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Short biographies of famous people for kids. Get inspired by reading inspiring biographies of the world's top people.

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Blog – Posted on Monday, Jan 21

The 30 best biographies of all time.

Biographer Richard Holmes once wrote that his work was “a kind of pursuit… writing about the pursuit of that fleeting figure, in such a way as to bring them alive in the present.”

At the risk of sounding cliché, the best biographies do exactly this: bring their subjects to life. A great biography isn’t just a laundry list of events that happened to someone. Rather, it should weave a narrative and tell a story in almost the same way a novel does. In this way, biography differs from the rest of nonfiction .

All the biographies on this list are just as captivating as excellent novels , if not more so. With that, please enjoy the 30 best biographies of all time — some historical, some recent, but all remarkable, life-giving tributes to their subjects.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great biographies out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized biography recommendation  😉

Which biography should you read next?

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1. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar

This biography of esteemed mathematician John Nash was both a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize and the basis for the award-winning film of the same name. Nasar thoroughly explores Nash’s prestigious career, from his beginnings at MIT to his work at the RAND Corporation — as well the internal battle he waged against schizophrenia, a disorder that nearly derailed his life.

2. Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition by Andrew Hodges

Hodges’ 1983 biography of Alan Turing sheds light on the inner workings of this brilliant mathematician, cryptologist, and computer pioneer. Indeed, despite the title ( a nod to his work during WWII ), a great deal of the “enigmatic” Turing is laid out in this book. It covers his heroic code-breaking efforts during the war, his computer designs and contributions to mathematical biology in the years following, and of course, the vicious persecution that befell him in the 1950s — when homosexual acts were still a crime punishable by English law.

3. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton is not only the inspiration for a hit Broadway musical, but also a work of creative genius itself. This massive undertaking of over 800 pages details every knowable moment of the youngest Founding Father’s life: from his role in the Revolutionary War and early American government to his sordid (and ultimately career-destroying) affair with Maria Reynolds. He may never have been president, but he was a fascinating and unique figure in American history — plus it’s fun to get the truth behind the songs.

Prefer to read about fascinating First Ladies rather than almost-presidents? Check out this awesome list of books about First Ladies over on The Archive.

4. Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston

A prolific essayist, short story writer, and novelist, Hurston turned her hand to biographical writing in 1927 with this incredible work, kept under lock and key until it was published 2018. It’s based on Hurston’s interviews with the last remaining survivor of the Middle Passage slave trade, a man named Cudjo Lewis. Rendered in searing detail and Lewis’ highly affecting African-American vernacular, this biography of the “last black cargo” will transport you back in time to an era that, chillingly, is not nearly as far away from us as it feels.

5. Churchill: A Life by Martin Gilbert

Though many a biography of him has been attempted, Gilbert’s is the final authority on Winston Churchill — considered by many to be Britain’s greatest prime minister ever. A dexterous balance of in-depth research and intimately drawn details makes this biography a perfect tribute to the mercurial man who led Britain through World War II.

Just what those circumstances are occupies much of Bodanis's book, which pays homage to Einstein and, just as important, to predecessors such as Maxwell, Faraday, and Lavoisier, who are not as well known as Einstein today. Balancing writerly energy and scholarly weight, Bodanis offers a primer in modern physics and cosmology, explaining that the universe today is an expression of mass that will, in some vastly distant future, one day slide back to the energy side of the equation, replacing the \'dominion of matter\' with \'a great stillness\'--a vision that is at once lovely and profoundly frightening.

Without sliding into easy psychobiography, Bodanis explores other circumstances as well; namely, Einstein's background and character, which combined with a sterling intelligence to afford him an idiosyncratic view of the way things work--a view that would change the world. --Gregory McNamee

6. E=mc²: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis

This “biography of the world’s most famous equation” is a one-of-a-kind take on the genre: rather than being the story of Einstein, it really does follow the history of the equation itself. From the origins and development of its individual elements (energy, mass, and light) to their ramifications in the twentieth century, Bodanis turns what could be an extremely dry subject into engaging fare for readers of all stripes.

7. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

When Enrique was only five years old, his mother left Honduras for the United States, promising a quick return. Eleven years later, Enrique finally decided to take matters into his own hands in order to see her again: he would traverse Central and South America via railway, risking his life atop the “train of death” and at the hands of the immigration authorities, to reunite with his mother. This tale of Enrique’s perilous journey is not for the faint of heart, but it is an account of incredible devotion and sharp commentary on the pain of separation among immigrant families.

8. Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera

Herrera’s 1983 biography of renowned painter Frida Kahlo, one of the most recognizable names in modern art, has since become the definitive account on her life. And while Kahlo no doubt endured a great deal of suffering (a horrific accident when she was eighteen, a husband who had constant affairs), the focal point of the book is not her pain. Instead, it’s her artistic brilliance and immense resolve to leave her mark on the world — a mark that will not soon be forgotten, in part thanks to Herrera’s dedicated work.

9. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Perhaps the most impressive biographical feat of the twenty-first century, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is about a woman whose cells completely changed the trajectory of modern medicine. Rebecca Skloot skillfully commemorates the previously unknown life of a poor black woman whose cancer cells were taken, without her knowledge, for medical testing — and without whom we wouldn’t have many of the critical cures we depend upon today.

10. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Christopher McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, hitchhiked to Alaska and disappeared into the Denali wilderness in April 1992. Five months later, McCandless was found emaciated and deceased in his shelter — but of what cause? Krakauer’s biography of McCandless retraces his steps back to the beginning of the trek, attempting to suss out what the young man was looking for on his journey, and whether he fully understood what dangers lay before him.

11. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families by James Agee

"Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.” From this line derives the central issue of Agee and Evans’ work: who truly deserves our praise and recognition? According to this 1941 biography, it’s the barely-surviving sharecropper families who were severely impacted by the American “Dust Bowl” — hundreds of people entrenched in poverty, whose humanity Evans and Agee desperately implore their audience to see in their book.

12. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

Another mysterious explorer takes center stage in this gripping 2009 biography. Grann tells the story of Percy Fawcett, the archaeologist who vanished in the Amazon along with his son in 1925, supposedly in search of an ancient lost city. Parallel to this narrative, Grann describes his own travels in the Amazon 80 years later: discovering firsthand what threats Fawcett may have encountered, and coming to realize what the “Lost City of Z” really was.

13. Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang

Though many of us will be familiar with the name Mao Zedong, this prodigious biography sheds unprecedented light upon the power-hungry “Red Emperor.” Chang and Halliday begin with the shocking statistic that Mao was responsible for 70 million deaths during peacetime — more than any other twentieth-century world leader. From there, they unravel Mao’s complex ideologies, motivations, and missions, breaking down his long-propagated “hero” persona and thrusting forth a new, grislier image of one of China’s biggest revolutionaries.

14. Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson by Andrew Wilson

Titled after one of her most evocative poems, this shimmering bio of Sylvia Plath takes an unusual approach. Instead of focusing on her years of depression and tempestuous marriage to poet Ted Hughes, it chronicles her life before she ever came to Cambridge. Wilson closely examines her early family and relationships, feelings and experiences, with information taken from her meticulous diaries — setting a strong precedent for other Plath biographers to follow.

15. The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes

What if you had twenty-four different people living inside you, and you never knew which one was going to come out? Such was the life of Billy Milligan, the subject of this haunting biography by the author of Flowers for Algernon . Keyes recounts, in a refreshingly straightforward style, the events of Billy’s life and how his psyche came to be “split”... as well as how, with Keyes’ help, he attempted to put the fragments of himself back together.

16. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

This gorgeously constructed biography follows Paul Farmer, a doctor who’s worked for decades to eradicate infectious diseases around the globe, particularly in underprivileged areas. Though Farmer’s humanitarian accomplishments are extraordinary in and of themselves, the true charm of this book comes from Kidder’s personal relationship with him — and the sense of fulfillment the reader sustains from reading about someone genuinely heroic, written by someone else who truly understands and admires what they do.

17. Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts

Here’s another bio that will reshape your views of a famed historical tyrant, though this time in a surprisingly favorable light. Decorated scholar Andrew Roberts delves into the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, from his near-flawless military instincts to his complex and confusing relationship with his wife. But Roberts’ attitude toward his subject is what really makes this work shine: rather than ridiculing him ( as it would undoubtedly be easy to do ), he approaches the “petty tyrant” with a healthy amount of deference.

18. The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IV by Robert A. Caro

Lyndon Johnson might not seem as intriguing or scandalous as figures like Kennedy, Nixon, or W. Bush. But in this expertly woven biography, Robert Caro lays out the long, winding road of his political career, and it’s full of twists you wouldn’t expect. Johnson himself was a surprisingly cunning figure, gradually maneuvering his way closer and closer to power. Finally, in 1963, he got his greatest wish — but at what cost? Fans of Adam McKay’s Vice , this is the book for you.

19. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser

Anyone who grew up reading Little House on the Prairie will surely be fascinated by this tell-all biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Caroline Fraser draws upon never-before-published historical resources to create a lush study of the author’s life — not in the gently narrated manner of the Little House series, but in raw and startling truths about her upbringing, marriage, and volatile relationship with her daughter (and alleged ghostwriter) Rose Wilder Lane.

20. Prince: A Private View by Afshin Shahidi

Compiled just after the superstar’s untimely death in 2016, this intimate snapshot of Prince’s life is actually a largely visual work — Shahidi served as his private photographer from the early 2000s until his passing. And whatever they say about pictures being worth a thousand words, Shahidi’s are worth more still: Prince’s incredible vibrance, contagious excitement, and altogether singular personality come through in every shot.

21. Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss

Could there be a more fitting title for a book about the husband-wife team who discovered radioactivity? What you may not know is that these nuclear pioneers also had a fascinating personal history. Marie Sklodowska met Pierre Curie when she came to work in his lab in 1891, and just a few years later they were married. Their passion for each other bled into their passion for their work, and vice-versa — and in almost no time at all, they were on their way to their first of their Nobel Prizes.

22. Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson

She may not have been assassinated or killed in a mysterious plane crash, but Rosemary Kennedy’s fate is in many ways the worst of “the Kennedy Curse.” As if a botched lobotomy that left her almost completely incapacitated weren’t enough, her parents then hid her away from society, almost never to be seen again. Yet in this new biography, penned by devoted Kennedy scholar Kate Larson, the full truth of Rosemary’s post-lobotomy life is at last revealed.

23. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

This appropriately lyrical biography of brilliant Jazz Age poet and renowned feminist, Edna St. Vincent Millay, is indeed a perfect balance of savage and beautiful. While Millay’s poetic work was delicate and subtle, the woman herself was feisty and unpredictable, harboring unusual and occasionally destructive habits that Milford fervently explores.

24. Shelley: The Pursuit by Richard Holmes

Holmes’ famous philosophy of “biography as pursuit” is thoroughly proven here in his first full-length biographical work. Shelley: The Pursuit details an almost feverish tracking of Percy Shelley as a dark and cutting figure in the Romantic period — reforming many previous historical conceptions about him through Holmes’ compelling and resolute writing.

25. Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

Another Gothic figure has been made newly known through this work, detailing the life of prolific horror and mystery writer Shirley Jackson. Author Ruth Franklin digs deep into the existence of the reclusive and mysterious Jackson, drawing penetrating comparisons between the true events of her life and the dark nature of her fiction.

26. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel

Fans of Into the Wild and The Lost City of Z will find their next adventure fix in this 2017 book about Christopher Knight, a man who lived by himself in the Maine woods for almost thirty years. The tale of this so-called “last true hermit” will captivate readers who have always fantasized about escaping society, with vivid descriptions of Knight’s rural setup, his carefully calculated moves and how he managed to survive the deadly cold of the Maine winters.

27. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The man, the myth, the legend: Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, is properly immortalized in Isaacson’s masterful biography. It divulges the details of Jobs’ little-known childhood and tracks his fateful path from garage engineer to leader of one of the largest tech companies in the world — not to mention his formative role in other legendary companies like Pixar, and indeed within the Silicon Valley ecosystem as a whole.

28. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Olympic runner Louis Zamperini was just twenty-six when his US Army bomber crashed and burned in the Pacific, leaving him and two other men afloat on a raft for forty-seven days — only to be captured by the Japanese Navy and tortured as a POW for the next two and a half years. In this gripping biography, Laura Hillenbrand tracks Zamperini’s story from beginning to end… including how he embraced Christian evangelism as a means of recovery, and even came to forgive his tormentors in his later years.

29. Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) by Stacy Schiff

Everyone knows of Vladimir Nabokov — but what about his wife, Vera, whom he called “the best-humored woman I have ever known”? According to Schiff, she was a genius in her own right, supporting Vladimir not only as his partner, but also as his all-around editor and translator. And she kept up that trademark humor throughout it all, inspiring her husband’s work and injecting some of her own creative flair into it along the way.

30. Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

William Shakespeare is a notoriously slippery historical figure — no one really knows when he was born, what he looked like, or how many plays he wrote. But that didn’t stop Stephen Greenblatt, who in 2004 turned out this magnificently detailed biography of the Bard: a series of imaginative reenactments of his writing process, and insights on how the social and political ideals of the time would have influenced him. Indeed, no one exists in a vacuum, not even Shakespeare — hence the conscious depiction of him in this book as a “will in the world,” rather than an isolated writer shut up in his own musty study.

If you're looking for more inspiring nonfiction, check out this list of 30 engaging self-help books , or this list of the last century's best memoirs !

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Stories About People (Biographies) Text & MP3 Files

Activists & people important to social reform.

• Betty Friedan - Women's Rights
• Cesar Chavez - Labor Activist
• Frederick Douglass - African-Americans's Rights
• Jane Jacobs - Activist, Writer, Moral Thinker And Economist
• Labor Leaders: Samuel Gompers, John L. Lewis, Walter Reuther, A. Philip Randolph, and Cesar Chavez
• Margaret Sanger - Led the Fight for Birth Control for Women
• Martin Luther King, Jr. - Part 1 - African-Americans's Rights
• Martin Luther King, Jr. - Part 2
• Molly Brown
• Rosa Parks - - African-Americans's Rights
• Samuel Gompers - 'The Grand Old Man of Labor'
• Susan B. Anthony - Women's Rights
• W.E.B. Du Bois - African-Americans's Rights
• Note: Many people listed in other categories were also activists.
• Andy Warhol - The Father of Pop Art
• Diane Arbus - Photographer
• Edward Hopper - Painter
• Edward Weston - Photographer
• George Catlin - Part 1 - Painter
• George Catlin - Part-2 - Painter
• Georgia O'Keefe - Painter
• Isabella Stewart Gardner - Art Collector and Cultural Supporter
• Jackson Pollock - Painter
• Mary Cassatt - Painter
• Nam June Paik - Video Artist
• Robert Rauschenberg
• Winslow Homer - Painter

Athletes (People Who Do Sports)

• Arthur Ashe - Tennis
• Babe Ruth - Baseball
• Bob Feller - Baseball
• Jackie Robinson - Baseball
• Jesse Owens - Runner
• John Wooden - Basketball
• Kay Yow and Betty Jameson - Founders Of Women's Sports Organizations
• Lou Gehrig - Baseball
• Roberto Clemente - Baseball
• Wilma Rudolph - The First American Woman to Win Three Gold Medals in One Olympics

Business & Industry

• Henry Ford - Part 1 - Automobiles / Cars
• Henry Ford - Part 2
• Katharine Graham - Owner and Publisher of The Washington Post
• Madam C.J. Walker - Hair-Care Products
• Mary Kay Ash - Cosmetics
• Milton Hershey - Candy Company
• Ray Kroc - McDonald's.
• William Randolph Hearst - Newspaper Business

Entertainers

• Annie Oakley - Sharp Shooter
• Billy Wilder - Movie Director
• Bob Hope - Comedian
• Charlton Heston - Actor
• Cliff Robertson - Actor, Writer, Producer and Director
• Eartha Kitt - Singer and Actress
• Edward R. Murrow - Radio and TV Broadcaster
• Elizabeth Taylor - Actress
• Fred Astaire - Dancer and Actor
• Gene Kelly - Dancer and Actor
• George Abbott - "Mr. Broadway"
• Harry Houdini - Magician
• Hollywood: Cecil B. DeMille, Samuel Goldwyn and Louis Mayer
• Jack Benny - Comedian
• James Stewart - Actor
• Jessica Tandy - Actress
• Katharine Hepburn - Actress
• Lucille Ball - Actress and Comedian
• Mae West - Actress
• Marilyn Monroe - Actress
• Marlon Brando - Actor
• Martha Graham - The Mother of Modern Dance
• The Marx Brothers - Actors and Comedians
• Milton Berle - Actor
• Patricia Neal - Actress
• Paul Newman - Actor
• Sydney Pollack - Movie Director And Producer
• Walt Disney
• Willis Conover - VOA Radio Program on Jazz
• Kennedy Center Honors of 2009 - Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, and Bruce Springsteen
• Kennedy Center Honors of 2008 - Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Twyla Tharp, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey
• Kennedy Center Honors of 2007 - Brian Wilson, Steve Martin, Leon Fleisher, Martin Scorsese, and Diana Ross
• Clara Barton - Started the American Red Cross
• Doctor Spock - Baby and Child Care
• Elizabeth Blackwell - Doctor
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver - Creator of the Special Olympics
• Six Medical Research Heroes - Jesse William Lazear, Clara Maass, Joseph Goldberger, Matthew Lukwiya, Carlo Urbani and Anita Roberts

Inventors, Designers, Developers, Explorers, ...

