Biographers are

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

s who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own

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 ...

Biographers

Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome, Au=Austria, AH=Austria/Hungary, Ca=Canada, En=England, Fl=Finland, Fr=France, Ge=Germany, Id=Indonesia, In=India, Ir=Ireland, Is=Israel, Jp=Japan, Nw=Norway, SA=South Africa, Sc=Scotland, SL=Sierra Leone, So=Somalia, Sp=Spain, Sw=Sweden, TT=Trinidad & Tobago, US=United States, Ve=Venezuela, Wl=Wales

A–G

* Hermann Abert (Ge, 1871–1927) –

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

, Niccolò Jommelli, W. A. Mozart *

Alfred Ainger Alfred Ainger (9 February 18378 February 1904) was an English biographer and critic. Biography The son of an architect in London, he was educated at University College School, King's College London and Trinity College, Cambridge, from where he ...

(En, 1837–1904) –

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...

Ellis Amburn Ellis Edward Amburn (2 August 1933 – 18 August 2018) was an American book editor and biographer. Life A 1954 graduate of Texas Christian University, Ellis Amburn worked as a reporter for ''Newsweek'' before going into the book publishing indus ...

(US, 1933–2018) –

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...

and

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

Rudolph Angermüller Rudolph Angermüller (born 2 September 1940) is a German musicologist, who rendered great services to Mozart studies in particular. Life Born in near Bielefeld, Angermüller took classes in piano, double bass and music theory at the Fösterlin ...

(Ge, born 1940) –

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...

, W. A. Mozart *

Núria Añó Núria Añó (, ; born 1973) is a Catalan writer and a translator. Añó has exhibited her work in universities and institutions giving papers on literary creation or authors like Elfriede Jelinek, Patricia Highsmith, Salka Viertel, Franz Werf ...

(Sp. born 1973) –

Salka Viertel Salka Viertel (15 June 1889 – 20 October 1978) was an Austrian Jewish actress and Hollywood screenwriter. While under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1933 to 1937, Viertel co-wrote the scripts for many movies, particularly those starr ...

Marie Célestine Amélie d'Armaillé Marie Célestine Amélie d'Armaillé (née, de Ségur; known as the Comtesse d'Armaillé; 8 January 1830 – 7 December 1918) was a French writer, biographer, and historian. In 1887, she was a recipient of the Montyon Prize from the Académie Fran ...

(1830–1918) –

Catherine de Bourbon Catherine de Bourbon (7 February 1559 – 13 February 1604) was a Navarrese regent princess. She was the daughter of Queen Joan III and King Anthony of Navarre. She ruled the principality of Béarn in the name of her brother, King Henry III ...

Élisabeth of France Élisabeth Philippe Marie Hélène of France (3 May 1764 – 10 May 1794) was a French princess. She was the youngest child of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Duchess Maria Josepha of Saxony, and she was a sister of King Louis XVI. Élisab ...

Marie Leszczyńska Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; ; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska, was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of Stanis ...

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême Marie-Thérèse Charlotte (19 December 1778 – 19 October 1851) was the eldest child of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France. In 1799 she married her cousin Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, the eldest son of Charles, Count o ...

Septimanie d'Egmont Septimanie d'Egmont (née Jeanne Louise Armande Élisabeth Sophie ''Septimanie'' de Vignerot du Plessis) (1740 in Languedoc - 14 October 1773), was a French salon (gathering), salonist. Biography Born the daughter of Louis François Armand de Vig ...

Désirée Clary Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary ( sv, Eugenia Bernhardina Desideria; 8 November 1777 – 17 December 1860) was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 5 February 1818 to 8 March 1844 as the wife of King Charles XIV John. Charles John was a former Fr ...

Rosemary Ashton Rosemary Doreen Ashton, (''née'' Thomson; born 11 April 1947) is a Scottish literary scholar. From 2002 to 2012, she was the Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London. Her reviews appear in the '' London Re ...

(Sc/En, born 1947) –

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...

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 ...

