''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise
biographical
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 ...
information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a group of notable persons. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''
Who's Who
''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...
'', a reference work on contemporary prominent people in Britain published annually since 1849.
In addition to legitimate reference works, some ''Who's Who'' lists involve the selling of "memberships" in fraudulent directories that are created online or through instant publishing services.
AARP
AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazin ...
,
the
University at Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...
and the Government of South Australia have published warnings of these ''Who's Who'' scams.
Notable examples by country
* ''
Who's Who
''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...
'', the oldest listing of prominent British people since 1849; people who have died since 1897 are listed in ''Who Was Who.''
* ''
Cambridge Who's Who'' (also known as ''Worldwide Who's Who''), a
vanity publisher
A vanity press or vanity publisher, sometimes also subsidy publisher, is a publishing house where anyone can pay to have a book published.. The term "vanity press" is often used pejoratively, implying that an author who uses such a service is publ ...
based in Uniondale, New York.
* ''
Marquis Who's Who
Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...
'', a series of books published since 1899 by Marquis, primarily listing prominent American people, but including ''Who's Who in the World''.
* ''
Who's Who in New Zealand
The ''Who's Who in New Zealand'', originally called the ''Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific'', is a collection of biographies that was first published in 1908, and the latest version is from 1991.
History
The first edition was edi ...
'', twelve editions published at irregular intervals between 1908 and 1991
* ''
Canadian Who's Who'', a listing of prominent Canadians since 1910
* ''Who's Who in Switzerland'', published from 1953 to 1996 and then ''Swiss Who's Who'', a listing of prominent Swiss or leading figures living in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
since 2015
* ''
Who's Who in Australia
''Who's Who in Australia'' (''WWIA'') is an Australian biographical dictionary first published by Fred Johns in 1906 as ''Johns's Notable Australians''. It is used as a resource for summary information on prominent Australians. ''WWIA'' is part of ...
'', a listing of prominent Australians since 1923
* ''
Who's Who in France
''Who's Who in France'' is a biographical dictionary published in France and written in French.
In France it is simply "le ''Who's Who''".
History
The first edition of ''Who's Who in France'' was published in 1953 by Jacques Lafitte.
In 197 ...
'', a listing of prominent French or people living in France since 1953
* ''
Who's Who in Scotland
''Who's Who in Scotland'' is an annual biographical dictionary published since 1986 by Carrick Media. It features short biographies of about 5,000 notable Scots.
''Who's Who in Scotland'' includes leading figures in Scottish politics, politics, ...
'', a listing of prominent Scots since 1986
* ''Who's Who'', by Metron Publications, a listing of prominent Greeks since 1992
* ''
Who's Who of Southern Africa'', published in paper form until 2007 when it was replaced by a website
Non-English publications
![LA2 vemardet 1969](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/LA2_vemardet_1969.jpg)
Some ''Who's Who'' books have a title in the language of the country concerned:
* Croatian: ''
Tko je tko u Hrvatskoj TKO may refer to:
Sports
* Technical knockout, a professional fighting term
* Total Knock Out, a professional wrestling move
Music Artists
* TKO (band), a rock band from Seattle, Washington
* TKO, a pop group led by Katie White
Albums
* ''TKO'' ...
'', bilingual edition (1993)
* Danish: ''
Kraks Blå Bog
''Kraks Blå Bog'' () is a Danish biographical dictionary. According to the publisher, it only contains autobiographies provided by the subjects themselves.
The first edition was published in 1910 by Ove Krak and included 3,000 "life stories",''Kr ...
'' (since 1910) annually
* Finnish: ''
Kuka kukin on'' (since 1909) at first irregularly, every fourth year since 1970
* German:''
Wer ist's?'' (1905–1935) and ' (since 1951) almost annually
* German: for East Germany: '
* Japanese: ''
Nihon Tarento Meikan
is a Japanese illustrated annual directory of Japanese entertainers, or ''tarentos'', issued by VIP Times Inc. that was first published in 1970. The directory's company established on 1969 and its current representative director is Mutsuko Igusa.
...
'' (Talent Who's Who in Japan), a listing of Japanese celebrities, or ''
tarento
Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...
s'', since 1970
* Lithuanian: ' (Who's Who in Lithuania), a listing of prominent Lithuanians and business companies since 1995.
* Norwegian:''
Hvem er Hvem?
''Hvem er hvem?'' ( en, Who is Who?) was a Norwegian book series, presenting facts about notable persons from Norway. The first edition was issued in 1912, and the 14th edition came in 1994. In the 2008 edition, edited by Knut Olav Åmås, one thou ...
'' (since 1912) 14 editions in the 20th century
* Swedish:''
Vem är det
''Vem är det'', with the subtitle ''Svensk biografisk handbok'', is a Swedish " Who's Who" biographical reference publication which has been published in 46 editions since 1912.
References
External links''Vem är det''at Project Runeberg
...
