Edwin Lawrence Godkin

Born in County Wicklow, Ireland, on October 2, 1831, he studied at Queen’s College Belfast and began his career in journalism after an early turn toward law. Before settling in the United States, he reported on the Crimean War for the London Daily News, gaining firsthand experience as a foreign correspondent.

After moving to America in 1856, he continued writing while also studying law in New York. In 1865, with support from reform-minded backers, he founded The Nation, a weekly magazine that quickly became an important forum for politics, public affairs, and criticism.

He later became editor-in-chief of the New York Evening Post, extending his influence well beyond the magazine world. Remembered as an Irish-born American journalist and editor with strong opinions and high standards, he remained a major force in public debate until declining health led to retirement not long before his death in Devon, England, on May 21, 1902.