(US, living) –

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

and

Laura Riding Laura Riding Jackson (born Laura Reichenthal; January 16, 1901 – September 2, 1991), best known as Laura Riding, was an American poet, critic, novelist, essayist and short story writer. Early life She was born in New York City to Nathan ...

*Lady

Elizabeth Philippa Biddulph Lady Elizabeth Philippa Biddulph (, Yorke, after first marriage, Adeane, after second marriage, Biddulph; 15 November 1834 – January 1916) was an English humanitarian and temperance leader. She published a biography of her father, Charles Yorke ...

(En, 1834–1916) – Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke * Jennie M. Bingham (US, 1859–1933) —

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (28 April 1801 – 1 October 1885), styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was a British Tory politician, philanthropist, and social reformer. He was the eldest son of The 6th Earl of Shaftesbury ...

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...

Briton Rivière Briton Rivière (14 August 1840 in London20 April 1920 in London) was a British artist of Huguenot descent. He exhibited a variety of paintings at the Royal Academy, but devoted much of his life to animal paintings. Biography Briton's fat ...

Lucie Boissonnas Lucie Boissonnas (née, Bessirard de La Touche; pen name, Mme. B. Boissonnas; 20 April 1839 - 3 May 1877) was a 19th-century French writer. She was the recipient of the Montyon Prize in 1874 for ''Une famille pendant la guerre'' (1873). Boissonna ...

(1839–1877) – Robert E. Lee *

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

(Sc, 1740–1795) –

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

Paula Broadwell Paula Dean Broadwell (née Kranz; born November 9, 1972) is an American writer, academic and former military officer. Broadwell served in the US Army on both active and reserve duty for over 20 years, including time as a military school undergrad ...

(US, born 1972) –

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to ...

Max Brod Max Brod ( he, מקס ברוד; 27 May 1884 – 20 December 1968) was a German-speaking Bohemian, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is best remembered as the friend and biog ...

(AH/Is, 1884–1968) –

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

Leslie Brody Leslie Brody (born 1952) is an American author. Born in the Bronx and brought up on Long Island, Brody went to grade school in Riverhead, New York and high school in Massapequa, New York. At 17 years old, she left home to become an underground p ...

(US, born 1952) – Jessica Mitford *

Vincent Brome Vincent Brome (14 July 1910 – 16 October 2004) was an English writer, who gradually established himself as a man of letters. He is best known for a series of biographies of politicians, writers and followers of Sigmund Freud. He also wrote n ...

(En, 1910–2004) – various writers *

Egerton Brydges Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet (30 November 1762 – 8 September 1837) was an English bibliographer and genealogist. He was also Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818. Educated at Maidstone Grammar School and The King ...

(En, 1762–1837) – English writers *

Andrea Cagan Andrea Cagan is an American writer, biographer and ghostwriter. She has edited and collaborated on more than fifteen books, including biographies of Diana Ross, Grace Slick, Joan Lunden and Prem Rawat. She has brought a dozen books to the bes ...

(US, living) –

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

(Sc, 1795–1881) – John Sterling and

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

Robert A. 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 Br ...

(US, born 1935) –

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

Humphrey Carpenter Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter (29 April 1946 – 4 January 2005) was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inkli ...

(En, 1946–2005) –

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Robert Runcie Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely t ...

and

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

* Virginia Spencer Carr (US, 1929–2012) –

Carson McCullers Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, '' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...

Paul Bowles Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his ...

and

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...

* Charles Castle (En, 1939–2013) –

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

Oliver Messel Oliver Hilary Sambourne Messel (13 January 1904 – 13 July 1978) was an English artist and one of the foremost stage designers of the 20th century. Early life Messel was born in London, the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Messel a ...

, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll,

La Belle Otero Agustina del Carmen Otero Iglesias (4 November 1868 – 10 April 1965), better known as Carolina Otero or La Belle Otero, was a Spanish actress, dancer and courtesan. She had a reputation for great beauty and was famous for her numerous lovers. ...

