The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was an immigrant, a poor boy who worked in a cotton mill, a man who amassed a great fortune as a steel baron and then became one of the most generous and influential philanthropists the world has ever known. His famous dictum, that he who dies rich dies disgraced, has inspired philanthropists and philanthropic enterprises for generations. During his own lifetime, he put his ideas into action by creating a family of organizations that continue to work toward improving the human condition, advancing international peace, strengthening democracy, and creating societal progress that benefits men, women, and children in the United States and around the globe. Now, to mark its centennial, Carnegie Corporation of New York, founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1911, has partnered with PublicAffairs to reissue The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, with an introduction by the Corporation's president Vartan Gregorian. Here, in his own words, Mr. Carnegie tells the dramatic story of his life and career, outlining the principles that he lived by and that today serve as the pillars of modern philanthropy.

Andrew Carnegie was a nineteenth-century steel tycoon who became one of the twentieth century's most famous philanthropists. His life story is a rags-to-riches account matched by few in United States history. After his retirement he became a philanthropist who donated hundreds of millions of dollars and created more than 20 organizations dedicated to improving the human condition. He also created Carnegie Corporation of New York, endowing it with the largest single philanthropic trust ever established up to that time in order to support benefactions after his death. He died in 1919 at Shadowbrook, his estate in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.