, William, was born in Ireland and his mother, Mary, was born in Michigan. Her parents were Belgian immigrants. Mary had adoptive parents because her birth parents died. She was adopted by the O’Herns family. They were the neighbors of Mary. There were five children in the family of William and Mary: Henry, Margaret, Robert, William and Jane.

When Henry was young he received a pocket watch from his father. At the age of fifteen he took to pieces and reassembled the timepieces of his pals many times and they knew him as a watch repairman.

In 1876 Henry’s mother died and he felt low. His father wanted him to go round the farm but Henry abhorred farm work.

Three years later Henry Ford began to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit. In 1882 he arrived in Dearborn and began to work for Westinghouse company where he maintained steam engines.

In 1888 Ford married Clara Ala Bryant. They had their only son: Edsel Ford.

Three years after marriage Henry became an engineer in the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893 he became Chief Engineer. Since then Henry Ford started to work on gasoline engine. Consequently in 1896 he developed a self-propelled vehicle which was called the Ford Quadricycle. Afterwards Ford created different improvements for his invention.

In 1896 Henry Ford made the acquaintance of Thomas Edison who endorsed the experiments of Ford. With the assistance of Edison Henry Ford created a new vehicle in 1898. Later he left his job and established the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899. But Henry Ford was not satisfied because the vehicles produced there were of a lower quality and expensive. Eventually the enterprise was not successful and it was abolished in 1901.

Ten months later encouraged by C. Harold Wills Henry Ford developed a 26-horsepower automobile which was successfully tested. As a result stockholders of the Detroit Automobile Company founded the Henry Ford Company in 1901 where Henry Ford was a chief engineer. In 1902 he left the company because a new consultant was hired there. Afterwards the company was renamed. It was called the Cadillac Automobile Company.

Cooperating with Tom Cooper, who was a racing cyclist, Henry Ford created the 80+ horsepower racer “999”. Consequently Henry established contact with his old friend Alexander Y. Malcomson with whom he founded a company “Ford & Malcomson, Ltd.” to produce automobiles.

In 1908 Henry Ford designed a new automobile called Model T. The vehicle was inexpensive and simple to drive. Moreover the steering wheel was on the left. This car was a great success.

In 1926 Henry Ford decided to create a new model because the sales of Model T were slow. He worked on technical improvements and his son designed the body. This model was introduced in 1927. As the Model T, Model A was a great success.

From 1918 to 1943 his son, Edsel, was a president of Ford Motor Company. In 1943 he died of cancer and his father became a president again but his health left much to be desired. Henry Ford was a president of Ford Motor Company until the end of war.

Henry Ford died in 1947 at the age of 83. He was interred in the Ford Cemetery in Detroit.

Henry Ford (1863–1947) was an industrialist who changed the face of automobile manufacture in America, becoming the epitome of American Capitalism. He lent his name to ‘Fordism’ – efficient mass production.

Henry Ford Early Life

Henry Ford was born in 1863 on a farm in rural Michigan, near Detroit. From an early age, he expressed an interest in mechanical devices. He was given a pocket watch at the age of 15, and he developed a reputation for being an experienced watchmaker.

Shortly after his mother passed away, Henry left the family farm to seek employment in Detroit. He worked his way up to becoming an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company. By 1893 he had become chief engineer and gained the recognition and encouragement of Thomas Edison. Henry Ford retained a deep affection for throughout his life.

It was working as chief engineer at Edison’s that he was able to work on a petrol drive quadricycle. His testing was successful, and this enabled him to develop the quadricycle into a small car; this proved the basis for the famous Model T motor car introduced in 1908. The Ford Motor Company was formed in 1903 with the backing of $28,000 from various investors.

Working Practices of Henry Ford

Henry Ford astonished the industrial world by offering a daily wage of $5 a day. Even by today’s prices that was a very good salary. This wage was far above what anywhere else offered. At a stroke, it solved the problem of labour turnover and encouraged the best workers to come and work for Ford. Through paying high wages, Ford was able to encourage the highest level of labour productivity. Although many criticised his seemingly over-generous pay, he also pointed out, that the high wage helped the workers to be able to afford the cars they were making.

However, Henry Ford was hostile to the role of trades unions. For a long time, he battled against the trades unions, refusing to have anything to do them. However, by 1941, with the workers on strike, his wife encouraged him to capitulate to the United Auto Workers (UAW).

It was Henry Ford who also revolutionised the production line processes. He helped to develop the assembly line method of production and was always seeking to cut costs. Although he did not ‘invent’ the assembly line, he did make one of the most successful commercial applications of its potential. This led to his decision to give customers any colour they choose so long as it was black.

“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” – My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71

The motive for insisting on black was because black was the quickest colour to dry and therefore the cheapest.

