born Sept. 15, 1789, Burlington, N.J., U.S.
died Sept. 14, 1851, Cooperstown, N.Y.
The first major U.S. novelist.
Cooper grew up in a prosperous family in the settlement of Cooperstown, founded by his father. The Spy (1821), set during the American Revolution, brought him fame. His best-known novels, the series The Leatherstocking Tales, feature the frontier adventures of the wilderness scout Natty Bumppo and include The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840), and The Deerslayer (1841). He also wrote popular sea novels, notably The Pilot (1823), and a history of the U.S. Navy (1839). Though internationally celebrated, he was troubled by lawsuits and political conflicts in his later years, and his popularity and income declined.