The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American

Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made hi ...

that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author or co-authors, published during the preceding calendar year. Thus it is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year.

Winners

In its first 97 years to 2013, the Biography Pulitzer was awarded 97 times. Two were given in 1938, none in 1962.

1910s

* 1917: ''

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

'' by

Laura E. Richards Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards (February 27, 1850 – January 14, 1943) was an American writer. She wrote more than 90 books including biographies, poetry, and several for children. One well-known children's poem is her literary nonsense verse " ...

and

Maud Howe Elliott Maud Howe Elliott (November 9, 1854 – March 19, 1948) was an American novelist, most notable for her Pulitzer prize-winning collaboration with her sisters, Laura E. Richards and Florence Hall, on their mother's biography ''The Life of Julia Wa ...

, assisted by

Florence Howe Hall Florence Marion Howe Hall (August 25, 1845 – April 10, 1922) was an American writer, critic, and lecturer about women's suffrage in the United States. Along with her two sisters, Laura Elizabeth Richards and Maude Howe Elliott, Hall received t ...

* 1918: ''

Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed ''Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed'' is a biography of Benjamin Franklin written by William Cabell Bruce in 1917. A "biographical and critical study based mostly on Benjamin Franklin's own writings", the book won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography ...

'' by

William Cabell Bruce William Cabell Bruce (March 12, 1860May 9, 1946) was an American politician and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who represented the State of Maryland in the United States Senate from 1923 to 1929. Background Bruce was born in Charlotte County, ...

* 1919: ''

The Education of Henry Adams ''The Education of Henry Adams'' is an autobiography that records the struggle of Bostonian Henry Adams (1838–1918), in his later years, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth. It is also a sh ...

'' by

Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fr ...

1920s

* 1920: ''The Life of

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

'', 4 vols. by

Albert J. Beveridge Albert Jeremiah Beveridge (October 6, 1862 – April 27, 1927) was an American historian and US senator from Indiana. He was an intellectual leader of the Progressive Era and a biographer of Chief Justice John Marshall and President Abraham Linco ...

* 1921: ''The Americanization of Edward Bok: The Autobiography of a Dutch Boy Fifty Years After'' by

Edward Bok Edward William Bok (born Eduard Willem Gerard Cesar Hidde Bok) (October 9, 1863 – January 9, 1930) was a Dutch-born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was editor of the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' for 30 years (1889–1919). He ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

: ''A Daughter of the Middle Border'' by

Hamlin Garland Hannibal Hamlin Garland (September 14, 1860 – March 4, 1940) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer, Georgist, and psychical researcher. He is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers. Biog ...

* 1923: ''The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page'' by Burton J. Hendrick * 1924: ''From Immigrant to Inventor'' by

Michael I. Pupin Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin ( sr-Cyrl, Михајло Идворски Пупин, ; 4 October 1858Although Pupin's birth year is sometimes given as 1854 (and Serbia and Montenegro issued a postage stamp in 2004 to commemorate the 150th anniversary o ...

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

: ''Barrett Wendell and His Letters'' by M. A. Dewolfe Howe * 1926: ''The Life of Sir

William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of phys ...

'', 2 vols. by

Harvey Cushing Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cushing's disease. ...

* 1927: ''Whitman'' by

Emory Holloway Rufus Emory Holloway (March 16, 1885 in Marshall, Missouri – July 30, 1977 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) was an American literary scholar-educator most known for his books and studies of Walt Whitman. His ''Whitman: An Interpretation in Narrative'' ...

* 1928: ''The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas'' by

Charles Edward Russell Charles Edward Russell (September 25, 1860 in Davenport, Iowa – April 23, 1941 in Washington, D.C.) was an American journalist, opinion columnist, newspaper editor, and political activist. The author of a number of books of biography and soci ...

* 1929: ''The Training of an American: The Earlier Life and Letters of Walter H. Page'' by Burton J. Hendrick

1930s

* 1930: ''The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston'' by

Marquis James Marquis James (August 29, 1891, Springfield, Missouri – November 19, 1955) was an American journalist and author, twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his works ''The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston'' and ''The Life of Andrew Jackson''. Early ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

: ''Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University, 1869–1901'' by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

* 1932: ''Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography'' by

Henry F. Pringle Henry Fowles Pringle (1897–1958) was an American historian and writer most famous for his witty but scholarly biography of Theodore Roosevelt which won the Pulitzer prize in 1932, as well as a scholarly biography of William Howard Taft. His w ...

