Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett

Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett (1842-1914?), American satirist, short-story writer, and journalist, born in Meigs County, Ohio. He served in the Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and as a result of distinguished service went west with a military expedition. He settled in San Francisco and wrote brief, witty political pieces and a column for the News-Letter; by 1868 he had become editor of the paper. He moved to London in 1872 and the caustic sketches and stories he wrote for the magazines Fun and Figaro, under the pen name of Dod Grile, were published as Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (1874).

Bierce returned to San Francisco in 1877, writing for the Argonaut, editing the Wasp, and writing a column for the Sunday Examiner, owned by William Randolph Hearst. Bierce's wit and fascination with death and horror earned him the nickname Bitter Bierce; his mastery of the short story was compared favourably with that of the American writers Edgar Allan Poe and Bret Harte. From 1899 until 1913 he worked for the Hearst interests in Washington, D.C., and revised his own works. In 1913 he went to Mexico and disappeared; he is presumed to have died there. His Collected Works were published in 12 volumes (1909-1912) and include The Devil's Dictionary (1911), first entitled The Cynic's Wordbook (1906).