Lafcadio Hearn

(Patricio Lafcadio Tessima Hearn), also called Koizumi Yakumo.

(June 27, 1850 - September 26, 1904)

Hearn was a writer, translator and teacher, mainly known for introducing Japanese culture and literature to the West. Born in the Greek Ionian Islands, his father was Irish and his mother Greek. He grew up in Dublin, went to school in England and France, and immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio in the U.S. at the age of 19.

In 1877 Hearn went to New Orleans where he lived for the next 20 years. It was here that he wrote the first Creole cookbook, 'La Cuisine Creole.'

Hearn also wrote countless articles and essays and several other books while in New Orleans. He spent 2 years in the West Indies, and in 1890 he traveled to Japan, married, changed his name, and became a Japanese citizen and a Buddhist. Hearn taught English literature at the Imperial University of Tokyo, and wrote many books on Japanese subjects.