Stephen Vincent Benét (1898 - 1943) was born into a military family for whom poetry was a particular pleasure. Afflicted with scarlet fever as a toddler, his eyesight was permanently damaged, but Steven loved to read and began writing poetry and winning prizes for it while still a child. At seventeen, he published his first book and entered Yale University. During his brief life, Stephen created work in almost every genre of literature, earning two Pulitzer Prizes, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an O. Henry Short Story Award along the way. His story, "The Sobbin' Women," based on the Roman legend of the abduction of the Sabine women, was the basis for the hit movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

Rosemary Carr Benét (1898 – 1962) was born in Chicago to one of that city’s first women doctors. A Phi Beta Kappa who loved politics and was never afraid to speak her mind, she was an accomplished journalist, translator, and literary critic, as well as a poet, writing for such esteemed publications as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and The New Yorker. Rosemary and Stephen met while both were traveling in Paris. They married in Chicago in 1921 and had three children.Learn more about Stephen and Rosemary here.