List Of Fictitious People

Fictitious people are nonexistent people, who, unlike fictional people, have been claimed to actually exist. Usually this is done as a practical joke or hoax, but sometimes fictitious people are 'created' as part of a fraud. Sometimes the line between the two categories is blurred, e.g., as in the case of Abdul Alhazred. A pseudonym may also be considered by some to be a "fictitious person", although this is not the correct definition.

Hoaxes

* William Ashbless, a 19th-century fictitious poet and adventurer.
* Bilitis, nonexistent Ancient Greek poet. Supposed author of ''The Songs of Bilitis'', a collection of erotic poetry "discovered" by Pierre Louÿs.
* Achmet Borumborad, a late 18th-century doctor and businessman in Dublin, purportedly from Constantinople.
* George P. Burdell, eternal Georgia Tech student.
* Eddie Burrup, fake Australian aboriginal painter.
* Johnny "The Celestial Comet" Chung, supposed Chinese-American football player for the nonexistent Plainfield Teacher's College.
* Allegra Coleman, nonexistent supermodel.
* Tom Collins, fictitious gossip and namesake of the gin-and-lemon-based cocktail.
* Helen Demidenko, nonexistent Ukrainian author, created by Australian writer Helen Darville.
* Aimi Eguchi created as a composite of the other members.
* Frederick R. Ewing, nonexistent author of ''I, Libertine.''
* Hugo N. Frye, a fictional figure, purportedly the founder of the Republican Party in New York State, made up by Cornell University students in 1930 as a prank designed to embarrass several state politicians.
* Anthony Godby Johnson, (probably) fictitious author of ''Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story.''
* Kilroy, a nonexistent legendary World War II US Army major who inspired millions during the war and became part of American popular culture.
* Ern Malley, nonexistent Australian poet, created by Australian poets James McAuley and Harold Stewart.
*Lillian Virginia Mountweazel, a photographer who existed as a fictitious entry in the 4th edition of the New Columbia Encyclopedia. The publishers assumed that if they caught another encyclopedia containing their copyright trap, the presence of the non-existent Mountweazel would prove that their competitors hadn’t done any original research and copied them.
* Lucian Yahoo Dragoman, a nonexistent baby supposedly named after Yahoo!.
* Karyl Robin-Evans, nonexistent scientist whose expedition is chronicled in the book '' Sungods in Exile''.
* H. Rochester Sneath, nonexistent English public school headmaster and prolific letter writer, created by Humphry Berkeley.
* Georg Paul Thomann, nonexistent Austrian conceptual artist, created by art group monochrom to represent Austria at the 2002 Sao Paulo Art Biennial. Georg Paul Thomann is featured in RE/Search's "Pranks 2" book.
* Piotr Zak, nonexistent Polish composer, created for a BBC programme by Susan Bradshaw and Hans Keller.

Pseudonyms

This list includes pseudonyms supplied with a biography suggesting the existence of a person distinct from the actual person with the pseudonym in question, often with the purpose of a hoax.

See also :Collective pseudonyms (many of them were not claimed as "real" people).

* Penelope Ashe, supposed "demure Long Island housewife" who authored ''Naked Came The Stranger''. Actually a pseudonym of a collective of writers, and portrayed by one of their relatives during interviews.
* Richard Bachman, a pseudonym of Stephen King, given a fake biography and author photo.
*Silence Dogood, a false persona used by Benjamin Franklin to get his work published.
* Roderick Jaynes, editor of all the films of Joel and Ethan Coen. Actually a pseudonym for the Coens themselves. "Jaynes", supposedly a cantankerous Englishman in his 80s, has also penned a dismissive introduction to a book of the Coens' scripts, and an article in ''The Guardian'' discussing his work on '' The Man Who Wasn't There''.
* Kozma Prutkov, arrogant Russian writer and government official, who published bombastic pieces that ended up being satirical commentary on Russian bureaucracy. A creation of 4 Russian writers, including Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1817-1875) and Alexei Zhemchuzhnikov.
* Lemony Snicket, a pseudonym used by Daniel Handler for his ''A Series of Unfortunate Events.'' Snicket, who is also a character in the books, is the meta-fictional narrator of the series.
* Wrench Tuttle, an Atlanta-based "poet, traveler, activist and philosopher". Canadian musician/composer Bob Wiseman "collaborated" with lyricist Tuttle by mail, for the 1989 album ''In Her Dream: Bob Wiseman Sings Wrench Tuttle''. Tuttle was, in reality, Wiseman.
*Kilgore Trout originally was a character created by Kurt Vonnegut, who later became a pseudonym used by Philip José Farmer to publish, as a homage to Vonnegut, an actual version of one of the fictional Trout's books, ''Venus on the Half-Shell'' (1975). Farmer's work is based on a moment in Vonnegut's ''God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'' that describes a character reading a copy of Trout's novel, "Venus on the Half-Shell". Vonnegut was not happy about the publication of Farmer's book, but he declined to sue over the use of his intellectual property.
* Gerald Wiley, authorial pseudonym used by sketch comedy performer Ronnie Barker on shows in which he was a performer. Initially, even other writers on the show were unaware that sketches submitted by "Wiley" were in fact written by Barker; Barker wanted his sketches to be judged on merit, not on the fact he was a cast member or star.
*Andrew MacDonald, a pseudonym for William Luther Pierce, white supremacist and author of ''The Turner Diaries.''

