George Axelrod (1922 - 2003)

Noted American writer for Broadway and Hollywood. He wrote “The Seven Year Itch,” “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter,” “Goodbye Charlie,” “Phffft,” and the film scripts for “Bus Stop,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” and “The Manchurian Candidate.” He also wrote some novels such as “Beggar’s Choice” and “Where Am I Now When I Need Me.”  (bio by: […]

Wilbert Vere Awdry (1911 - 1997)

Author. He was the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine,  a popular character in children’s fiction.  Awdry originally invented the stories as a way of entertaining his young son Christopher as he recovered from scarlet fever. The first book of the series,  “The Three Railway Engines”, was published in 1945. (bio by: John Byrne)

Arkady Averchenko (1881 - 1925)

Author,  Editor.  One of Russia’s most popular satirists in the years before the 1917 Revolution.  In his hundreds of short stories he used farcical situations and grotesque characters to make pungent observations about urban middle class life of his era.  Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko was born in Sevastapol,  Crimea,  the son of an impoverished merchant.  He […]

Lottie Dolores Hill Autry (1936 - 1997)

Author, Historian. She was a noted genealogist, author of “Linwood Cemetery” and several other books of Georgia and Alabama local histories. She was the first uniformed female law enforcement officer in Columbus,Ga and served in all three branches, Marshals Office, Sheriffs Office and the Police Department.The Historic Linwood Foundation has named their annual award to […]

Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry (1795 - 1856)

Historian.

W. H. Auden (1907 - 1973)

W.H. Auden was a British poet, author and playwright best known as a leading literary figure in the 20th century for his poetry. Known for his chameleon-like ability to write poems in almost every verse form, Auden’s travels in countries torn by political strife influenced his early works. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. […]

Cecile Aubry (1928 - 2010)

Actress, Author. She followed a brief career as a silver screen sex kitten with success as a writer of children’s stories. Born Anne-Jose Madeleine Henriette Benard, she initially performed as a dancer and became an overnight star as the title lead of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1949 “Manon” which won the Lion d’or at the Venice Film […]

Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé (1786 - 1871)

Author, Lawyer, Seigneur. Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé is most remembered as the author of the iconic novel “Les Anciens Canadiens” (“The Canadians of Old”). He was the son of seigneur Pierre-Ignace Aubert de Gaspé, and came from a distinguished family that had been ennobled by Louis XIV in 1693. He received his classical education at […]

Max Aub (1903 - 1972)

Author. Among his works are “Los Poemas Cotidianos,” “Espejo de Avaricia,” “La Gallina Ciega,” “Juego de Cartas,” and “El Laberinto Mágico” that includes “Campo Cerrado,” “Campo Abierto,” and “Campo de Sangre.” (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

Hüseyin Nihal Atsız (1905 - 1975)

Writer. He graduated from Dar-ül Fünun (now Istanbul University) in 1931. He worked as a teacher at various schools in Turkey until 1944, when he was charged with agitation because of criticisms of various political figures. After a few court cases and one and one-half years in jail, he was freed in 1947. From 1949 […]

William-Henry Atherton (1867 - 1950)

Canadian historian. Born on November 15, 1867, in England. In his childhood, he expressed a great interest for archives and History. So he studied in those fields and began to teach the classic authors and diction while getting interested in theatre. After having obtained a considerable success in teaching in England, he emigrated to Canada […]

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (1857 - 1948)

Author. Wrote 60 books and millions of words for magazines and newspapers.  Though she hated her existence in San Francisco and the West, she masterfully captured the spirit and romance of Old California before the Americans came.  She originated the serialized biography.  Family links:  Parents:  Gertrude Franklin Uhlhorn (1837 – 1898)  Spouses:  George Henry B […]

Miguel Angel Asturias (1899 - 1974)

Author. Recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize. Born in Guatemala, the son of Ernesto Asturias, a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, and María Rosales, a schoolteacher. Miguel spent his childhood and adolescence in his native country. He studied for his baccalaureate at the state high school and later took a law degree at […]

Robert Lynn Asprin (1946 - 2008)

Author. Born in St. John’s, Michigan the son of a machinist and a school teacher, he attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Employed as an accounts payable clerk by Xerox he became inspired to write his first novel ‘The Cold Cash War’ in 1977 when he became frustrated with bureaucracy and inefficiency. The […]

Adam Asnyk (1838 - 1897)

Polish poet and dramatist. He published his poems in the collections Poezje (1869, 1872, 1880, 1894). He began his literary career in 1864-65. The fullest expression of his intellectualised poetry is the series of 30 sonnets, Nad glebiami (1883-94), owing to which Asnyk came to be referred to as “a poet-philosopher.” This series comprises the […]