* 1933: ''Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage'' by

Allan Nevins Joseph Allan Nevins (May 20, 1890 – March 5, 1971) was an American historian and journalist, known for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and J ...

* 1934: ''John Hay'' by

Tyler Dennett Tyler Dennett (June 13, 1883 Spencer, Wisconsin – December 29, 1949 in Geneva, New York) was an American historian and educator, best known for his book ''John Hay: From Poetry to Politics'' (1933), which won the 1934 Pulitzer Prize for Biograp ...

* 1935: ''R. E. Lee'' by Douglas S. Freeman * 1936: ''The Thought and Character of William James'' by

Ralph Barton Perry Ralph Barton Perry (July 3, 1876 in Poultney, Vermont – January 22, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American philosopher. He was a strident moral idealist who stated in 1909 that, to him, idealism meant "to interpret life consistently ...

* 1937: ''Hamilton Fish'' by

* 1938: ''Pedlar's Progress: The Life of Bronson Alcott'' by Odell Shepard * 1938: ''Andrew Jackson'', 2 vols. by

* 1939: ''

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

'' by

Carl Van Doren Carl Clinton Van Doren (September 10, 1885 – July 18, 1950) was an American critic and biographer. He was the brother of critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. He won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autob ...

1940s

* 1940: ''Woodrow Wilson, Life and Letters. Vols. VII and VIII'' by

Ray Stannard Baker Ray Stannard Baker (April 17, 1870 – July 12, 1946) (also known by his pen name David Grayson) was an American journalist, historian, biographer, and author. Biography Baker was born in Lansing, Michigan. After graduating from the Michigan ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

: ''Jonathan Edwards, 1703–1758: a biography'' by Ola Elizabeth Winslow * 1942: ''Crusader in Crinoline: The Life of

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

'' by Forrest Wilson * 1943: ''Admiral of the Ocean Sea'' by

Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and ta ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

: ''The American Leonardo: The Life of

Samuel F. B. Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...

'' by Carleton Mabee *

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

: ''George Bancroft: Brahmin Rebel'' by Russel Blaine Nye * 1946: ''Son of the Wilderness: The Life of

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

'' by Linnie Marsh Wolfe * 1947: ''The Autobiography of

William Allen White William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America. At a 193 ...

'' by

* 1948: ''Forgotten First Citizen:

John Bigelow John Bigelow Sr. (November 25, 1817 – December 19, 1911) was an American lawyer, statesman, and historian who edited the complete works of Benjamin Franklin and the first autobiography of Franklin taken from Franklin's previously lost origina ...

'' by

Margaret Clapp Margaret Antoinette Clapp (April 10, 1910 – May 3, 1974) was an American scholar, educator and Pulitzer Prize winner. She was the president of Wellesley College from 1949-1966. During her presidency, she was able to make many improvements to the ...

* 1949: ''Roosevelt and Hopkins'' by

Robert E. Sherwood Robert Emmet Sherwood (April 4, 1896 – November 14, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He is the author of '' Waterloo Bridge, Idiot's Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Rebecca, There Shall Be No Night, The Best Years of Our ...

1950s

* 1950: ''John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy'' by

Samuel Flagg Bemis Samuel Flagg Bemis (October 20, 1891 – September 26, 1973) was an American historian and biographer. For many years he taught at Yale University. He was also president of the American Historical Association and a specialist in American dip ...

* 1951: ''John C. Calhoun: American Portrait'' by Margaret Louise Coit * 1952: ''Charles Evans Hughes'' by Merlo J. Pusey * 1953: ''Edmund Pendleton 1721–1803'' by David J. Mays * 1954: ''

The Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlanti ...

'' by

Charles A. Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

: ''The Taft Story'' by

William S. White William Smith White (May 20, 1905 – April 30, 1994) was an American journalist between the 1920s and 1970s. During his career, White worked with the ''Austin Statesman'' from 1926 to 1945 and the ''New York Times'' from 1945 to 1958. Upon leavi ...

* 1956: ''Benjamin Henry Latrobe'' by Talbot Faulkner Hamlin * 1957: ''

Profiles in Courage ''Profiles in Courage'' is a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States Senators. The book profiles senators who defied the opinions of their party and constituents to do what they felt was ...

