George Samuel Clason (November 7, 1874 – April 5, 1957) was an American author. He is most often associated with his book '' The Richest Man in Babylon'' which was first published in 1926.

Early life and education

Clason was born in

Louisiana, Missouri Louisiana is a city in Pike County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,364 at the 2010 census. Louisiana is located in northeast Missouri, on the Mississippi River, south of Hannibal. Louisiana is located at the junction of State Rout ...

. He attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

Career

Clason started two companies, the Clason Map Company of Denver, Colorado and the Clason Publishing Company. The Clason Map Company was the first to publish a road atlas of the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, but did not survive the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Clason is best known for writing a series of informational pamphlets about being thrifty and how to achieve financial success. He started writing the pamphlets in 1926, using parables that were set in ancient

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

. Banks and insurance companies began to distribute the parables, and the most famous ones were compiled into the book ''The Richest Man in Babylon - The Success Secrets of the Ancients''. He is credited with coining the phrase, "Pay yourself first".

Personal life

Clason moved to Denver in 1900. He had two children who were also authors Clyde B. Clason and Robin Clason McKown. He was married twice, to Ida Ann Venable and Anna Burt. He moved to

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...

in 1949 and died there on April 5, 1957.

References

External links

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