Albert Nelson Marquis
Albert Nelson Marquis was a Chicago publisher best known for creating the Who's Who book series, starting with Who's Who in America which was first published in 1899.
Marquis was born in Decatur, Ohio raised by his maternal grandparents in nearby Hamersville. At age 21 he founded the A.N. Marquis & Company in Cincinnati, and moved to Chicago in 1884. His early publications were generally guide books, directories, and maps. He was the full owner of Who's Who until 1926, and remained as "editor in chief" of the publication until 1940.
Marquis died of heart trouble at his home in Evanston, Illinois on December 21, 1943.