'' by

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

* 1958: ''George Washington, Volumes I-VII'' by

Douglas Southall Freeman Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington, for both ...

with

John Alexander Carroll John Alexander Carroll (died 17 December 2000) was an American history professor who primarily taught at the University of Arizona from 1958 to 1967, and Troy University from 1974 to 1989. While at Arizona, Carroll founded ''Arizona and the West'' i ...

and

Mary Wells Ashworth Mary Wells Knight Ashworth (May 28, 1903 — September 12, 1992) was an American historian who wrote for Douglas Southall Freeman between 1945 to 1953. With Freeman, Ashworth worked on his seven volume biography on George Washington. After Freeman ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

: ''Woodrow Wilson, American Prophet'' by Arthur Walworth

1960s

* 1960: ''John Paul Jones'' by

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

: ''Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War'' by David Donald * 1962: no award given In 1962 the Pulitzer board awarded the prize to

W.A. Swanberg William Andrew Swanberg (November 23, 1907 in St. Paul, Minnesota – September 17, 1992 in Southbury, Connecticut) was an American biographer. He is known for ''Citizen Hearst'', a biography of William Randolph Hearst, which was recommended by t ...

for ''Citizen Hearst''. The trustees of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, who administer the prize, overturned the award, refusing to honor a book that took a critical look at

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

. * 1963: ''Henry James'' by

Leon Edel Joseph Leon Edel (9 September 1907 – 5 September 1997) was an American/Canadian literary critic and biographer. He was the elder brother of North American philosopher Abraham Edel. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' calls Edel "the foremos ...

* 1964: ''John Keats'' by

Walter Jackson Bate Walter Jackson Bate (May 23, 1918 – July 26, 1999) was an American literary critic and biographer. He is known for Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography-winning biographies of Samuel Johnson (1978) and John Keats (1964).

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

: ''Henry Adams'', 3 vols., by

Ernest Samuels Ernest Samuels (May 19, 1903 in Chicago, Illinois – February 12, 1996 in Evanston, Illinois) was an American biographer and lawyer. Life Born in Chicago, he received his Ph.B. in 1923 and J.D. in 1926 from the University of Chicago. He move ...

* 1966: '' A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House'' by

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a s ...

* 1967: ''Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain'' by

Justin Kaplan Justin Daniel Kaplan (September 5, 1925 in Manhattan, New York City – March 2, 2014 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American writer and editor. The general editor of ''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'' (16th and 17th eds.), he was best kn ...

* 1968: '' Memoirs'' by

George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...

* 1969: ''The Man from New York: John Quinn and His Friends'' by

Benjamin Lawrence Reid Benjamin Lawrence Reid (May 3, 1918 — November 30, 1990) was an American professor in English from the 1940s to 1980s. During his career, Reid primarily taught at Sweet Briar College from 1951 to 1957 and Mount Holyoke College from 1957 to 1983. ...

1970s

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

: ''

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

'' by Thomas Harry Williams *

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

: ''Robert Frost : The Years of Triumph, 1915–1938'', by

Lawrance Thompson Lawrance Roger Thompson 3 April 1906 — 15 April 1973) was an American academic at Princeton University from the 1930s to 1970s. Apart from World War II, Thompson primarily taught English from 1939 to 1968 before teaching Belles-lettres from 1968 ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

: '' Eleanor and Franklin'' by

Joseph P. Lash Joseph Paul Lash (December 2, 1909 – August 22, 1987) was an American radical political activist, journalist, and writer. A close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lash won both the Pulitzer Prize for Biography1973: ''Luce and His Empire'' by W. A. Swanberg * 1974: ''O'Neill, Son and Artist'' by Louis Sheaffer * 1975: '' The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York'' by

Robert Caro Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote '' The Power ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

: ''Edith Wharton: A Biography'' by R. W. B. Lewis * 1977: ''A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence'' by

John E. Mack John Edward Mack (October 4, 1929 – September 27, 2004) was an American psychiatrist, writer, and professor and the head of the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In 1977, Mack won the Pulitzer Prize for his book ''A Pri ...

* 1978: ''Samuel Johnson'' by

* 1979: ''Days of Sorrow and Pain: Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews'' by

Leonard Baker Leonard S. Baker (January 24, 1931 – November 23, 1984) was an American writer. He won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize, 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for ''Days of Sorrow and Pain: Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews'' (Oxford Unive ...

1980s

Entries from this point on include the finalists listed after the winner for each year. * 1980: ''

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt ''The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt'' (1979) is a biography of List of United States Presidents, United States President Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris (writer), Edmund Morris and published by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan when the author was fort ...