Arts and entertainment

*Alan Smithee, name used by film directors who wish to disown a project.
* Andreas Karavis, nonexistent Greek poet.
*B. Traven, adventure novelist.
*Borat Sagdiyev, a fictitious Kazakhstani journalist created by Sacha Baron Cohen, see also Ali G and Brüno Gehard.
* Conchita (previously Conchita Wurst), stage persona of Austrian recording artist Thomas Neuwirth.
* C.W. Blubberhouse, whose letters in UK national newspapers were exposed as a hoax by the ''Sunday Times.''
*Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, characters played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries.
* Darko Maver, a lauded fictional Yugoslav artist whose gruesome sculptures turned out to be photos of real murders found on rotten.com by Eva and Franco Mattes.
* David J. Broadfoot, the Member of Parliament from Kicking Horse Pass, representing the New Apathetic Party, a nonexistent film critic created by Sony Corporation.
* Donald Kaufman, fictional brother of ''Adaptation'' writer Charlie Kaufman, gained "writing credits" and was nominated for an Oscar.
*George Spelvin, traditional pseudonyms used in programs in American theater.
*Gerald Bostock, writer of the lyrics for the Jethro Tull album ''Thick as a Brick''.
* Hajime Yadate, credited as the creator of most of the anime works of Japanese animation studio Sunrise.
*JT LeRoy, fictional American author and literary celebrity.
*Lily Savage, a character played by British comedian Paul O'Grady.
* Margaret B. Jones, fictitious half-white, half- Native American foster child and Bloods gang member in South Central Los Angeles
* Mrs. Trellis of North Wales, a regular correspondent to BBC radio comedy ''I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue''
* Nat Tate, fake 1950s American artist
*Ossian, Irish bard created by James Macpherson in the 18th century
*P. D. Q. Bach, a fictional composer invented by musical satirist "Professor" Peter Schickele.
* Ponsonby Britt, executive producer of ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show''. In the credits of ''George of the Jungle'', a later offering from the same production company, Britt had been promoted to "Ponsonby Britt OBE" (recipient of the Order of the British Empire).
*Rrose Sélavy, a fictional artist created by Marcel Duchamp
*S. Morgenstern, fictional author from the equally fictional country of Florin
* Super Dave Osborne, a character played by American comedian and actor Bob Einstein.
*Sven, an occasional stand-in for Samantha on BBC radio comedy ''I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue''.
*Tony Clifton, imaginary lounge singer created (and usually played) by comedian Andy Kaufman
*Van den Budenmayer, nonexistent Dutch composer believed to be real by some filmgoers even after they were told the truth.
*Walter Plinge, name used by British stage actors who wish to stay anonymous
* Wanda Koolmatrie, nonexistent Australian aboriginal author

Academia

* Arthur Besse, pseudonym used since 1978 by French differential geometers
* Blanche Descartes, fictitious mathematician with over 30 published papers
* Claude Émile Jean-Baptiste Litre, volumetric namesake.
* Dr. Irving Joshua Matrix, numerologist, invented by Martin Gardner
* G. W. Peck, pseudonym used by several mathematicians since 1979
* H. Rochester Sneath, nonexistent headmaster of the nonexistent Selhurst School
* Honorable J. Fortescue, fake US physician
* Jára Cimrman, fictional Czech genius and polymath
* John Rainwater, enrolled by mathematics graduate students at the University of Washington in 1952 as a prank; has since been used as a pseudonym by several other mathematicians for published work
* Josiah Carberry, professor of psychoceramics at Brown University
* Nicolas Bourbaki, a 20th-century French mathematician with credited publications
* Peter Orno, associated with Ohio State University and credited with several papers in mathematics during the 20th century

Politics

* Andre Kasongo Ilunga, a member of the UNAFEC party and Minister of National Economy and Trade of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007.
* Jakob Maria Mierscheid, a member of the German Bundestag. Despite not existing, Mierscheid has an official Parliamentary biography (complete with portrait) and has given his name to a bridge spanning the River Spree and to the Mierscheid Law, which has been used to predict voting patterns in the former West Germany.

Covert operations

* Major William Martin, RM, a dead courier found floating off the coast of Spain possessing documents outlining future Allied strategy. The documents were misinformation planted by the Security Service as part of Operation Mincemeat, a World War II deception plan to cover the invasion of Sicily.Ben Macintyre, "Operation Mincemeat", Bloomsbury, 2010, ''passim''.

Sports

* Masal Bugduv, nonexistent 16-year-old Moldovan football player linked with a move to numerous top clubs in Europe.
* Lennay Kekua, nonexistent deceased girlfriend of former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o.
* Sidd Finch, nonexistent baseball prodigy created by George Plimpton for an April Fool's Day prank.
* Taro Tsujimoto, nonexistent Japanese hockey player selected by Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach in the 1974 NHL amateur draft, 1974 NHL Draft.

Unclassified

:''Please help in putting them into appropriate sections.''
* Araki Yasusada, fake Hiroshima survivor and author
* Betty Crocker, fake spokesperson for The Washburn Crosby Company of Minneapolis and its successor company, General Mills
* Carl Brandon Society, Carl Brandon, a fictional fan of color, for whom the Carl Brandon Society was named
* Clay Bertrand, an alleged alias associated with two people connected to various investigations regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy, assassination of President John F. Kennedy
* Edna Welthorpe, nonexistent morality campaigner
* Henry Root, fictitious correspondent, and Henry Raddick (possibly the same person)
* Kaycee Nicole, fictional leukemia sufferer and Internet personality
* Kodee Kennings, nonexistent 8-year-old girl whose letters were published in the ''Daily Egyptian'', a student newspaper for Southern Illinois University Carbondale
* Mavis Beacon (character), Mavis Beacon, fictitious typing tutor created for the ''Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing'' application software.
* R. M. Qualtrough, a key figure in the murder trial of William Herbert Wallace
* Titusz Dugovics, the hero of Belgrade

References

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