Francis Marion Crawford was an American author who lived from August 2, 1854, to April 9, 1909. He was famous for his many books, especially those set in Italy, and his classic weird and fantastical stories. He was born on August 2, 1854, in Bagni di Lucca, which is in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He was the only child of American artist Thomas Crawford and his wife, Louisa Cutler Ward. His sister was the author Mary Crawford Fraser, also known as Mrs. Hugh Fraser, and his nephew was the American artist Julia Ward Howe. After his dad died in 1857, his mom got married again to Luther Terry. They had a daughter together, Margaret Ward Terry, who later married Winthrop Astor Chanler and was Crawford's half-sister. He went to school at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, Cambridge University, the University of Heidelberg, and finally the University of Rome. He went to India in 1879 to study Sanskrit and was the editor of The Indian Herald in Allahabad. When he got back to the United States in February 1881, he continued to study Sanskrit at Harvard University for another year. During that time, he also wrote for a number of magazines, mostly The Critic, for two years. Early in 1882, he became close friends with Isabella Stewart Gardner, a friend he would keep for life.