Eliot Asinof (1919 - 2008)

Author. He is best known for the acclaimed baseball book “Eight Men Out” (1963), which was based on the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal and became a 1988 film adaptation. Born in New York City, he was educated at Swarthmore College and later played baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system. After serving in the […]

Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)

Author, Scientist. Born in Petrovichi, Russia, his family relocated to New York in 1923, where his father operated a series of candy stores in Brooklyn. He developed a deep fascination with the science fiction genre, and became a legend and a giant in the genre as an author. Beginning with stories sold to magazines by […]

Timothy Shay Arthur (1809 - 1885)

Author. The founder of “Arthur’s Home Magazine”, he used his publication to publish hundreds of short stories, and was known as one of the most prolific writers of the pre-Civil War era. Among his books are “Lights and Shadows of Real Life”, “Tales for Rich and Poor”, “Library for the Household”, “Steps to Heaven”, “The […]

Art Arthur (1911 - 1985)

Hollywood Screenwriter. Arthur started in the business as a Broadway columnist for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, later going to work for the Toronto Star.  He worked on Cecil B. DeMille’s executive staff as well as serving on the executive board of the Writers Guild of America.  He also worked on the Academy Award winning documentary […]

Raymond Aron (1905 - 1983)

Philosopher, Sociologist. After attending the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, he studied Philosophy at the Universities of Cologne and Berlin. In 1938, he obtained a degree in French Language and Literature. In Paris he met Jean Paul Sartre, with whom, at the end of the Second World War, founded the magazine Les Temps Modernes. He […]

Jean Paul Aron (1925 - 1988)

Journalist.

Harriette Arnow (1908 - 1986)

Author. Kentucky-born novelist who portrayed the erosion of traditional rural life in modern, industrial America in unpretentious works like her 1954 bestseller “The Dollmaker,” about a strong-willed country-woman’s struggle to retain her dignity and values in a wartime urban housing project.  Family links:  Parents:  Elias Thomas Simpson (1871 – 1929)  Mollie Jane Denney Simpson (1877 […]

Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888)

Poet. Author of the well-known poems “Dover Beach”, “Sohrab and Rustum” and “The Scholar Gipsy”. He also was a critic and essayist. Died of heart disease. Buried with his son at All Saint’s Church, Laleham, England. (bio by: David Conway)  Family links:  Parents:  Thomas Arnold (1795 – 1842)  Siblings:  Matthew Arnold (1822 – 1888)  Thomas […]

George Arnold (1834 - 1865)

Author, Poet. He contributed stories, poetry and articles to the magazine “Vanity Fair” as well as to “The Leader”. He authored what was known as the “McArone Papers”, which brought him prominence as a humorist. His most famous poem became the “Jolly Old Pedagogue”. (bio by: Laurie)

Carlos Arniches (1866 - 1943)

Playwright. He was born in Alicante (Comunidad Valenciana) and died in Madrid. His first script for the musical theater was in collaboration with Gonzalo Cantó and composer Ruperto Chapí for “La leyenda del Monje” which premiered at the Apolo Theater in 1890. He is best remembered for his book “La Señorita de Trévelez” that was […]

Virginia Carol Arndt (1919 - 1980)

Journalist. Served as Women’s editor for the “Army Times.”

Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769 - 1860)

Author, Poet. He is known chiefly for his patriotic songs and his support of German nationalism and unification, but is also controversial due to his anti-French works and some antisemitic writings. He was also well known for his work to abolish serfdom. He was born the son of a freed serf. He attended the Universities […]

Richard Willard Armour (1906 - 1989)

Author, Poet.  Family links:  Parents:  Harry Willard Armour (1883 – 1943)  Sue Wheelock Armour (1880 – 1958)  Spouse:  Kathleen Fauntleroy Stevens Armour (1905 – 2007)* *Calculated relationship

Roberto Arlt (1900 - 1942)

Author. Among his books: “La Fiesta del Hierro,” “EL Fabricante de Fantasmas,” “El Juguete Rabioso,” “Los Siete Locos,” “Los Lanzallamas,” “Un Viaje Terrible,” “Aguafuertes Españoles, ” “El Jorobadito” and “El criador de Gorilas”. (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)

Hannah Arendt (1906 - 1975)

Political Theorist. Born in Hanover, Germany, to Paul and Martha Arendt. She grew up in Konigsberg and Berlin. She studied philosophy at the University of Marburg. Hannah moved to Heidelberg, where she wrote her dissertation under the existentialist philosopher-psychologist Karl Jaspers on the concept of love in the thought of Saint Augustine. In 1929, in […]