'' (since 1912) every second year
Specialised publications
* ''
International Who's Who
''The International Who's Who'' is a Who's Who series of reference books of notable people worldwide that has been published annually since 1935.
History
The first edition was published in 1935 by Europa Publications.
The eighth edition (1943-44 ...
'' by Europa Publications, a Taylor and Francis imprint
* ''
Who's Who Among American High School Students
''Who's Who Among American High School Students'' was a web site and publication (owned and managed by Educational Communications Inc.) that listed what it claimed were high school students "who have excelled in academics, extracurricular activit ...
'' listing what it deems to be American high school and college students who particularly excel in the realm of academic achievement. The publishing company closed in 2007.
* ''
Who's Who in American Art
''Who's Who in American Art'' is a biographical hardcover directory of noteworthy individuals in the visual arts community in the United States, published by Marquis Who's Who,"Who's Who in American Art 2011 – Publications", Marquis Who's Who, ...
'', a listing of prominent American artists
* ''
Who's Who in British History
''Who's Who in British History'' is a multi-volume work composed of:
*''Who's Who in Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon England'', Richard Fletcher. Shepheard-Walwyn, London, 2002
*''Who's Who in Early Medieval England 1066-1272'', Christopher Tyerm ...
''
* ''
Who's Who in the CIA
''Who's Who in CIA'' is a book written by the East German journalist Julius Mader (also known by the alias Thomas Bergner) and published in East Berlin in 1968, under Stasi auspices and probably with KGB assistance. Mader was employed by the Ea ...
'', a book published in
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
in 1968 with the assistance of the
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
and the
HVA purporting to reveal the identities of thousands of
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
officers.
* ''
Who's Who in the DC Universe
''Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' (1985–87), usually referred to simply as ''Who's Who'', is the umbrella title for a number of comic book series which DC Comics published to catalogue the wide variety of fictional cha ...
'' a listing of
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
characters
* ''
Who's Who in the Theatre
''Who's Who in the Theatre'' is a British reference work, first published in 1912 with sixteen new editions from then until its last issue in 1981.
The book was a successor to ''The Green Room Book'', of which four editions were published betw ...
'', published in Britain and the US from 1912 to 1982
Other publications and scams
The title "''Who's Who''" is in the public domain, and thousands of ''Who's Who'' compilations of varying scope and quality (and similar publications without the words "Who's Who") have been published by various authors and publishers. Some publications have been described as
scam
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
s; they list any people likely to buy the book, or to pay for inclusion, with no criterion of genuine notability.
They may offer
vanity award
A vanity award is an award in which the recipient purchases the award and/or marketing services to give the false appearance of a legitimate honor. Pitches for ''Who's Who''-type publications (see vanity press), biographies or nominations for award ...
s or expensive trophies.
One example was the ''
Who's Who Among American High School Students
''Who's Who Among American High School Students'' was a web site and publication (owned and managed by Educational Communications Inc.) that listed what it claimed were high school students "who have excelled in academics, extracurricular activit ...
'' which was criticized for questionable nomination practices as well as whether the listing's entries are fact-checked and accurate.
Yvonne Zanos: What's what with Who's Who
', December 5, 2005, retrieved 2/12/07
'', WCCO TV, January 3, 2006 According to the admissions vice president of
Hamline University
Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...
, "It's honestly something that an admissions officer typically wouldn't consider or wouldn't play into an admissions decision," adding that "''Who's Who...'' is just trying to sell books".
''Who's Who'' publications are not all of questionable value, but publishers that select truly notable people and provide trustworthy information on them are hard to identify.
A & C Black's ''Who's Who'' is the canonical example of a legitimate ''Who's Who'' reference work, being the first to use the name and establish the approach in print, publishing annually since 1849. However, the longevity of a publication is not in itself a guarantee. In 1999
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American television host, conservative political commentator and writer who has hosted the nightly political talk show ''Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News since 2016.
Carlson began h ...
said in
''Forbes'' magazine that
Marquis Who's Who
Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...
, founded in 1898 but no longer an independent company, had adopted practices of address harvesting as a revenue stream, undermining its claim to legitimacy as a reference work listing people of merit.
A 2005 ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' article observed that the entries in Marquis Who's Who were "not uniformly fact-checked".
See also
* ''
Hinterland Who's Who
''Hinterland Who's Who'' is a Canadian series of 60-second public service announcements profiling Canadian animals, produced by Environment Canada Wildlife Service and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in the 1960s and 70s, and re-launched b ...
'', a series of 60-second public service ads profiling Canadian animals and birds, produced by Environment Canada in the 1960s
* ''
Kdo byl kdo
''Kdo byl kdo'' (in English, "Who was who") is the name of two major encyclopedic works in Czech, published as books, CD-ROMs and also available online. Their publisher is Libri.
* ''Kdo byl kdo v našich dějinách ve 20. století'' ''(Who ...
'' (Czech: "Who was who?")
*
Biographical dictionary
A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people onl ...
References
{{Authority control
Lists of books by type
Biographical dictionaries