John Nicholas Brown II (1900-1979) was born February 21, 1900. Two months later, his father John Nicholas Brown I died of typhoid fever, followed shortly by the unexpected death of his uncle Harold Brown. Thus, as an infant JNB became heir of his family's fortune and was dubbed by the public the "richest baby in America." John Nicholas Brown travelled the world in his youth and would continue to do so throughout his life.

JNB graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1922 from Harvard, having completed a concentration in History & Literature of Classical Cultures. Although the convention of the traditional "Grand Tour" was probably known been known to this young wealthy American man, Brown's post-collegiate voyage overstepped the bounds of the conventional "Grand Tour", taking him to Egypt and the Middle East. In the biographical notes for the JNBII Papers, historian Holly Snyder wrote, "Far from a well-earned vacation, John viewed this tour as a continuation of his studies at Harvard."

JNB's great-grandfather was Nicholas Brown, for whom Brown University was named in 1804. Upon returning to Providence in 1923, JNB took up residence at 357 Benefit Street-- a Georgian wood-frame home Nicholas Brown purchased from Col. John Nightingale in 1815. This building is now the John Nicholas Brown Center at Brown University.

John Nicholas Brown in his Harvard Yearbook, 1920

John Nicholas Brown at Gizeh on his 23rd Birthday: February 21, 1923

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Or Brown's Egypt: Photographs from a 1923 Tour>>>

John Nicholas Brown