• Buckminster Fuller
• Frank Lloyd Wright
• George Ballas - Inventor of the Weed Eater
• James Rouse - A Developer of Shopping Malls and a Planned City
• Louis Kahn - Building Designer
• Philo Farnsworth - The Father of Television (4:00)
• Radio Pioneers - Guglielmo Marconi, Lee De Forest, Edwin Armstrong, David Sarnoff, William S. Paley, Edward R. Murrow & William Shirer
• Steve Fossett - Adventurer
• Thomas Edison
• The Wright Brothers
• Six Building Desingers - Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster and Eduardo Souta de Moura.

Journalists

• Margaret Bourke-White-1 - Photojournalist
• Margaret Bourke-White-2
• Carl Rowan - Reporter
• Henry Loomis - VOA Special English
• Ida Tarbell - Reporter
• Jacob Riis - Reporter
• Nellie Bly - Reporter
• Walter Cronkite - Reporter
• Aaron Copland - Composer
• Bess Lomax Hawes - Folk Musician (4:00)
• Billie Holiday
• Beverly Sills
• Burl Ives - Actor, Singer Recorded Hundreds of Songs
• Irving Berlin
• The Carter Family
• Celia Cruz - Salsa
• Charlie Parker - Jazz
• Cole Porter- Part 1
• Cole Porter- Part 2
• Duke Ellington- Part 1
• Duke Ellington- Part 2
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Elvis Presley
• George Gershwin - Part 1 - Composer
• George Gershwin - Part 2 - Composer
• Hank Williams - Country
• Isaac Stern - Violinist
• Itzhak Perlman - Violinist
• James Brown - Soul Music
• Janis Joplin
• Jerome Kern - The Father of American Musical Theater
• John Coltrane - Jazz Saxophonist
• John Lewis - Jazz Pianist / MJQ
• Johnny Cash - Country
• Julia Ward Howe - Wrote the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
• Lena Horne - Singer and Actress
• Leonard Bernstein
• Les Paul - Guitarist
• Louis Armstrong - Jazz
• Maria Callas - Opera Singer
• Marian Anderson - Part 1 - Singer
• Marian Anderson - Part 2
• Michael Jackson
• Nina Simone
• Patsy Cline - Country Singer
• Paul Robeson - Singer And International Political Activist
• Ray Charles - Part 1
• Ray Charles - Part 2
• Richard Rodgers - Composer
• Roger Miller - Singer-Songwriter
• Sam Cooke - Singer-Songwriter
• Scott Joplin - Ragtime Composer
• Shirley Horn - Jazz
• Stephen Foster - Songwriter
• Todd Duncan - Broke a Major Color Barrier for Black Singers of Classical Music
• Woody Guthrie - Part 1 - Singer-Songwriter
• Woody Guthrie - Part 2

Native Americans / American Indians

• Crazy Horse - A leader of the Lakota Indians
• Pocahontas - The First Native-American to Marry a White Person
• It is highly likely that there are other native Americans listed in other categories.
• Doc Holliday - A Famous Gunfighter
• Frank and Jesse James - Famous Outlaw Brothers
• Gunfighters - Part 1 Luke Short, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and William Matthew Tilghman
• Gunfighters - Part 2 James Miller and John Slaughter
• Alan Shepard - The First American to Travel into Space
• Amelia Earhart - The First Woman to Fly Alone Across the Atlantic
• Anne Morrow Lindbergh - Pilot & Writer
• Bessie Coleman
• Charles Lindbergh - The First Person to Fly Alone Across the Atlantic
• Jackie Cochran - Set Many Speed, Distance and Altitude Records
• Jimmy Doolittle
• Wiley Post - The First Pilot to Circle the World Alone
• Aviation Hall of Fame Members Harriet Quimby, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Link, John Montgomery, Giuseppe Bellanca, Charles E. Taylor, Calbraith Rodgers and Jacqueline Cochran

Politicians

• Barbara Jordan
• Bella Abzug
• Davy Crockett - Hunter, Fighter, Storyteller and Elected Official
• Edward Kennedy
• Eleanor Roosevelt - Wife of a President
• Eugene McCarthy
• Franklin Roosevelt
• Lady Bird Johnson - Wife of a President
• Ronald Reagan
• Sam Houston - Part 1 - An Early Leader of Texas
• Sam Houston - Part 2
• Shirley Chisholm - The First Black Woman Elected to Congress
• Albert Einstein
• Barbara McClintock
• Charles Darwin
• Dian Fossey - Studied Gorillas
• Edward Teller - 'Father of the Hydrogen Bomb'
• Edwin Hubble - Astronomer
• Isaac Newton - One of the World's Greatest Scientists
• Margaret Mead - Anthropologist
• Norman Borlaug - Agricultural Scientist
• Oppenheimer and Fermi - Two Developers of the First Atomic Bomb
• Percival Lowell (Planet Pluto)
• Rachel Carson - Environmental Protection Movement
• Sigmund Freud - Psychiatrist

Teachers and Educators

• John Dewey (4:00)
• Mary Lyon - A Leader in Women's Education
• Stanley Kaplan - A Test Prep Pioneer (4:00)
• Jaime Escalante - A Math Teacher (4:00)
• Ann Landers - Advice Columns
• Arthur Miller - Playwright
• Barbara Cooney - Children's Books
• Charles Schulz - "Peanuts" Comic Strip
• Clare Booth Luce - News Reporter, Magazine Editor, Member of Congress and Ambassador
• Doctor Seuss - Children's Books
• Dorothy West
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Edith Wharton
• Emily Dickinson - Poet
• Ernest Hemingway - Part 1
• Ernest Hemingway - Part 2
• F. Scott Fitzgerald - Part 1
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50 Must-Read Biographies

Rebecca Hussey

Rebecca holds a PhD in English and is a professor at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. She teaches courses in composition, literature, and the arts. When she’s not reading or grading papers, she’s hanging out with her husband and son and/or riding her bike and/or buying books. She can't get enough of reading and writing about books, so she writes the bookish newsletter "Reading Indie," focusing on small press books and translations. Newsletter: Reading Indie Twitter: @ofbooksandbikes

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The best biographies give us a satisfying glimpse into a great person’s life, while also teaching us about the context in which that person lived. Through biography, we can also learn history, psychology, sociology, politics, philosophy, and more. Reading a great biography is both fun and educational. What’s not to love?

