Henry Luce

Henry Luce
Luce in 1954
Born
Henry Robinson Luce

(1898-04-03)April 3, 1898
DiedFebruary 28, 1967(1967-02-28) (aged 68)
Alma materYale University
Occupation(s)Publisher, journalist
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Lila Ross Hotz
(m. 1923; div. 1935)
(m. 1935)
Children3
ParentHenry W. Luce

Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America of his day".[1]

Born in Shandong, China, to Presbyterian parents, Luce moved to the US at the age of 15 and later attended Yale University. He launched and closely supervised a stable of magazines that transformed journalism and the reading habits of millions of Americans. Time summarized and interpreted the week's news; Life was a picture magazine of politics, culture, and society that dominated American visual perceptions in the era before television; Fortune reported on national and international business; and Sports Illustrated explored the world of sports.

Counting his radio projects and newsreels, Luce created the first multimedia corporation. He envisaged that the United States would achieve world hegemony, and in 1941 he declared the 20th century would be the "American Century".[2][3]

  1. ^ Robert Edwin Herzstein (2005). Henry R. Luce, Time, and the American Crusade in Asia. Cambridge U.P. p. 1. ISBN 9780521835770.
  2. ^ Editorial (1941-02-17) The American Century, Life Magazine
  3. ^ Baughman, James L. (April 28, 2004). "Henry R. Luce and the Rise of the American News Media". American Masters (PBS). Retrieved June 19, 2014.