Robert Payne

Pierre Stephen Robert Payne was an English-born author, known principally for works of biography and history, although he also wrote novels, poetry, magazine articles and many other works. He wrote over 100 published books, including novels, histories and biographies. He was best known for his biographies of prominent historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci, Hitler, Stalin, Karl Marx, Lenin, Mao Zedong and Mahatma Gandhi, several of which were selected for Book of the Month Club. He also worked as a shipwright, served in Army Intelligence, and was a professor of English literature. Payne moved to the United States in 1946 and became a US citizen in 1953, settling in New York City in 1954. He was chairman of the Translation Committee of PEN International and co-founded the Translation Center at Columbia University.