Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864)
The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne from 1848 to 1850, and was published in 1850. Hawthorne's father died at sea while he was only four years old, so he was raised by his mother alone in Salem. In 1824 hawthorne graduated from Bowdoin College. He married Sophia Peabody in 1842, and produced three children. As a writer, Hawthorne could not support his family, and worked at the Custom House as a surveyor. The last six years of Hawthorne's life were spent living in Europe.