Below I’ve listed 50 of the best biographies out there. You will find a mix of subjects, including important figures in literature, science, politics, history, art, and more. I’ve tried to keep this list focused on biography only, so there is little in the way of memoir or autobiography. In a couple cases, authors have written about their family members, but for the most part, these are books where the focus is on the biographical subject, not the author.

The first handful are group biographies, and after that, I’ve arranged them alphabetically by subject. Book descriptions come from Goodreads.

Take a look and let me know about your favorite biography in the comments!

All We Know: Three Lives by Lisa Cohen

“In  All We Know , Lisa Cohen describes their [Esther Murphy, Mercedes de Acosta, and Madge Garland’s] glamorous choices, complicated failures, and controversial personal lives with lyricism and empathy. At once a series of intimate portraits and a startling investigation into style, celebrity, sexuality, and the genre of biography itself,  All We Know  explores a hidden history of modernism and pays tribute to three compelling lives.”

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

“Set amid the civil rights movement, the never-before-told true story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America’s space program. Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers,’ calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women.”

The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage by Paul Elie

“In the mid-twentieth century four American Catholics came to believe that the best way to explore the questions of religious faith was to write about them – in works that readers of all kinds could admire.  The Life You Save May Be Your Own  is their story – a vivid and enthralling account of great writers and their power over us.”

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

“As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.”

The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser

“In a sweeping narrative, Fraser traces the cultural, familial and political roots of each of Henry’s queens, pushes aside the stereotypes that have long defined them, and illuminates the complex character of each.”

John Adams by David McCullough

“In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life-journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot — ‘the colossus of independence,’ as Thomas Jefferson called him.”

A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Melissa Fleming

“Emotionally riveting and eye-opening,  A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea  is the incredible story of a young woman, an international crisis, and the triumph of the human spirit. Melissa Fleming shares the harrowing journey of Doaa Al Zamel, a young Syrian refugee in search of a better life.”

At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England by Walter Dean Myers

“One terrifying night in 1848, a young African princess’s village is raided by warriors. The invaders kill her mother and father, the King and Queen, and take her captive. Two years later, a British naval captain rescues her and takes her to England where she is presented to Queen Victoria, and becomes a loved and respected member of the royal court.”

John Brown by W.E.B. Du Bois

“ John Brown is W. E. B. Du Bois’s groundbreaking political biography that paved the way for his transition from academia to a lifelong career in social activism. This biography is unlike Du Bois’s earlier work; it is intended as a work of consciousness-raising on the politics of race.”

Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster by Stephen L. Carter

“[Eunice Hunton Carter] was black and a woman and a prosecutor, a graduate of Smith College and the granddaughter of slaves, as dazzlingly unlikely a combination as one could imagine in New York of the 1930s ― and without the strategy she devised, Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mafia boss in history, would never have been convicted.”

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

“An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members.”

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

“Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnet, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world.”

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

“Einstein was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days, and these character traits drove both his life and his science. In this narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered.”

Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother by Sonia Nazario

“In this astonishing true story, award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.”

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

“After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve ‘the greatest exploration mystery of the 20th century’: What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett & his quest for the Lost City of Z?”

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman

“Amanda Foreman draws on a wealth of fresh research and writes colorfully and penetratingly about the fascinating Georgiana, whose struggle against her own weaknesses, whose great beauty and flamboyance, and whose determination to play a part in the affairs of the world make her a vibrant, astonishingly contemporary figure.”

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik Ping Zhu

“Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg never asked for fame she was just trying to make the world a little better and a little freer. But along the way, the feminist pioneer’s searing dissents and steely strength have inspired millions. [This book], created by the young lawyer who began the Internet sensation and an award-winning journalist, takes you behind the myth for an intimate, irreverent look at the justice’s life and work.”

Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd

“A woman of enormous talent and remarkable drive, Zora Neale Hurston published seven books, many short stories, and several articles and plays over a career that spanned more than thirty years. Today, nearly every black woman writer of significance—including Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker—acknowledges Hurston as a literary foremother.”

Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

“ Shirley Jackson  reveals the tumultuous life and inner darkness of the literary genius behind such classics as ‘The Lottery’ and  The Haunting of Hill House .”

The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro

“This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart.”

The Life of Samuel Johnson   by James Boswell

“Poet, lexicographer, critic, moralist and Great Cham, Dr. Johnson had in his friend Boswell the ideal biographer. Notoriously and self-confessedly intemperate, Boswell shared with Johnson a huge appetite for life and threw equal energy into recording its every aspect in minute but telling detail.”

Barbara Jordan: American Hero by Mary Beth Rogers

“Barbara Jordan was the first African American to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first black woman elected to Congress from the South, and the first to deliver the keynote address at a national party convention. Yet Jordan herself remained a mystery.”

Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera

“This engrossing biography of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo reveals a woman of extreme magnetism and originality, an artist whose sensual vibrancy came straight from her own experiences: her childhood near Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution; a devastating accident at age eighteen that left her crippled and unable to bear children.”

Florynce “Flo” Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical by Sherie M. Randolph

“Often photographed in a cowboy hat with her middle finger held defiantly in the air, Florynce ‘Flo’ Kennedy (1916–2000) left a vibrant legacy as a leader of the Black Power and feminist movements. In the first biography of Kennedy, Sherie M. Randolph traces the life and political influence of this strikingly bold and controversial radical activist.”

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel

“In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food.”

The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma by Peter Popham

“Peter Popham … draws upon previously untapped testimony and fresh revelations to tell the story of a woman whose bravery and determination have captivated people around the globe. Celebrated today as one of the world’s greatest exponents of non-violent political defiance since Mahatma Gandhi, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize only four years after her first experience of politics.”

