Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith, (1805-44). US founder of the Mormon Church. In 1820 he received his first ‘call’ to be a prophet. Three years later he was (supposedly) visited by an angel who told him of sacred writings inscribed on gold plates; in 1827 he received the scriptures, published as The Book of Mormon (1830). Smith subsequently founded the ‘Church of the Latter-day Saints’ at Fayette, New York, and sent missionaries to Europe. Despite their numerous converts, the Mormons were persecuted and ridiculed and Smith was often arrested. He was killed by masked raiders during one of his spells of imprisonment.