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

* George Cavendish (En, 1494 – c. 1562) –

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

* Nirad C. Chaudhuri (In, 1897–1999) –

Clive of India Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

and

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...

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 ...

(US, born 1949) * Na Chokkan (In, born 1977) –

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...

Dhirubhai Ambani Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani (28 December 1932 – 6 July 2002), popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani, was an Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries. Ambani took Reliance public in 1977 and was worth US$2.9 billion in 2002 upon hi ...

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

Rahul Dravid Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is an Indian cricket coach and former captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of ...

Azim Premji Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman, investor, engineer, and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as ...

Lakshmi Mittal Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (; born 15 June 1950) is an Indian steel magnate, based in the United Kingdom. He is the Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world's second largest steelmaking company, as well as Chairman of stainless steel manufactur ...

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

etc. in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Vincent Cronin Vincent Archibald Patrick Cronin FRSL (24 May 1924 – 25 January 2011) was a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer, best known for his biographies of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon, ...

(En, 1924–2011) –

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

and

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

* Douglas Day (US, 1932–2004) –

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

Thomas DiLorenzo Thomas James DiLorenzo (; born August 8, 1954) identifies as an adherent of the Austrian School of economics. He is a research fellow at The Independent Institute, a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute,Faculty Directoryan, ''accessed ...

(US, born 1954) –

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

* Damon DiMarco (US, born 1971) – Roy Simmons *

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 ''James ...

(US, 1918–1987) –

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

* Alberthiene Endah (Id, living) –

Chrisye Hajji Chrismansyah Rahadi (; 16 September 1949 – 30 March 2007), born Christian Rahadi (), better known by his stage name Chrisye (), was an Indonesian progressive pop singer and songwriter. In 2011 ''Rolling Stone Indonesia'' declared hi ...

Krisdayanti Kris Dayanti Trenggono (born 24 March 1975), often written mononymously as Krisdayanti (or shortened as KD), is an Indonesian singer and actress. She is the younger sister of Yuni Shara, another Indonesian singer. She is the daughter of Trenggono ...

and

Raam Punjabi Raam Jethmal Punjabi ( sd, رام ڄيٺمل پنجابي) is an Indian-Indonesian media magnate and president of Cinema of Indonesia#1990s, Multivision Plus. In 2001, due to his production of soap operas, he was referred to as "Indonesia's own soa ...

Ivar Eskeland Ivar Eskeland (30 November 1927 – 23 December 2005) was a Norwegian philologist, publisher, translator, biographer, literary critic, newspaper editor, theatre worker, radio personality and organizational leader. Career He was born in Stord a ...

(Nw, 1927–2005) – decorated with the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...

and winner of the

Bastian Prize The Bastian Prize ( no, Bastianprisen) is a prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators. The prize, established in 1951, is given for translating a published work into Norwegian language. The award is a statue made ...

for his biographies of

Gisle Straume Gisle Straume (26 August 1917 – 1 December 1988) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. Personal life Straume was born in Holla, the son of farmer and headmaster Eivind Straume and teacher Brita Monsine Skanke Aarnes. He married actr ...

and

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

Wayne Federman Wayne Federman (born June 22, 1959) is an Emmy Award winning American comedian, actor, author, writer, comedy historian, producer, and musician. He is noted for numerous stand-up comedy appearances in clubs, theaters, and on television; his book ...

(US, born 1959) –

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised i ...

Elaine Feinstein Elaine Feinstein FRSL (born Elaine Cooklin; 24 October 1930 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, biographer and translator. She joined the Council of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Earl ...

(En, 1930–2019) –

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

* Mary Fels (US, 1863–1953) –

Joseph Fels Joseph Fels (16 December 1853–22 February 1914) was an American soap manufacturer, millionaire, Georgist and philanthropist. Biography Born of German Jewish immigrants in Halifax County, Virginia, Fels moved with his family to Baltimore i ...

Kitty Ferguson Kitty Gail Ferguson (née Vetter, born December 16, 1941) is an American science writer, lecturer, and former professional musician. She has written several science books for lay persons and youth, including books on biographical facts and the so ...