'' by Edmund Morris ** ''Being Bernard Berenson'' by Meryle Secrest ** ''Bernard Berenson, The Making of a Connoisseur'' by

** ''The Duke of Deception'' by

Geoffrey Wolff Geoffrey Wolff (born 1937) is an American novelist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer. Among his honors and recognition are the Award in Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1994) and fellowships of the National Endowment fo ...

* 1981: '' Peter the Great: His Life and World'' by

Robert K. Massie Robert Kinloch Massie III (January 5, 1929 – December 2, 2019) was an American journalist and historian. He devoted much of his career to studying and writing about the House of Romanov, Russia's imperial family from 1613 to 1917. Massie was ...

** ''Walt Whitman: A Life'' by

** ''Walter Lippmann and the American Century'' by

Ronald Steel Ronald Lewis Steel (born March 25, 1931) is an American writer, historian, and professor. He is the author of the definitive biography of Walter Lippmann. Biography Ronald Steel was born in 1931 in Morris, Illinois outside of Chicago. He earn ...

* 1982: ''Grant: A Biography'' by

William S. McFeely William Shield McFeely (September 25, 1930 – December 11, 2019) was an American historian known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1981 biography of Ulysses S. Grant, as well as his contributions to a reevaluation of the Reconstruction era, and f ...

** ''

Mornings on Horseback ''Mornings on Horseback'' is a 1981 biography of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt written by popular historian David McCullough, covering the early part of Roosevelt's life. The book won McCullough's second National Book ...

'' by

David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States ...

** ''Waldo Emerson'' by

Gay Wilson Allen Gay Wilson Allen (August 23, 1903 – August 6, 1995) was an American academic and writer. After holding assistant and associate professorships between the late 1920s to mid 1930s, Allen was hired by Bowling Green University in 1935 as an associate ...

* 1983: '' Growing Up'' by

Russell Baker Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, writer of Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical commentary and self-critical prose, and author of Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography '' Growing Up'' (1 ...

** ''Churchill: Young Man in a Hurry, 1874–1915'' by Ted Morgan ** ''Thomas E. Dewey and His Times'' by

Richard Norton Smith Richard Norton Smith (born October 2, 1953) is an American historian and author, specializing in U.S. presidents and other political figures. In the past, he worked as a freelance writer for '' The Washington Post'', and worked with U.S. Senato ...

* 1984: ''Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901–1915'' by

Louis R. Harlan Louis Rudolph Harlan (July 13, 1922 – January 22, 2010) was an American academic historian who wrote a two-volume biography of the African-American educator and social leader Booker T. Washington and edited several volumes of Washington materi ...

** '' Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just'' by Kenneth Manning ** ''Thomas Carlyle: A Biography'' by Fred Kaplan * 1985: ''The Life and Times of Cotton Mather'' by

Kenneth Silverman Kenneth Eugene Silverman (February 5, 1936 – July 7, 2017) was an American biographer and educator. He won a Pulitzer Prize and a Bancroft Prize for his 1984 biography of Cotton Mather, ''The Life and Times of Cotton Mather''. Silverman, who spe ...

** ''Becoming William James'' by Howard M. Feinstein ** ''The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton'' by

Michael Mott Michael Charles Alston Mott (8 December 1930 – 11 October 2019) was a British-born American author. He produced eleven poetry collections, four novels and a renowned biography of Thomas Merton. Life and career Mott was born in London in Decem ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

: ''Louise Bogan: A Portrait'' by

Elizabeth Frank Elizabeth Frank (born September 14, 1945) is an American novelist, biographer, art critic and translator. She has been a member of the literature faculty of Bard College since 1982 and is the Joseph E. Harry Professor of Modern Languages and Li ...

** ''A Hidden Childhood: A Jewish Girl's Sanctuary in a French Convent, 1942–1945'' by Frida Scheps Weinstein ** ''George Washington Williams: A Biography'' by

John Hope Franklin John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Histo ...

* 1987: '' Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' by David J. Garrow ** ''Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation, 1860–1865'' by Joseph Frank ** ''Murrow: His Life and Times'' by A.M. Sperber ** ''The Life and Times of Congressman John Quincy Adams'' by Leonard L. Richards * 1988: '' Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe'' by

David Herbert Donald David Herbert Donald (October 1, 1920 – May 17, 2009) was an American historian, best known for his 1995 biography of Abraham Lincoln. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for earlier works; he published more than 30 books on United S ...

** ''George Santayana: A Biography'' by John Owen McCormick ** ''Hemingway'' by Kenneth S. Lynn * 1989: ''Oscar Wilde'' by

Richard Ellmann Richard David Ellmann, FBA (March 15, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats. He won the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction for ''Jame ...