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”   by Zora Neale Hurston

“In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation’s history.”

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

“Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine.”

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

“Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln’s political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president.”

The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart

“A tiny, fastidiously dressed man emerged from Black Philadelphia around the turn of the century to mentor a generation of young artists including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence and call them the New Negro — the creative African Americans whose art, literature, music, and drama would inspire Black people to greatness.”

Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde by Alexis De Veaux

“Drawing from the private archives of the poet’s estate and numerous interviews, Alexis De Veaux demystifies Lorde’s iconic status, charting her conservative childhood in Harlem; her early marriage to a white, gay man with whom she had two children; her emergence as an outspoken black feminist lesbian; and her canonization as a seminal poet of American literature.”

Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary by Juan Williams

“Thurgood Marshall stands today as the great architect of American race relations, having expanded the foundation of individual rights for all Americans. His victory in the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, the landmark Supreme Court case outlawing school segregation, would have him a historic figure even if he had not gone on to become the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court.”

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

“In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself.”

The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts

“ The Mayor of Castro Street  is Shilts’s acclaimed story of Harvey Milk, the man whose personal life, public career, and tragic assassination mirrored the dramatic and unprecedented emergence of the gay community in America during the 1970s.”

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford

“The most famous poet of the Jazz Age, Millay captivated the nation: She smoked in public, took many lovers (men and women, single and married), flouted convention sensationally, and became the embodiment of the New Woman.”

How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at An Answer by Sarah Bakewell

This book is “a vivid portrait of Montaigne, showing how his ideas gave birth to our modern sense of our inner selves, from Shakespeare’s plays to the dilemmas we face today.”

The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes by Janet Malcolm

“From the moment it was first published in The New Yorker, this brilliant work of literary criticism aroused great attention. Janet Malcolm brings her shrewd intelligence to bear on the legend of Sylvia Plath and the wildly productive industry of Plath biographies.”

Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley   by Peter Guralnick

“Based on hundreds of interviews and nearly a decade of research, [this book] traces the evolution not just of the man but of the music and of the culture he left utterly transformed, creating a completely fresh portrait of Elvis and his world.

Mrs. Robinson’s Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale

“Kate Summerscale brilliantly recreates the Victorian world, chronicling in exquisite and compelling detail the life of Isabella Robinson, wherein the longings of a frustrated wife collided with a society clinging to rigid ideas about sanity, the boundaries of privacy, the institution of marriage, and female sexuality.”

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt

“A young man from a small provincial town moves to London in the late 1580s and, in a remarkably short time, becomes the greatest playwright not of his age alone but of all time. How is an achievement of this magnitude to be explained?”

The Invisible Woman: The Story of Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan by Claire Tomalin

“When Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan met in 1857, she was 18: a professional actress performing in his production of  The Frozen Deep . He was 45: a literary legend, a national treasure, married with ten children. This meeting sparked a love affair that lasted over a decade, destroying Dickens’s marriage and ending with Nelly’s near-disappearance from the public record.”

Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol by Nell Irvin Painter

“Slowly, but surely, Sojourner climbed from beneath the weight of slavery, secured respect for herself, and utilized the distinction of her race to become not only a symbol for black women, but for the feminist movement as a whole.”

The Black Rose by Tananarive Due

“Born to former slaves on a Louisiana plantation in 1867, Madam C.J. Walker rose from poverty and indignity to become America’s first black female millionaire, the head of a hugely successful beauty company, and a leading philanthropist in African American causes.”

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

“With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life, [Chernow] carries the reader through Washington’s troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian Wars, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention and his magnificent performance as America’s first president.”

Ida: A Sword Among Lions by Paula J. Giddings

“ Ida: A Sword Among Lions  is a sweeping narrative about a country and a crusader embroiled in the struggle against lynching: a practice that imperiled not only the lives of black men and women, but also a nation based on law and riven by race.”

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser

“But the true saga of [Wilder’s] life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser—the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series—masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder’s biography.”

Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon

“Although mother and daughter, these two brilliant women never knew one another – Wollstonecraft died of an infection in 1797 at the age of thirty-eight, a week after giving birth. Nevertheless their lives were so closely intertwined, their choices, dreams and tragedies so eerily similar, it seems impossible to consider one without the other.”

Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee

“Subscribing to Virginia Woolf’s own belief in the fluidity and elusiveness of identity, Lee comes at her subject from a multitude of perspectives, producing a richly layered portrait of the writer and the woman that leaves all of her complexities and contradictions intact.”

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable

“Of the great figures in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins’ bullets at age thirty-nine.”

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

“On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.”

Want to read more about great biographies? Check out this post on presidential biographies , this list of biographies and memoirs about remarkable women , and this list of 100 must-read musician biographies and memoirs .

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The 50 Best Biographies of All Time

Think you know the full and complete story about George Washington, Steve Jobs, or Joan of Arc? Think again.

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Biographies have always been controversial. On his deathbed, the novelist Henry James told his nephew that his “sole wish” was to “frustrate as utterly as possible the postmortem exploiter” by destroying his personal letters and journals. And one of our greatest living writers, Hermione Lee, once compared biographies to autopsies that add “a new terror to death”—the potential muddying of someone’s legacy when their life is held up to the scrutiny of investigation.

Why do we read so many books about the lives and deaths of strangers, as told by second-hand and third-hand sources? Is it merely our love for gossip, or are we trying to understand ourselves through the triumphs and failures of others?

To keep this list from blossoming into hundreds of titles, we only included books currently in print and translated into English. We also limited it to one book per author, and one book per subject. In ranked order, here are the best biographies of all time.

