Alexander M. (Alexander Mattock) Thompson

Alexander Mattock Thompson was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, on May 9, 1861, and later became a prominent figure in English literary and theatrical life. Writing from the 1880s onward, he worked as a journalist and dramatist, and is especially associated with socialist newspapers and journals.

He is most often linked with the founding of The Clarion in 1891, one of the best-known socialist publications in Britain. Alongside his political and journalistic work, he also wrote for the theater and became an important librettist in the era of Edwardian musical comedy, showing a range that stretched well beyond party journalism.

Sometimes credited as A. M. Thompson, he died in London on March 25, 1948. The surviving record suggests a writer with an unusually varied career: politically engaged, active in print culture, and deeply involved in popular entertainment.