** ''

A Bright Shining Lie ''A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam'' (1988) is a book by Neil Sheehan, a former ''New York Times'' reporter, about U.S. Army lieutenant colonel John Paul Vann (killed in action) and the United States' involvement in ...

: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam'' by

Neil Sheehan Cornelius Mahoney Sheehan (October 27, 1936 – January 7, 2021) was an American journalist. As a reporter for ''The New York Times'' in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified '' Pentagon Papers'' from Daniel Ellsberg. His series of articles rev ...

** '' Freud: A Life for Our Time'' by Peter Gay ** ''The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume II, 1941–1967: I Dream a World'' by

Arnold Rampersad Arnold Rampersad (born 13 November 1941) is a biographer, literary critic, and academic, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the US in 1965. The first volume (1986) of his ''Life of Langston Hughes'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer ...

1990s

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

: ''Machiavelli in Hell'' by

Sebastian de Grazia Sebastian de Grazia (1917–2000) was an American philosopher who was Professor of Political Philosophy at Rutgers University. He received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his 1989 book '' Machiavelli in Hell''. Biography ...

** ''A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt'' by Geoffrey C. Ward ** ''Clear Pictures: First Loves, First Guides'' by

Reynolds Price Edward Reynolds Price (February 1, 1933 – January 20, 2011) was an American poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist and James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University. Apart from English literature, Price had a lifelong interest in Biblical ...

** ''

The Road from Coorain Jill Ker Conway (9 October 1934 – 1 June 2018) was an Australian-American scholar and author. Well known for her autobiographies, in particular her first memoir, '' The Road from Coorain'', she also was Smith College's first woman president ...

'' by Jill Ker Conway * 1991: '' Jackson Pollock: An American Saga'' by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith ** ''Alfred I. Du Pont: The Man and His Family'' by Joseph Frazier Wall ** ''The Five of Hearts: An Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams and His Friends 1880–1918'' by

Patricia O'Toole Patricia O'Toole is an American historian who taught at Columbia University. She is a Society of American Historians fellow and was a visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

: ''Fortunate Son: The Autobiography of Lewis B. Puller Jr.'' by Lewis B. Puller ** ''Frederick Douglass'' by

** ''Orwell: The Authorized Biography'' by

Michael Shelden Michael Shelden (born 1951) is an American biographer and teacher, notable for his authorized biography of George Orwell, his history of Cyril Connolly’s ''Horizon'' magazine, his controversial biography of Graham Greene, and his study of the las ...

* 1993: '' Truman'' by

** ''Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman'' by

James Gleick James Gleick (; born August 1, 1954) is an American author and historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact of modern technology. Recognized for his writing about complex subjects through the techniques of narrative nonficti ...

** '' Kissinger: A Biography'' by

Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

: '' W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868–1919'' by

David Levering Lewis David Levering Lewis (born May 25, 1936) is an American historian, a Julius Silver University Professor, and a professor of history at New York University. He is twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, for ...

** ''Genet: A Biography'' by

Edmund White Edmund Valentine White III (born 1940) is an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer and an essayist on literary and social topics. Since 1999 he has been a professor at Princeton University. France made him (and later ) de l'Ordr ...

** ''In Extremis: The Life of Laura Riding'' by

Deborah Baker Deborah Baker is an American biographer and essayist. She is the author of ''A Blue Hand: The Beats in India'', a biography of Allen Ginsberg that focuses on his time in India and of ''In Extremis: The Life of Laura Riding'', a finalist for the P ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

: ''Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life'' by Joan D. Hedrick ** ''Hugo Black: A Biography'' by Roger K. Newman ** ''Saint-Exupery: A Biography'' by Stacy Schiff * 1996: '' God: A Biography'' by

Jack Miles John R. "Jack" Miles (born July 30, 1942) is an American author. He is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the MacArthur Fellowship. His writings on religion, politics, and culture have appeared in numerous national pub ...

** ''John Sloan: Painter and Rebel'' by John Loughery ** ''Mozart: A Life'' by Maynard Solomon * 1997: '' Angela's Ashes: A Memoir'' by

Frank McCourt Francis McCourt (August 19, 1930July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book ''Angela's Ashes'', a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. Early life and education Frank Mc ...

** ''Herman Melville: A Biography, Volume 1, 1819–1851'' by

Hershel Parker Hershel Parker is an American professor of English and literature, noted for his research into the works of Herman Melville. Parker is the H. Fletcher Brown Professor Emeritus at the University of Delaware. He is co-editor with Harrison Hayford of t ...

