Langston Hughes was a prominent African American writer, poet, and playwright during the Harlem Renaissance in the early 20th century. He pioneered new styles of writing that reflected the black experience in America through poems like "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and plays that addressed issues of racial equality, feminism, and religion. Hughes died in 1967 at age 65, leaving behind an influential legacy as one of the greatest black writers and voices of the Harlem Renaissance.