Henry David Thoreau

American, 1817–1862

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher best known for Walden, his account of two years spent living simply in a cabin near Walden Pond. His essay Civil Disobedience, arguing for individual resistance to unjust government, influenced leaders from Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr. Thoreau was a leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement and an early advocate for environmental conservation.