** ''In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country'' by

Kim Barnes Kim Barnes (born 1958 Lewiston, Idaho) is a contemporary American author of fiction, memoir, and personal essays. She served as Poet Laureate of Idaho. Life She returned with her mother to their logging camp on Orofino Creek in the Clearwater ...

* 1998: ''

Personal History ''Personal History'' is the 1997 autobiography of ''Washington Post'' publisher Katharine Graham. It won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, and received widespread critical acclaim for its candour in dealing with her husba ...

'' by

Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, whi ...

** ''Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public-Private Life'' by James H. Jones ** ''Whittaker Chambers: A Biography'' by

Sam Tanenhaus Sam Tanenhaus (born October 31, 1955) is an American historian, biographer, and journalist. He currently is a writer for ''Prospect''. Early years Tanenhaus received his B.A. in English from Grinnell College in 1977 and a M.A. in English Litera ...

* 1999: '' Lindbergh'' by

A. Scott Berg Andrew Scott Berg (born December 4, 1949) is an American biographer. After graduating from Princeton University in 1971, Berg expanded his senior thesis on editor Maxwell Perkins into a full-length biography, ''Max Perkins: Editor of Genius'' (1 ...

** '' A Beautiful Mind'' by Sylvia Nasar ** ''At Home with the Marquis de Sade: A Life'' by

Francine du Plessix Gray Francine du Plessix Gray (September 25, 1930 – January 13, 2019), was a French-American Pulitzer Prize–nominated writer and literary critic. Early life and education She was born on September 25, 1930, in Warsaw, Poland, where her father ...

2000s

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

: ''Vera, Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov'' by Stacy Schiff ** ''Clear Springs: A Memoir'' by

Bobbie Ann Mason Bobbie Ann Mason (born May 1, 1940) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and literary critic from Kentucky. Her memoir was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Early life and education A child of Wilburn and Christina Mason, Bobb ...

** '' Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love'' by

Dava Sobel Dava Sobel (born June 15, 1947) is an American writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Her books include ''Longitude'', about English clockmaker John Harrison, and '' Galileo's Daughter'', about Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste, and ...

* 2001: '' W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919-1963'' by

** ''Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician'' by

Christoph Wolff Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...

** ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' by

H.W. Brands Henry William Brands Jr. (born August 7, 1953) is an American historian. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD in history in 1985. He has authored 30 books on U.S. histor ...

* 2002: '' John Adams.'' by

** ''An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood'' by

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

** ''Grant'' by

Jean Edward Smith Jean Edward Smith (October 13, 1932 – September 1, 2019) was a biographer and the John Marshall Professor of Political Science at Marshall University. He was also professor emeritus at the University of Toronto after having served as professor ...

* 2003: '' Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson'' by

** ''Beethoven: The Music and the Life'' by

Lewis Lockwood Lewis H. Lockwood (born December 16, 1930) is an American musicologist whose main fields are the music of the Italian Renaissance and the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven. Joseph Kerman described him as "a leading musical scholar of the postw ...

** ''The Fly Swatter'' by Nicholas Dawidoff * 2004: '' Khrushchev: The Man and His Era'' by

William Taubman William Chase Taubman (born November 13, 1941 in New York City) is an American political scientist. His biography of Nikita Khrushchev won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2004 and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography in ...

** ''Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work'' by Hayden Herrera ** ''Isaac Newton'' by

* 2005: '' de Kooning: An American Master'' by Mark Stevens and

Annalyn Swan Annalyn Swan (born ca. 1951 in Biloxi, Mississippi) is an American writer and biographer who has written extensively about the arts. With her husband, art critic Mark Stevens, she is the author of '' de Kooning: An American Master'' (2004), a b ...

** ''Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of The Birds of America'' by William Souder ** ''Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare'' by Stephen Greenblatt *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

: '' American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer'' by

Kai Bird Kai Bird (born September 2, 1951) is an American author and columnist, best known for his works on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, United States-Middle East political relations and his biographies of political figures. He won a Pul ...

and

Martin J. Sherwin Martin Jay Sherwin (July 2, 1937October 6, 2021) was an American historian. His scholarship mostly concerned the history of nuclear weapons and nuclear proliferation. He served on the faculty at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvan ...

** ''The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism'' by

Megan Marshall Megan Marshall (born June 8, 1954) is an American scholar, writer, and biographer. Her first biography ''The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism'' (2005) earned her a place as a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for B ...

