Van Loon, << van LOHN, >> Hendrik Willem (1882-1944), was an American historian, biographer, journalist, and lecturer. Van Loon won the Newbery Medal in 1922 for his history of the world, The Story of Mankind (1921). He wrote and illustrated many other works for children, and they became equally popular with adults. They include Ships (1935); Ancient Man (1920); The Story of the Bible (1923); Tolerance (1925); America (1927); Van Loon’s Geography (1932); The Arts (1937); Van Loon’s Lives (1942); and Thomas Jefferson (1943).
Van Loon served as a newspaper correspondent in Russia during the Revolution of 1905. He also served as a correspondent in various European countries in 1906 and during World War I (1914-1918).
Van Loon was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Jan. 14, 1882. He moved to the United States in 1902. He became a U.S. citizen in 1919. Van Loon died on March 11, 1944.