The impact of the assembly line was to help reduce the cost of the Model T motor car. It helped Ford become the dominant firm in the motor car industry. An estimation from 1932 suggested Ford was producing 33% of the world’s automobile production.

Henry Ford had a dislike of war. He helped to fund a peace ship to Europe in 1915 and spoke out against the ‘vague financiers who encourage war’. He never really got involved in the Second World War effort, though he allowed other officials in the Ford company to transform Ford into one of the biggest military plane builders in the war.

Henry Ford also subscribed to various anti-semitic pamphlets. Although he later apologised for some of his anti-semitic views, admired Henry Ford. Ford is the only foreigner mentioned in Mein Kampf. Hitler wanted Volkswagen to mirror the production techniques and philosophy of Ford Motor company.

Henry Ford was also noted for some of his inspirational self-improvement quotes – emphasising hard work and self-sufficiency.

“You will find men who want to be carried on the shoulders of others, who think that the world owes them a living. They don’t seem to see that we must all lift together and pull together.”

As quoted in Wisdom & Inspiration for the Spirit and Soul (2004) by Nancy Toussaint, p. 85

Towards the end of his life, he spent considerable time with his friend Thomas Edison , who moved into West Orange, New Jersey.

Related pages

Famous Americans – Great Americans from the Founding Fathers to modern civil rights activists. Including presidents, authors, musicians, entrepreneurs and businessmen. Featuring Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Madonna, Oprah Winfrey.

Знаменитый автопроизводитель Генри Форд родился 30 июля 1863, на ферме его семьи в округе Уэйн, под Дирборном, штат Мичиган. Когда Форду было 13 лет, его отец, подарил ему карманные часы, которые маленький мальчик постоянно разбирал и собирал. Друзья и соседи были очень удивлены и часто обращались с просьбами отремонтировать их часы.

Невпечатлившись сельскохозяйственной работой, Форд покинул дом в возрасте 16 лет, для обучения роботе машиниста в Детройте. На протяжении следующих лет он научился умело управлять и обслуживать паровые двигатели, а также изучил бухгалтерское дело.

Ранняя карьера

В 1888 Форд женился на Кларе Але Брайант(Clara Ala Bryant) и временно возвратился к сельскому хозяйству, чтобы прокормить его жену и сына, Эдселя. Но три года спустя, он был нанят в качестве инженера в Edison Illuminating Company. В 1893 его природный таланты позволил ему вырости до главного инженера.

Все время Форд вынашивал свои планы относительно безлошадного экипажа, и в 1896, он построил свою первую модель, Ford Quadricycle. В этом же году он встретился с руководителями Edison Company и представил свои автомобильные наработки лично Томасу Эдисону, который поощрил Форд на строительство второй, улучшенной модели.

Ford Motor Company

После нескольких испытаний конструкции автомобиля, в 1903, Генри Форд учредил Ford Motor Company. Форд представил Model T в октябре 1908, и в течение нескольких последующих лет, компания добилась 100-процентной прибыли.

Еще больше Форд стал известным благодаря своим революционным видением производства недорогого автомобиля, сделанного квалифицированными рабочими, которые зарабатывают устойчивую заработную плату.

В 1914 он спонсировал развитие передвижной ленты сборочного конвейера для массового производства. Одновременно, он вводил заработную плату в размере 5$ в день (эквивалент 110$ в 2011) как в результате чего он стремился сохранить лояльность лучших рабочих к своей компании. Простые в управлении и дешевые в ремонте, именно поэтому половина всех автомобилей в Америке в 1918 была Ford Model T.

Философия, филантропия и антисемитизм

С социальной точки зрения Генри Форд имел, на первый взгляд, противоречащие точки зрения. Форд учредил часть прибыли компании, сотрудникам, проработавшим в компании более шести месяцев и, самое важное тем, кто провел их жизни респектабельным способом.

“Социальный отдел компании” изучал вредные привычки, тягу к азартным играм и другие негативные стороны кандидатов, при вынесении решения относительно приема на работу. Форд был ярым пацифистом и противником Первой мировой войны, даже финансировал мирные судна в Европу. Позже, в 1936, Форд и его семья основывали Ford Foundation, для выделения грантов на исследования, образование и развитие. Но несмотря на эти филантропические склонности, Форд был также преданным антисемитом, всеми способами поддерживающий еженедельную газету The Dearborn Independent, которая придерживалась таких же взглядов.

Генри Форд умер 7 апреля 1947, в возрасте 83 лет от кровоизлияния в мозг, недалеко от его Дирборнского поместья, Фэр-Лейн(Fair Lane). Генри Форд является одним из самых великих бизнесменов Америки. Очень сложно переоценить его вклад в развитие американской экономики в период её становления. Его наследие будет жить еще в течение многих десятилетий.

Оценка по биографии

Новая функция! Средняя оценка, которую получила эта биография. Показать оценку