Paul Charles Morphy

Born June 22, 1837, in New Orleans; died there July 10, 1884. The world’s leading chess player in the middle of the 19th century (at that time the official title of world champion did not exist).

The son of a wealthy plantation owner, Morphy graduated from Spring Hill College and studied law at the University of Louisiana. In 1857 he was victorious at the first American chess congress; in 1858 and 1859 he won matches against a number of the best chess players of Europe, including A. Anderssen, H. Bird, D. Harrwitz, L. Paulsen, and J. Löwenthal. In later years, because of mental illness, Morphy abandoned his chess career.