** ''

The Year of Magical Thinking ''The Year of Magical Thinking'' (2005), by Joan Didion (1934–2021), is an account of the year following the death of the author's husband John Gregory Dunne (1932–2003). Published by Knopf in October 2005, ''The Year of Magical Thinking'' wa ...

'' by

Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won ...

* 2007: '' The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher'' by

Debby Applegate Debby Applegate is an American historian and biographer. She is the author of ''Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age'' and '' The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher'', for which she won the 2007 ...

** ''Andrew Carnegie'' by David Nasaw ** ''John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty'' by Arthur H. Cash * 2008: '' Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father'' by

John Matteson John Matteson (born March 3, 1961) is an American professor of English and legal writing at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his first book, '' Eden's Out ...

** ''The Life of Kingsley Amis'' by

Zachary Leader Zachary Leader (born 1946) is an Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Roehampton. He was an undergraduate at Northwestern University, and did graduate work at Trinity College, Cambridge and Harvard University, where he was a ...

** ''The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein'' by

Martin Duberman Martin Bauml Duberman (born August 6, 1930) is an American historian, biographer, playwright, and gay rights activist. Duberman is Professor of History Emeritus at Herbert Lehman College in the Bronx, New York City. Early life Duberman was born ...

* 2009: '' American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House'' by

Jon Meacham Jon Ellis Meacham (; born May 20, 1969) is an American writer, reviewer, historian and presidential biographer who is serving as the current Canon Historian of the Washington National Cathedral since November 7, 2021. A former executive editor ...

** '' The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century'' by

Steve Coll Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) is an American journalist, academic and executive. He is currently the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he is also the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. A staff writer f ...

** ''Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt'' by

2010s

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: '' The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt'' by T.J. Stiles ** ''Cheever: A Life'' by

Blake Bailey John Blake Bailey (born July 1, 1963) is an American writer and educator. Bailey is known for his literary biographies of Richard Yates, John Cheever, Charles Jackson, and Philip Roth. He is the editor of the Library of America omnibus editi ...

** ''Woodrow Wilson: A Biography'' by John Milton Cooper, Jr. *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: '' Washington: A Life'' by

Ron Chernow Ronald Chernow (; born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for his ...

** ''Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon'' by Michael O'Brien ** ''The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century'' by

Alan Brinkley Alan Brinkley (June 2, 1949 – June 16, 2019) was an American political historian who taught for over 20 years at Columbia University. He was the Allan Nevins Professor of History until his death. From 2003 to 2009, he was University Provost. ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

: '' George F. Kennan: An American Life'' by

John Lewis Gaddis John Lewis Gaddis (born 1941) is an American international relations scholar, military historian, and writer. He is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. He is best known for his work on the Cold War and ...

** '' Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention'' by

Manning Marable William Manning Marable (May 13, 1950 – April 1, 2011) was an American professor of public affairs, history and African-American Studies at Columbia University.Grimes, William"Manning Marable, Historian and Social Critic, Dies at 60" ''The Ne ...

** ''Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution'' by Mary Gabriel *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

: '' The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo'' by Tom Reiss ** ''Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece'' by

Michael Gorra Michael Gorra (born 17 February 1957) is an American professor of English and literature, currently serving as the Mary Augusta Jordan Professor of English Language and Literature at Smith College, where he has taught since 1985. Writing and t ...

** ''The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy'' by David Nasaw * 2014: ''Margaret Fuller: A New American Life'' by

** ''Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World'' by

Leo Damrosch Leopold Damrosch Jr. (born 1941) is an American author and professor. In 2001, he was named the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature at Harvard University. He received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Cambridge University, where he was ...

** ''Karl Marx: A Nineteenth-Century Life'' by Jonathan Sperber * 2015: '' The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe'' by David I. Kertzer ** ''Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism'' by Thomas Brothers ** '' Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878–1928'' by

Stephen Kotkin Stephen Mark Kotkin (born February 17, 1959) is an American historian, academic, and author. He is currently the John P. Birkelund '52 Professor in History and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he is also co-director of the pro ...

* 2016: ''Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life'' by William Finnegan ** ''Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America'' by T.J. Stiles ** ''The Light of the World: A Memoir'' by Elizabeth Alexander * 2017: '' The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between'' by

Hisham Matar Hisham Matar ( ar, هشام مطر) (born 1970) is an American born British-Libyan writer. His memoir of the search for his father, '' The Return'', won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography and the 2017 PEN America Jean Stein Bo ...

