Janet Dailey (1944 - 2013)

Novelist.  Janet Dailey is best remembered as a prolific writer of romance novels, beginning in 1974 through 2010.  Born Janet Anne Haradon, she loved to read books from an early age and aspired to become a writer.  She graduated from Jefferson High School, Independence, Iowa in 1962 and worked for a construction firm owned by […]

Dr David Daiches (1912 - 2005)

Author. He was born in Sunderland, England and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland where his father was the Chief Rabbi of Scotland. He attended University of Edinburgh. He earned his Master’s Degree with first class honors in 1934 and his doctorate in 1939 from Balliol College at Oxford University in 1939. He became a Professor of […]

Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl (1801 - 1872)

Lexicographer. Author of the first dictionary of the Russian language. (bio by: Graveaddiction)  Family links:  Children:  Lev Vladimirovich Dahl (1835 – 1878)*  Yulia Vladimirovna Dahl (1838 – 1864)* *Calculated relationship

Roald Dahl (1916 - 1990)

Author. Born in Llandaff, Wales, of Norwegian parents, Harald Dahl, the joint owner of a successful shipping business and his second wife Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg. Within just a few weeks in 1920, Dahl’s seven year old half-sister, Astrid died of appendicitis and his father died of pneumonia. The family remained in Britain, however, and Dahl […]

Dorthea Dahl (1881 - 1958)

Noted author. She wrote and published collections of short stories, a novel, and two other books. She was honored by the Norwegian Society in America with its annual book award in 1918, and is recognized for the greatest contributions to Norwegian literature by a woman author. (bio by: Kit Timmons)  Family links:  Parents:  Peder Person […]

Stig Dagerman (1923 - 1954)

Poet, Writer, Essayist, Playwright. Concidered as one of the most important Swedish authors. Started as a writer for the paper ”Arbetaren,” a co-operation he maintained throughout his life. At the age of 21, 1945, he made his debut as an author with the novel ”Ormen” (The Snake). As a playwright, he made his debut at […]

Pierre Dac (1893 - 1975)

Humorist Author. Born in Chalons-sur-Main, France, he was best remembered as a French humorist author, for his uplifting positive works. During World War II, Pierre Dac was one of the speakers on the BBC’s Radio Londres service to occupied France. He produced a series of satirical songs which, helped promote the spirits of those in […]

Isaac da Costa (1798 - 1860)

Poet. He was born to a family of Portuguese-Jewish descent, converted to Calvinism and became a prolific writer and strong reactionary.

Thomas “Tom” D’Urfey (1970 - 1723)

In his time a famous poet, playwright, songwriter and wit, an d unofficial court jester to King Charles II. Always known as ‘Tom’ – including on his gravestone. Now mainly remembered for the music which Purcell wrote for his plays and odes. (bio by: David Conway)

Sir William D’Avenant (1970 - 1668)

Poet, Dramatist. Born at Oxford, England the second son of John D’Avenant, a prosperous vintner and proprietor of an inn known as the Crown. Reportedly his god-father was William Shakespeare. He attended All Saints and Lincoln College, Oxford. He left school before obtaining a degree to serve as a page to Frances, Duchess of Richmond […]

Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863 - 1938)

Poet.  Family links:  Parents:  Luisa De Benedictis (1839 – 1917)  Spouse:  Maria Hardouin d’Annunzio (1864 – 1954)Cause of death: stroke

Suso Cecchi D’Amico (1914 - 2010)

Screenwriter. In a long career, she authored the scripts for well over 100 Italian films. Born Giovanna Cecchi to a distinguished artistic family, she was quickly renamed “Susanna”, which eventually got shortened to “Suso”; after education in Switzerland and England, she worked as a government secretary and translator, and in 1938 married journalist Fedele D’Amico […]

Francesco d’Accorso (1970 - 1970)

Usually called simply ‘Accursio’, he was an Italian jurist and a professor at Bologna. He compiled the authoritative “Glossa ordinaria” or “Glossa Magna” on Roman law.

George Washington Cutter (1970 - 1865)

Poet. Served in the United States Army during the Mexican War as a Captain in the 2nd Kentucky Volunteer Regement, and fought in Battle of Buena Vista. His poetry works include “Buena Vista and Other Poems”, “The Song of Stream and Other Poems” and “Poems, National and Patriotic”. (bio by: Laurie)

Lizzie Petit Cutler (1970 - 1902)

Author. Her first novel, “Light and Darkness,” was republished in London and translated into French. This was followed by “Household Mysteries, a Romance of Southern Life,” and “The Stars of the Crowd, or Men and Women of the Day.” (bio by: Laurie)

Johannes Cuspinian (1970 - 1529)

Humanist, poet, and counsellor of the Emperor Maximilian, who made him curator of the University in vienna. The monument shows him with his two wives and eight children. (bio by: David Conway)