(US, born 1941) – Stephen Hawking *

William Fitzstephen William Fitzstephen (also William fitz Stephen), (died c. 1191) was a cleric and administrator in the service of Thomas Becket. In the 1170s he wrote a long biography of Thomas Becket – the ''Vita Sancti Thomae'' (Life of St. Thomas). Fitzsteph ...

(En, died 1190) –

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

* Amanda Foreman (En/US, born 1968) –

Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...

Esther G. Frame Esther G. Frame (, Gordon; July 10, 1840 – June 11, 1920) was an American minister and evangelist. She was a minister of the Quakers, Society of Friends church for over 40 years, often working closely with ministers of other denominations. ''Th ...

(US, 1840–1920) –

Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and pr ...

(En, born 1932) –

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

and

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

Russell Freedman Russell A. Freedman (October 11, 1929 – March 16, 2018) was an American biographer and the author of nearly 50 books for young people. He may be known best for winning the 1988 Newbery Medal with his work '' Lincoln: A Photobiography''. ...

(US, 1929–2018) –

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 ...

(US, 1886–1953) – Robert E. Lee and

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

Leonie Frieda Leonie Frieda (born 1956) a former model, translator, and writer, working and living in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Swedish aristocrats. Educated in the UK, France and Germany, Frieda speaks five languages. Her first book was a ...

(Sw/En, born 1956) –

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...

* Jean Overton Fuller (En, 1915–2009) – Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan,

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

and

Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both n ...

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...

(En, 1810–1865) –

Peter Gay Peter Joachim Gay (né Fröhlich; June 20, 1923 – May 12, 2015) was a German-American historian, educator, and author. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and former director of the New York Public Library's Center for Sch ...

(US, 1923–2015) –

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

and W. A. Mozart *

Gary Giddins Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''The Village Voice'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and John Lewis created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a j ...

(US, born 1948) –

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Martin Gilbert Sir Martin John Gilbert (25 October 1936 – 3 February 2015) was a British historian and honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was the author of eighty-eight books, including works on Winston Churchill, the 20th century, and Jewish h ...

(En, 1936–2015)

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

Annie Somers Gilchrist Annie Somers Gilchrist (1841 – February 2, 1912) was a pioneer woman author of Tennessee during the long nineteenth century who wrote novels, poetry, and biographies. As a novelist, she was best known by the popular novels: ''Rosehurst'', ''Harco ...

(US, 1841–1912) *

Josef Greiner Josef Greiner (28 June 1886 in Preding, Styria — 4 September 1971 in Vienna) was an Austrian writer. He supposedly knew Adolf Hitler during Hitler's time in Vienna and later published two memoirs on this topic, for which he is best known. Biogra ...

(Au, c. 1886–1947) –

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Adrian Greenwood Adrian Mark Greenwood (October 1973 – 6 April 2016) was a British historian, biographer, author, and art dealer, with a particular interest in nineteenth-century British military history. As well as hundreds of articles on antiques and collec ...

(En, 1973–2016) –

Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde Field Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, (20 October 1792– 14 August 1863), was a British Army officer. After serving in the Peninsular War and the War of 1812, he commanded the 98th Regiment of Foot during the First Opium War and then ...

Peter Guralnick Peter Guralnick (born December 15, 1943, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American music critic, author, and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock and roll and has written on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke. Caree ...

(US, born 1943) –

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

H–M

* Seppo Heikinheimo (Fl, 1938–1997) –

Aarre Merikanto Aarre Merikanto (29 June 1893 – 28 September 1958) was a Finnish composer. He was born in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, the son of Elise "Liisa" Häyrynen (1869-1949) and the famous romantic composer, professor Oskar Merikanto (1868-1 ...