** ''

In the Darkroom ''In the Darkroom'' is a memoir by Susan Faludi that was first published on June 14, 2016. The memoir centers on the life of Faludi's father, who came out as transgender and underwent sex reassignment surgery at the age of 76. It won the 2016 ...

'' by Susan Faludi ** ''

When Breath Becomes Air ''When Breath Becomes Air'' is a non-fiction autobiographical book written by American neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi. It is a memoir about his life and battling stage IV metastatic lung cancer. It was posthumously published by Random House on Januar ...

'' by

Paul Kalanithi Paul Sudhir Arul Kalanithi (April 1, 1977 – March 9, 2015) was an American neurosurgeon and writer. His book '' When Breath Becomes Air'' is a memoir about his life and illness with stage IV metastatic lung cancer. It was posthumously published ...

* 2018: '' Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder'' by

Caroline Fraser Caroline Fraser is an American writer. She won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, and the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography, for '' Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder'', a biograph ...

** ''Richard Nixon: The Life'' by John A. Farrell ** ''Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character'' by

Kay Redfield Jamison Kay Redfield Jamison (born June 22, 1946) is an American clinical psychologist and writer. Her work has centered on bipolar disorder, which she has had since her early adulthood. She holds the post of the Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders and Psy ...

* 2019: '' The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke'' by Jeffrey C. Stewart ** ''Proust's Duchess: How Three Celebrated Women Captured the Imagination of Fin-de-Siècle Paris'' by Caroline Weber ** ''The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam'' by

Max Boot Max Alexandrovich Boot (born September 12, 1969) is an American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer, and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for ''Christian Science Monitor'' and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' in the ...

2020s

* 2020: '' Sontag: Her Life and Work'' by

Benjamin Moser Benjamin Moser (born September 14, 1976) is an American writer and translator. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Susan Sontag, titled '' Sontag: Her Life and Work''. Biography Born in Houston, Moser attended St. John's School ...

** ''Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century'', by

George Packer George Packer (born August 13, 1960) is a US journalist, novelist, and playwright. He is best known for his writings for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Atlantic'' about U.S. foreign policy and for his book '' The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq'' ...

** ''Parisian Lives: Samuel Beckett, Simone de Beauvoir, and Me'' by

Deirdre Bair Deirdre Bair (June 21, 1935 – April 17, 2020) was an American literary scholar and biographer. She won a National Book Award for her biography of Samuel Beckett in 1981. Early life and education Bair was born Deirdre Bartolotta on June 21, ...

* 2021: '' The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X'' by

Les Payne Leslie Payne (July 12, 1941 – March 19, 2018) was an American journalist. He served as an editor and columnist at ''Newsday'' and was a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. Payne received a Pulitzer Prize for his investig ...

and Tamara Payne ** '' Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath'', by Heather Clark ** ''Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Japanese Woman and Her World'' by

Amy Stanley Amy Stanley is an American historian of early modern Japan. In 2007, Stanley began teaching in the Department of History at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Japanese history, ...

* 2022: '' Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist's Memoir of the Jim Crow South'' by

Winfred Rembert Winfred Rembert (1945–2021) was an African-American artist who used hand-tools and shoe dye on leather canvases. Early life Winfred Rembert was born on November 22, 1945, in Cuthbert, Randolph County, Georgia. Raised by his great-aunt, he wor ...

and Erin I. Kelly ** '' Pessoa: A Biography'', by

Richard Zenith Richard Zenith (born 23 February 1956, Washington, D.C.) is an American-Portuguese writer and translator, winner of the Prémio Pessoa, Pessoa Prize in 2012. Life Richard Zenith graduated from the University of Virginia in 1979. He has lived in ...

** '' The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine'' by Janice P. Nimura

Repeat winners

Ten people have won the Pulitzer for Biography or Autobiography twice: * Burton J. Hendrick, 1923, 1929 *

, 1933, 1937 *

, 1930, 1938 * Douglas S. Freeman, 1935, 1958 *

, 1943, 1960 *

, 1964, 1978 *

, 1961, 1988 *

, 1994, 2001 *

, 1993, 2002 *

, 1975, 2003 W. A. Swanberg was selected by the Pulitzer board in 1962 and 1973; however, the trustees of Columbia University (then responsible for conferral of the awards) overturned the proposed 1962 prize for ''Citizen Hearst''.

References

External links

* {{PulitzerPrize BiographyorAutobiographyAuthors

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Biography awards Awards established in 1917

Winners

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Repeat winners

See also

References

External links