James Oliver Curwood (1878 - 1927)

Author. He wrote adventure novels, drawing from his experience as a reporter following the Northwest Mounted Police through the icy regions of Alaska and Canada. He was an ardent conservationist. Curwood was fishing in the Venice area of Florida when something bit or stung him on his thigh, in or through his rubber boots. It […]

Louisa Knapp Curtis (1851 - 1910)

Journalist, Author. The wife of Philadelphia publishing magnate Charles H. K. Curtis, she contributed a column titled “Women At Home” in her husband’s magazine “Tribune and Farmer”. The column became so popular that it spawned a separate magazine in 1883 that became known as “The Ladies Home Journal”. Read by over a million subscribers at […]

Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868 - 1952)

American Author, Photographer. Edward Curtis became fascinated with the various North American Indian groups and photography after his family had relocated in the upper mid-west in 1877. He built his first camera at age 12 and would photograph everything. In 1891 Edward moved to Seattle and bought a share in a photography studio with Rasmus […]

Manuel Curros Enríquez (1851 - 1908)

Poet and journalist. In 1877 he won a award for his narrative poem “A Virxe do Cristal”. In 1880 he published the book “Aires da miña Terra”, seized after the writer was accused of heresy and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Eventually a higher court acquitted him. He became the editor of the newspaper “El […]

Barton Wood Currie (1877 - 1962)

Author. Sent by New York World to Labrador in 1909 to meet Peary on his return from his last polar expediction, and wrote story presenting Peary’s side in the Cook-Peary controversy. Contributed about 100 short stories and articles to magazines. Author of the book “Booth Tarkington, a Bibliography.” (bio by: Laurie)  Family links:  Parents:  Duncan […]

Eve Curie (1904 - 2007)

Author. She was best known for “Madame Curie” (1937),  a biography of her mother, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie. The book became a best seller and in 1943 was made into a Hollywood film.  During World War II she supported the Free French cause and served in Europe with the women’s division of General […]

Will Cuppy (1884 - 1949)

Will Cuppy supported himself in New York by writing advertising copy while he tried unsuccessfully to write a play. He served briefly stateside in World War I as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Motor Transport Corps. Later he began contributing book reviews to the New York Tribune, where his college friend Burton Rascoe […]

Sumner Archibald Cunningham (1843 - 1913)

Journalist. Sumner Archibald Cunningham was the founder and editor of the Confederate Veteran magazine which was one of the New South’s most influential monthlies and made Cunningham a central figure in the “Lost Cause” movement of the late nineteenth century. Sumner was raised on a farm in Bedford County, Tennessee. At the outbreak of the […]

Nancy Clare Cunard (1896 - 1965)

British writer, editor, poet, publisher. Nancy Clare Cunard was the only child of Sir Bache Cunard, of the shipping family and American heiress, Maud Alice Burke (1872-1948). Her parents separated in 1910. She had been brought up at the Leicestershire family estate and moved to London with her mother. Her education was at various boarding […]

E. E. Cummings (1894 - 1962)

Poet and writer. Born Edward Estlin Cummings in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he began writing poetry at age ten, and continued while studying at Cambridge Latin High School. He attended Harvard College, where his father was a professor, and received a BA Degree in 1915 and his MA Degree the following year. His studies provided him access […]

Bruce Frederick Cummings (1889 - 1919)

Bruce Frederick Cummings was born in Barnstaple in 1889. He was a naturalist at heart and ended up working at the British Museum’s department of Natural History in London. Having begun his journal at the age of thirteen, Cummings continued to record his observations there — gradually moving from dry scientific notes to a more […]

Countee Cullen (1903 - 1946)

Poet, Author. Born Countee Porter, at age 15 Countee Cullen was unofficially adopted by the Reverend F.A. Cullen, minister of Salem Methodist Episcopal Church, one of Harlem, New York City, New York’s largest church congregations. Attending Harvard University, he earned his masters degree in 1926, and quickly became one of the major contributors to the […]

Jorge Cuesta (1903 - 1942)

Poet. He was born in Córdoba (Veracruz) and died in Mexico D.F. He is best remembered for his works “Canto a un Dios Mineral,” “A Pesar del Oscuro Silencio,” “La Calle del Amor” and “Poeta, Funde tu Campana.” In his last years, he was interned in a sanatorium, where he took his life, hunging wiht […]

Heloise Bowles Cruse (1919 - 1977)

Journalist. She was well-known for her column “Hints From Heloise” from 1962 to 1977. She helped people with everyday problems to the right out bizarre. At the time the column ran, it was in over 600 newspapers worldwide.  Family links:  Parents:  Charles Louis Bowles (1899 – 1971)  Amelia Harrison Bowles (1901 – 1973)  Spouse:  Marshal […]