Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) was born in Budapest, Hungary, and died in Charleston, South Carolina. He married Katherine "Kate" Davis in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1878. He was a journalist, philanthropist and congressman, who also served in the United States Civil War for the Union. He entered journalism as a reporter on Westliche Post in 1868, and became managing editor and part proprietor. He studied law, was elected to the Missouri Legislature in 1869, and continued his political career in Missouri and New York. In 1878, he bought the St. Louis Dispatch and united it with the Evening Post as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Between 1883-1911 he was the proprietor of the New York World. He made the paper into a symbol of sensational yellow journalism, including an extensive article on Mary Baker Eddy published on October 28, 1906. He established a number of educational scholarships, including $2,000,000 which was used to establish the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, resulting in the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes from 1917 onwards.

See more letters.