Oskar Merikanto Oskar Merikanto (; born Frans Oskar Ala-Kanto; 5 August 1868, Helsinki17 February 1924, Hausjärvi-Oitti) was a Finnish composer, music critic, pianist, and organist. As a composer, Merikanto was primarily a miniaturist, and includes songs an ...

and

Martti Talvela Martti Olavi Talvela (4 February 1935 – 22 July 1989) was a Finnish operatic bass. Born in Hiitola, Finland (now in the Republic of Karelia), the eighth of ten children

* Charles Higham (England/US, 1931–2012) –

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

and

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

Thomas Jefferson Hogg Thomas Jefferson Hogg (24 May 1792 – 27 August 1862) was a British barrister and writer best known for his friendship with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Hogg was raised in County Durham, but spent most of his life in London. ...

(En, 1792–1862) –

* Richard Holmes (England, born 1945) –

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

, ''The Age of Wonder'' *

Michael Holroyd Sir Michael de Courcy Fraser Holroyd (born 27 August 1935) is an English biographer. Early life and education Holroyd was born in London, the son of Basil de Courcy Fraser Holroyd (a descendant of Sir George Sowley Holroyd, Justice of the King' ...

(En, born 1935) –

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...

Imogen Holst Imogen Clare Holst (; 12 April 1907 – 9 March 1984) was a British composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and festival administrator. The only child of the composer Gustav Holst, she is particularly known for her education ...

(En, 1907–1984) –

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

Marilla Baker Ingalls Marilla Baker Ingalls (, Baker; November 25, 1828 – 17 December 1902) was an American Baptist Missionary Union missionary and writer. After marrying the widower, Rev. Lovell Ingalls, they sailed for Burma in 1851. Widowed in 1856, she continued ...

(US, 1828–1902) – Mah Po *

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, ...

(US, born 1952) –

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 ...

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...

and

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

Edward Jablonski Edward Jablonski (March 1, 1922 – February 10, 2004) was the author of several biographies on American cultural personalities, such as George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Alan Jay Lerner, and Irving Berlin, as well as books on aviation, aviation ...

(US, 1922–2004) –

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

and

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...

* Elizabeth Jenkins (En, 1905–2010) –

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

Lady Caroline Lamb Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''Glenarvon'', a Gothic novel. In 1812 she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, and ...

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of s ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

(En, 1709–1784) – ''

Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets ''Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets'' (1779–81), alternatively known by the shorter title ''Lives of the Poets'', is a work by Samuel Johnson comprising short biographies and critical appraisals of 52 poets, most of whom lived during th ...

'' *

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

(Wl, 1879–1958) –

* Kathleen Jones (EnAl, born 1946) –

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...

Landon Jones Landon Y. (Lanny) Jones is an American editor and author. He is a former managing editor of ''People magazine'' and the author of ''William Clark and the Shaping of the West'', a biography of William Clark, joint leader of the Lewis and Clark Exped ...

(US, living) –

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

* Kitty Kelley (US, born 1942) –

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

and

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in N ...

* Jacqueline Kent (Al, born 1947) –

Kenneth Cook Kenneth Bernard Cook (5 May 1929 – 18 April 1987) was an Australian journalist, television documentary maker, and novelist best known for his works '' Wake in Fright'', which is still in print five decades after its first publication, and the h ...

Beatrice Davis Beatrice Deloitte Davis (28 January 1909 – 24 May 1992) was Australia's first full-time book editor, appointed by Angus & Robertson in 1937. She nurtured a generation of writers and "helped shape Australian literature for half a century". ...

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

and

Hephzibah Menuhin Hephzibah Menuhin (20 May 19201 January 1981) was an American-Australian pianist, writer, and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violinist Yehudi Menuhin and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin. She was also a linguist ...

* Harriette A. Keyser (US, 1841–1936) — Henry C. Potter *

Marvin Kitman Marvin Kitman (born November 24, 1929) is an American television critic, humorist, and author. He was a columnist for '' Newsday'' for 35 years and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1982. He is the author of nine books ...

(US, born 1929) –

and Bill O'Reilly *

Edward Klein Edward J. Klein (born 1936) is an American author and former foreign editor of ''Newsweek'', former editor-in-chief of ''The New York Times Magazine'' (1977–1987). He has written about the Kennedys, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, ...

