Aulus Gellius (ca. 125 ADafter 180 AD), was a Latin author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up at Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome, where he held a judicial office. He is famous for his Attic Nights, a commonplace book, or compilation of notes on grammar, philosophy, history, antiquarianism and other subjects, preserving fragments of many authors and works who otherwise might be unknown today.
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 25 October 1400) was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. Sometimes called the father of English literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars as the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular Middle English, rather than French or Latin.
Aleksis Kivi, born Alexis Stenvall, (10 October 1834 31 December 1872) was a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, Seven Brothers. Although Kivi was among the very earliest authors of prose and lyrics in Finnish language, he is still considered one of the greatest of them all. Aleksis Kivi was born at Nurmijrvi, Finland, to a tailor's family. In 1846 he left for school in Helsinki, and in 1859 he was accepted to the University of Helsinki, where he studied literature and developed an interest in the theater. His first play was Kullervo, based on a tragic tale from Kalevala. He also met the famous journalist and statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman. From 1863 onwards, Kivi devoted his time to writing. He wrote 12 plays and a collection of poetry. The novel Seven Brothers took him ten years to write. Literary critics, especially the prominent August Ahlqvist, disapproved of the book, at least nominally because of its "rudeness" - romanticism was in its forte at the time - but maybe also because it was written in the south-western dialect of Finnish, while Ahlqvist himself preferred north-eastern dialects of his homelands. The Fennomans also disapproved of its depiction of not-so-virtuous rural life that was far from their idealized point of view, and his excessive drinking may have alienated some. In 1865 Kivi won the State Prize for his still often performed comedy Nummisuutarit (The Cobblers on the Heath). However, the less than enthusiastic reception of his books was taking its toll and he was already drinking heavily. His main benefactor Charlotta Lnnqvist could not help him after the 1860s. Physical deterioration and the development of schizophrenia set in, and Kivi died in poverty at the age of 38. In 1995-1996, Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara wrote an opera about Kivi's life and works. In 2002 director Jari Halonen's movie The Life of Aleksis Kivi premiered in Finnish cinemas.
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Venusia, December 8, 65 BC Rome, November 27, 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.
Philip Alexander Bruce (March 7, 1856 August 16, 1933) was an American historian who specialized in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Author of over a dozen volumes of history, Bruce's scope ranged from the first Virginia settlements to the early 20th century. He is notable for the first complete history of the University of Virginia, descriptions of the lives of the original settlers of Virginia, and for his insights into Thomas Jefferson's wide-ranging intellect. Bruce was born into a plantation family in Charlotte County, Virginia; his younger brother was William Cabell Bruce, later a US Senator from Maryland. Philip studied literature and history at the University of Virginia, graduating in 1876; he went on to get an LL.B. from Harvard University in 1879. Bruce began a long career as a published historian in 1889 with the publication of The Plantation Negro as a Freeman. His most notable research came with a series of three works on seventeenth century Virginia, covering the economic, social, and institutional frameworks of the first Virginia settlers, published between 1896 and 1910. Bruce was the corresponding secretary of the Virginia Historical Society. He was awarded honorary doctorates by both The College of William and Mary and Washington and Lee University. In the last decade of his life, Bruce authored a five-volume history of the first hundred years of the University of Virginia, which is credited for expanding the historical perspective on the talents of Thomas Jefferson, and co-authored a five-volume history of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He died after a long illness at his home near Charlottesville. He is remembered for attempts to raise the consciousness of Northern readers to Virginias contributions to the history of the United States through a series of letters to the New York Times on such topics as the claim of Virginia's House of Burgesses as the second elected legislature after the British Parliament and the importance of Jamestown as the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
Everett B. Cole was an American writer of science fiction short stories and a professional soldier. He worked as a signal maintenance and property officer at Fort Douglas, Utah. His first science fiction story, "Philosophical Corps" was published in the magazine Astounding in 1951. His fix-up of that story and two others, The Philosophical Corps, was published by Gnome Press in 1962. A second novel, The Best Made Plans, was serialized in Astounding in 1959, but never published in book form. He also co-authored historical books about the south Texas region.
Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 - 27 November 1899) was an influential Dutch language writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium.
Arnobius of Sicca was an Early Christian apologist, during the reign of Diocletian (284 305). According to Jerome's Chronicle, Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished rhetorician at Sicca Veneria (El Kef, Tunisia), a major Christian center in Proconsular Africa, and owed his conversion to a premonitory dream. Arnobius writes dismissively of dreams in his surviving book, so perhaps Jerome was projecting his own respect for the content of dreams. According to Jerome, to overcome the doubts of the local bishop as to the earnestness of his Christian belief he wrote an apologetic work in seven books that St. Jerome calls Adversus Gentes but which is entitled Adversus Nationes in the only (9th-century) manuscript that has survived. Jerome's reference, his remark that Lactantius was a pupil of Arnobius and the surviving treatise are all that we know about Arnobius.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, born Anne Spencer Morrow (June 22, 1906 - February 7, 2001) was a pioneering American aviator, author, and the spouse of fellow aviator Charles Lindbergh.
Ella D'Arcy (1856-1939) was an author of novels and short stories of the late 19th and early 20th.
The Three Doctors is a group of African-American motivational speakers, authors, and doctors.
William Somerset Maugham, CH (25 January 1874 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era, and reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.
Graham Arthur Chapman (8 January 1941 4 October 1989) was an English comedian, actor, writer, physician and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He was also the lead actor in their two narrative films, playing King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Brian in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He co-authored and starred in the film Yellowbeard.
Mariana Starke (1761/2-1838) was an English author. She is best known for her ground-breaking travel guide of France and Italy which served as an essential companion for British travellers to the Continent in the early nineteenth century. She also wrote plays and poetry early in her career but was discouraged by harsh reviews. She was unmarried but sometimes referred to as Mrs. Starke.
Mark Stephen Meadows is an American author and artist. In addition to his illustration, books, and travelogues he also develops software. He is the co-inventor of several US patents relating to artificial intelligence and avatars, and he lectures internationally on this work. Meadows is known for his hitchhiking adventures, specifically for visiting Baghdad in 2003, and his interviews with terrorists in Sri Lanka. He holds a USCG captain's license.
Charlotte Mary Yonge (11 August 1823 - 24 May 1901), was an English novelist, known for her huge output, now mostly out of print.
Ferdinand Raimund (born Ferdinand Jakob Raimann; June 1, 1790 September 5, 1836, Pottenstein, Lower Austria) was an Austrian actor and dramatist.
Charles Whibley (1859-1930) was an English literary journalist and author.
Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 March 6, 1888) was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women, set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868. This novel is loosely based on her childhood experiences with her three sisters.
Frank Luther Mott (April 4, 1886 Rose Hill Iowa - October 23, 1964 in Columbia, Missouri) was an American historian and journalist of Quaker descent. He taught English at Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa and was the head of the Journalilsm department at the University of Iowa (UI) for twenty years until his appointment as Dean of the University of Missouri (MU)'s School of Journalism in 1942. After having coined the term photojournalism in 1924, Mott was influential in the development of photojournalism education: the first photojournalism class was taught at UI during his tenure, and the first photojournalism program, directed by Clifton C. Edom, started at MU in 1943 upon his request. His book A History of American Magazines won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for History and Volume 4 of said work won the Bancroft Prize in 1958.
