Samuel Ullman

Samuel Ullman (1840–1924) was a German-born American businessman and poet, best known for his inspirational poem “Youth.” Born in Hechingen, in what is now Germany, he immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in the South. Ullman settled in Birmingham, Alabama, where he built a career in commerce and became active in civic and community affairs. Alongside his business life, he wrote poetry and essays, though much of his work was not widely known during his lifetime. “Youth,” written in the late nineteenth century, later gained international popularity for its message that youth is a quality of spirit rather than age.