(US, born 1937) –

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

Randy Kryn Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them ...

(US, born 1949) —

James Bevel James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 – December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and then as its Director of Direct ...

Robert Lacey Robert Lacey (born 3 January 1944) is a British historian and biographer. He is the author of a number of best-selling biographies, including those of Henry Ford, Eileen Ford, Queen Elizabeth II and other royals, as well as several other work ...

(En, born 1944) –

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

Princess Grace Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

and

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...

* Jane Lane (En, 1905–1978) –

Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the " Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father Samuel (1610� ...

Hermione Lee Dame Hermione Lee, (born 29 February 1948) is a British biographer, literary critic and academic. She is a former President of Wolfson College, Oxford, and a former Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature in the University of Oxford and Pr ...

(En, born 1948) –

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School and at ...

(En, 1856–1926) –

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

* J. Michael Lennon (US, born 1942) –

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

Santeri Levas Benno Aleksander "Santeri" Levas (until 1936 Lehmann; 8 February 1899 – 10 March 1987) was a Finnish writer and photographer, best known for his books on the composer Jean Sibelius. Santeri Levas was born in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, i ...

(Fl, 1899–1987) –

Clara Clara may refer to: Organizations * CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization * Clara.Net, a European ISP * Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium People * Clara (given name), a feminine giv ...

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...

Barbara Levick Barbara M. Levick (born 21 June 1931) is a British historian and epigrapher, focusing particularly on the Late Roman Republic and Early Empire. She is recognised within her field as one of the leading Roman historians of her generation. Educati ...

(En, born 1932) – specialising in Roman emperors * Gail Levin (US, born 1948) –

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Hopper created subdued drama ...

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

and

Lee Krasner Lenore "Lee" Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American abstract expressionist painter, with a strong speciality in collage. She was married to Jackson Pollock. Although there was much cross-pollination be ...

Roger Lewis Roger Lewis (born 26 February 1960) is a Welsh academic, biographer and journalist. Biography Lewis was raised in Bedwas, Monmouthshire, and educated at Bassaleg School in Newport. He then attended the University of St Andrews, graduating MA, ...

(Wl, born 1960) –

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...

* Martha D. Lincoln (US, 1838–?) —

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

* Kenneth S. Lynn (US, 1923–2001) –

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

and

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

* Brenda Maddox (US/E, 1932–2019) –

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

, Nora Joyce,

and

Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, co ...

(US, 1923–2007) –

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

and

Gary Gilmore Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing ...

Koryun Koriun ( hy, Կորիւն, reformed spelling: Կորյուն; also transliterated as ''Koriwn'', ''Koryun'') was the earliest Armenian-language author. Writing in the fifth century, his ''Life of Mashtots'' contains many details about the evangel ...

(Am, 5th century) –

Mesrop Mashtots Mesrob or Mesrop ( hy, Մեսրոպ) is an Armenian given name. Mesrob / Mesrop may refer to: *Mesrop Mashtots, also Saint Mesrop, Armenian monk, theologian and linguist. Inventor of the Armenian alphabet **Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manu ...

William Manchester William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the ...

(US, 1922–2004) –

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

and

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 ...

* Cristina Marcano (Ve, born 1960) –

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

Bruce Marshall Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Cunningham Bruce Marshall, known as Bruce Marshall (24 June 1899 – 18 June 1987) was a prolific Scottish writer who wrote fiction and non-fiction books on a wide range of topics and genres. His first book, ''A Thief ...

(Sc, 1899–1987) –

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas *

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 ...

(US, born 1961) –

Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and av ...

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and ''Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...

and

André Maurois André Maurois (; born Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog; 26 July 1885 – 9 October 1967) was a French author. Biography Maurois was born on 26 July 1885 in Elbeuf and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen, both in Normandy. A member of ...

(Fr, 1885–1967) –

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, Balzac and

Sir Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of what ...

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 ...

