Louisa May Alcott was born on 29 November 1832 in Pennsylvania. Her father was the Transcendentalist teacher Bronson Alcott, whose friends included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Louisa first published her work when she was nineteen and the income from her stories helped support her family. Little Women (1868–9) was based on her childhood experiences and was a huge success on its first publication. Louisa May Alcott also worked as a teacher and a nurse and was a vigorous campaigner for women’s rights. She died on 6 March 1888.