(US, 1933–2022) –

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Merle Miller Merle Dale Miller (May 17, 1919 – June 10, 1986) was an American writer, novelist, and author who is perhaps best remembered for his best-selling biography of Harry S. Truman, and as a pioneer in the gay rights movement. Miller came out ...

(US, 1919–1986) –

and

James McGrath Morris James McGrath Morris (born 1954) is an American biographer. Biography Morris was raised in Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; and Washington, DC. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree at American University and a master's degree at George Was ...

(US, born 1954) –

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...

Charles Chapin Charles E. Chapin (October 19, 1858 – December 13, 1930) was a New York editor of Joseph Pulitzer’s Evening World. He was convicted of the murder of his wife and sentenced to a 20-year-to-life term in Sing Sing prison. Career Chapin was b ...

Ethel Payne Ethel Lois Payne (August 14, 1911 – May 29, 1991) was an American journalist, editor, and foreign correspondent. Known as the "First Lady of the Black Press," she fulfilled many roles over her career, including columnist, commentator, lecturer, ...

Miyoshi Kiyotsura was a Japanese Confucian scholar, now most notable for his opprobrium of Buddhism. Life Kiyotsura was a scholar and professor of literature, eventually becoming the Daigaku-no-kami and writing a biography of Fujiwara no Yasunori. He also enj ...

(Jp, 847–918) – Japanese scholar-statesman *Ibn al-Qaisarani (Ab, 1056–1113) – medieval Arab biographer of previous medieval biographers *Simon Sebag Montefiore (En, born 1965) – Grigory Potemkin and Joseph Stalin *Thomas Moore (Ir, 1779–1852) – Memoirs of the Life of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Richard Brinsley Sheridan,

and Lord Edward FitzGerald *Jeffrey Morgan (writer), Jeffrey Morgan (Ca, living) – Alice Cooper and The Stooges *Ted Morgan (writer), Ted Morgan (US, born 1932) – William S. Burroughs, W. Somerset Maugham and Franklin D. Roosevelt *Andrew Morton (writer), Andrew Morton (En, born 1953) – Diana, Princess of Wales, Princess Diana, Monica Lewinsky and Tom Cruise

N–Z

*Ira Nadel (Ca, born 1943) – Leon Uris, David Mamet, Tom Stoppard and Leonard Cohen *Alanna Nash (US, born 1950) *Nakane Kōtei (Jp, 1839–1913) *Philip Nel (US, born 1969) – Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss *Cornelius Nepos (AR, 100–24 BC) *Nizamuddin Asir Adrawi (IN, 1926–2021) *Iris Origo (En, 1902–1988) *James Parton (US, 1822–1891) – Horace Greeley, Aaron Burr, Andrew Jackson,

, Thomas Jefferson and Voltaire *Hesketh Pearson (En, 1887–1964) *F. David Peat (En, 1928–2017) – David Bohm *Plutarch (AG, 46–127) *H. F. M. Prescott (En, 1896–1972) – Mary I of England ("Bloody Mary") *Arnold Rampersad (TT, born 1941) – Langston Hughes *Piers Paul Read (En, born 1941) – Alec Guinness *James Redpath (US, born En, 1833–1891) – John Brown (abolitionist) *W. Andrew Robinson (En, born 1957) – Satyajit Ray and Rabindranath Tagore *Romain Rolland (Fr, 1866–1944) – Beethoven, Michelangelo, Leo Tolstoy and Gandhi *Henry Stephens Salt, Henry Salt (En, 1851–1939) – Percy Bysshe Shelley, Shelley, Richard Jefferies and Henry David Thoreau *Carl Sandburg (US, 1878–1967) –

*Stacy Schiff (US, born 1961) – United States; Vera Nabokov,

, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Cleopatra and the Witches of Salem, Massachusetts, Salem *Anton Schindler (Ge, 1795–1864) – Ludwig van Beethoven *Anne Sebba (En, born 1951) – Wallis Simpson *Lee Server (US, living) – Robert Mitchum and Ava Gardner *Miranda Seymour (En, born 1948) – Lady Byron, Annabella Milbanke and Ada Lovelace, Hellé Nice,

*Kirit Shelat (In, born 1946) – India *Dawn Langley Simmons (En, 1937–2000) – Princess Margaret, Margaret Rutherford and Jacqueline Kennedy *Roy S. Simmonds (En, 1925–2000) – John Steinbeck, William March and Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien, Edward O'Brien *Jean Edward Smith (US, 1932–2019) – Ulysses S. Grant, John Marshall and Lucius D. Clay *Laura J. Snyder (US, born 1964) – Charles Babbage, John F.W. Herschel, William Whewell, Richard Jones (economist), Richard Jones, Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and Oliver Sacks *Dava Sobel (US, born 1947) – John Harrison, Sister Maria Celeste, daughter of Galileo, Galileo *Maynard Solomon (US, 1930–2020) – Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven, W. A. Mozart *Leslie Stephen (En, 1832–1904) –

, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift

and Thomas Hobbes *Jane Agnes Stewart (US, 1860–1944) — Frances Willard *Irving Stone (US, 1903–1989) *

(En, 1880–1932) – eminent Victorians *Marshall Terrill (US, born 1963) – Steve McQueen,

, Johnny Cash, Billy Graham,

*Bankole Timothy (SL, 1923–1994), Kwame Nkrumah *Nick Tosches (US, 1949–2019) – Jerry Lee Lewis, Dean Martin and Sonny Liston *Meriol Trevor (En, 1919–2000) – John Henry Newman, Philip Neri, Pope John XXIII, Thomas Arnold and James II of England *Henri Troyat (Fr, 1911–2007) – Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Gogol,

, Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev, Maxim Gorky and Rasputin *Jenny Uglow (En, born 1947) –

, William Hogarth, Thomas Bewick and the Lunar Society *Rosa Kershaw Walker (US, 1840s–1909) – eminent Americans *Blanche Warre-Cornish (En, 1848–1922) – William Thackeray *Alison Weir (historian), Alison Weir (En, born 1937) – Elizabeth I of England, Eleanor of Aquitane,

*Theodore H. White, Theodore White (US, 1915–1986) –

and Richard Nixon *Alice Willard (US, 1860–1936) – Bertha Baur *A. N. Wilson (En, born 1950) – Sir Walter Scott, John Milton, Hilaire Belloc, Leo Tolstoy, C. S. Lewis, Jesus Iris Murdoch and John Betjeman *Molly Worthen (US, born 1981) – Charles Hill (diplomat), Charles Hill, American diplomat and Yale professor *Marguerite Young (US, 1908–1995) – Eugene V. Debs

Autobiographers

*Henry Brooks Adams (US, 1838–1918) – ''The Education of Henry Adams'' *Ayaan Hirsi Ali (So, born 1969) – ''Infidel: My Life'' * Nirad C. Chaudhuri (In, 1897–1999) – ''The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian'' *Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn, Henry Cockburn (Sc, 1779–1854) – ''Memorials of His Time'' *Frederick Douglass (US, c. 1817–February 20, 1895) – ''Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave'' (1845), "The Heroic Slave" in ''Autographs for Freedom'' (1853), ''My Bondage and My Freedom'' (1855) and ''Life and Times of Frederick Douglass'' (1881, revised 1892) *Jens Jacob Eschels (Ge, 1757–1842) – first seafarer's autobiography in German *

(US, 1706–1790) – ''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'' *Mahatma Gandhi (In, 1869–1948) – ''The Story of My Experiments with Truth'' *Lee Iacocca (US, 1924–2019) – ''Iacocca: An Autobiography'' *Nelson Mandela (SA, 1918–2013) – ''Long Walk to Freedom'' *Frank McCourt (Ir/US, 1930–2009) – ''Angela's Ashes'' (Pulitzer Prize) *Ronald Skirth (En, 1897–1977) – ''The Reluctant Tommy''

Biographers

A–G

H–M

N–Z

Autobiographers

See also