Crown The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, by Tom Reiss

You’re probably familiar with The Count of Monte Cristo , the 1844 revenge novel by Alexandre Dumas. But did you know it was based on the life of Dumas’s father, the mixed-race General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, son of a French nobleman and a Haitian slave? Thanks to Reiss’s masterful pacing and plotting, this rip-roaring biography of Thomas-Alexandre reads more like an adventure novel than a work of nonfiction. The Black Count won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2013, and it’s only a matter of time before a filmmaker turns it into a big-screen blockbuster.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret, by Craig Brown

Few biographies are as genuinely fun to read as this barnburner from the irreverent English critic Craig Brown. Princess Margaret may have been everyone’s favorite character from Netflix’s The Crown , but Brown’s eye for ostentatious details and revelatory insights will help you see why everyone in the 1950s—from Pablo Picasso and Gore Vidal to Peter Sellers and Andy Warhol—was obsessed with her. When book critic Parul Sehgal says that she “ripped through the book with the avidity of Margaret attacking her morning vodka and orange juice,” you know you’re in for a treat.

Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller, by Alec Nevala-Lee

If you want to feel optimistic about the future again, look no further than this brilliant biography of Buckminster Fuller, the “modern Leonardo da Vinci” of the 1960s and 1970s who came up with the idea of a “Spaceship Earth” and inspired Silicon Valley’s belief that technology could be a global force for good (while earning plenty of critics who found his ideas impractical). Alec Nevala-Lee’s writing is as serene and precise as one of Fuller’s geodesic domes, and his research into never-before-seen documents makes this a genuinely groundbreaking book full of surprises.

Free Press Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, by Robin D.G. Kelley

The late American jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk has been so heavily mythologized that it can be hard to separate fact from fiction. But Robin D. G. Kelley’s biography is an essential book for jazz fans looking to understand the man behind the myths. Monk’s family provided Kelley with full access to their archives, resulting in chapter after chapter of fascinating details, from his birth in small-town North Carolina to his death across the Hudson from Manhattan.

University of Chicago Press Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography, by Meryle Secrest

There are dozens of books about America’s most celebrated architect, but Secrest’s 1998 biography is still the most fun to read. For one, she doesn’t shy away from the fact that Wright could be an absolute monster, even to his own friends and family. Secondly, her research into more than 100,000 letters, as well as interviews with nearly every surviving person who knew Wright, makes this book a one-of-a-kind look at how Wright’s personal life influenced his architecture.

Ralph Ellison: A Biography, by Arnold Rampersad

Ralph Ellison’s landmark novel, Invisible Man , is about a Black man who faced systemic racism in the Deep South during his youth, then migrated to New York, only to find oppression of a slightly different kind. What makes Arnold Rampersand’s honest and insightful biography of Ellison so compelling is how he connects the dots between Invisible Man and Ellison’s own journey from small-town Oklahoma to New York’s literary scene during the Harlem Renaissance.

Oscar Wilde: A Life, by Matthew Sturgis

Now remembered for his 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde was one of the most fascinating men of the fin-de-siècle thanks to his poems, plays, and some of the earliest reported “celebrity trials.” Sturgis’s scintillating biography is the most encyclopedic chronicle of Wilde’s life to date, thanks to new research into his personal notebooks and a full transcript of his libel trial.

Beacon Press A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun: The Life & Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks, by Angela Jackson

The poet Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1950, but because she spent most of her life in Chicago instead of New York, she hasn’t been studied or celebrated as often as her peers in the Harlem Renaissance. Luckily, Angela Jackson’s biography is full of new details about Brooks’s personal life, and how it influenced her poetry across five decades.

Atria Books Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century, by Dana Stevens

Was Buster Keaton the most influential filmmaker of the first half of the twentieth century? Dana Stevens makes a compelling case in this dazzling mix of biography, essays, and cultural history. Much like Keaton’s filmography, Stevens playfully jumps from genre to genre in an endlessly entertaining way, while illuminating how Keaton’s influence on film and television continues to this day.

Algonquin Books Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb

Dean Jobb is a master of narrative nonfiction on par with Erik Larsen, author of The Devil in the White City . Jobb’s biography of Leo Koretz, the Bernie Madoff of the Jazz Age, is among the few great biographies that read like a thriller. Set in Chicago during the 1880s through the 1920s, it’s also filled with sumptuous period details, from lakeside mansions to streets choked with Model Ts.

Vintage Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life, by Hermione Lee

Hermione Lee’s biographies of Virginia Woolf and Edith Wharton could easily have made this list. But her book about a less famous person—Penelope Fitzgerald, the English novelist who wrote The Bookshop, The Blue Flower , and The Beginning of Spring —might be her best yet. At just over 500 pages, it’s considerably shorter than those other biographies, partially because Fitzgerald’s life wasn’t nearly as well documented. But Lee’s conciseness is exactly what makes this book a more enjoyable read, along with the thrilling feeling that she’s uncovering a new story literary historians haven’t already explored.

Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, by Heather Clark

Many biographers have written about Sylvia Plath, often drawing parallels between her poetry and her death by suicide at the age of thirty. But in this startling book, Plath isn’t wholly defined by her tragedy, and Heather Clark’s craftsmanship as a writer makes it a joy to read. It’s also the most comprehensive account of Plath’s final year yet put to paper, with new information that will change the way you think of her life, poetry, and death.

Pontius Pilate, by Ann Wroe

Compared to most biography subjects, there isn’t much surviving documentation about the life of Pontius Pilate, the Judaean governor who ordered the execution of the historical Jesus in the first century AD. But Ann Wroe leans into all that uncertainty in her groundbreaking book, making for a fascinating mix of research and informed speculation that often feels like reading a really good historical novel.

Brand: History Book Club Bolívar: American Liberator, by Marie Arana

In the early nineteenth century, Simón Bolívar led six modern countries—Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela—to independence from the Spanish Empire. In this rousing work of biography and geopolitical history, Marie Arana deftly chronicles his epic life with propulsive prose, including a killer first sentence: “They heard him before they saw him: the sound of hooves striking the earth, steady as a heartbeat, urgent as a revolution.”

Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, by Yunte Huang

Ever read a biography of a fictional character? In the 1930s and 1940s, Charlie Chan came to popularity as a Chinese American police detective in Earl Derr Biggers’s mystery novels and their big-screen adaptations. In writing this book, Yunte Huang became something of a detective himself to track down the real-life inspiration for the character, a Hawaiian cop named Chang Apana born shortly after the Civil War. The result is an astute blend between biography and cultural criticism as Huang analyzes how Chan served as a crucial counterpoint to stereotypical Chinese villains in early Hollywood.

Random House Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, by Nancy Milford

Edna St. Vincent Millay was one of the most fascinating women of the twentieth century—an openly bisexual poet, playwright, and feminist icon who helped make Greenwich Village a cultural bohemia in the 1920s. With a knack for torrid details and creative insights, Nancy Milford successfully captures what made Millay so irresistible—right down to her voice, “an instrument of seduction” that captivated men and women alike.

Simon & Schuster Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

Few people have the luxury of choosing their own biographers, but that’s exactly what the late co-founder of Apple did when he tapped Walter Isaacson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. Adapted for the big screen by Aaron Sorkin in 2015, Steve Jobs is full of plot twists and suspense thanks to a mind-blowing amount of research on the part of Isaacson, who interviewed Jobs more than forty times and spoke with just about everyone who’d ever come into contact with him.

Brand: Random House Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), by Stacy Schiff

The Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov once said, “Without my wife, I wouldn’t have written a single novel.” And while Stacy Schiff’s biography of Cleopatra could also easily make this list, her telling of Véra Nabokova’s life in Russia, Europe, and the United States is revolutionary for finally bringing Véra out of her husband’s shadow. It’s also one of the most romantic biographies you’ll ever read, with some truly unforgettable images, like Vera’s habit of carrying a handgun to protect Vladimir on butterfly-hunting excursions.

Greenblatt, Stephen Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, by Stephen Greenblatt

We know what you’re thinking. Who needs another book about Shakespeare?! But Greenblatt’s masterful biography is like traveling back in time to see firsthand how a small-town Englishman became the greatest writer of all time. Like Wroe’s biography of Pontius Pilate, there’s plenty of speculation here, as there are very few surviving records of Shakespeare’s daily life, but Greenblatt’s best trick is the way he pulls details from Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets to construct a compelling narrative.

Crown Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

When Kiese Laymon calls a book a “literary miracle,” you pay attention. James Baldwin’s legacy has enjoyed something of a revival over the last few years thanks to films like I Am Not Your Negro and If Beale Street Could Talk , as well as books like Glaude’s new biography. It’s genuinely a bit of a miracle how he manages to combine the story of Baldwin’s life with interpretations of Baldwin’s work—as well as Glaude’s own story of discovering, resisting, and rediscovering Baldwin’s books throughout his life.

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22 Famous Scientists Who Changed How We View the World (and the Universe)

From medicine to physics and astronomy, these scholars have saved lives and improved our understanding across all aspects of the natural world.

Whether it’s a medicine that has saved countless lives or an equation that helped propel the evolution of energy and technology, these breakthroughs arose from the scientific method of observation and experimentation.

Here are 22 of the most famous scientists from the 15 th century to today and how their crucial contributions in many fields of study still impact us.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Astronomer and mathematician 1473-1543

For centuries, people incorrectly believed the Earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus theorized otherwise, with the belief that the size and speed of a planet’s orbit depended on its distance from the centralized sun.

Rather than a breakthrough, however, Copernicus’ hypotheses were met with controversy as they deviated from the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. The church even outright banned his research collection, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres , in 1616 long after the German scientist’s death.

Galileo Galilei

Physicist and astronomer 1564-1642

Galileo changed how we literally see the world by taking early telescopes and improving their design. The Italian scientist made lenses capable of magnifying objects twenty-fold .

When Galileo used his tools to look toward the heavens, he discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons, now named in his honor , and stars far off in the Milky Way not visible to the human eye. His findings built the foundation for modern astronomy.

Learn More About Galileo Galilei

Robert Hooke

Astronomer, physicist, and biologist 1635-1703

Englishman Hooke coined the term “cell,” now known as the basic structural unit of all organisms, in his 1665 book Micrographia after observing the cell walls in slices of cork tissue. But his studies weren’t limited to biology. He is famous for Hooke’s Law, which states that the force required to compress or extend a spring is proportional to the distance of compression or extension. He also helped redesign London buildings destroyed by the city’s “Great Fire” in 1666.

Learn More About Robert Hooke

Sir Isaac Newton

Physicist and mathematician 1643-1727

You probably know about Newton’s three laws of motion, including that objects will remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon. But did you also know his theory of gravity allowed the Englishman to calculate the mass of each planet and Earth’s ocean tides? Although Albert Einstein would later improve on some of his theories, Newton remains one of the most important minds in history.

Fun fact: Newton’s mother tried to pull him out of school at age 12 to become a farmer. Seems like a good thing that plan fell through.

Learn More About Isaac Newton

Charles Darwin

Biologist 1809-1882

Growing up in Great Britain, Darwin was raised in a Christian family and held creationist beliefs. That’s not what you’d expect from the man whose landmark 1859 book On the Origins of Species by Means of Natural Selection provided a detailed description of the theory of evolution. In his writings, he outlined his natural selection concept, in which species that evolve and adapt to their environment thrive while the others perish.

Learn More About Charles Darwin

Ada Lovelace

Mathematician and computer scientist 1815-1852

A computer scientist in the 1800s? Yes—Lovelace’s notes and instructions on mentor Charles Babbage ’s “analytical engine” are considered a breakthrough on the path to modern computers. For example, the London-born Lovelace first theorized a process now called looping, in which computer programs repeat a series of instructions until a desired outcome is reached.

Although her contributions weren’t recognized until the 20 th century, her legacy was forever cemented in 1980 when the U.S. Department of Defense named the new computer language Ada in her honor.

Learn More About Ada Lovelace

Gregor Mendel

Geneticist 1822-1884

Mendel, from Austria, became an Augustinian monk and an educator, instead of taking over his family’s farm as his father wished. His growing skills did pay off, as Mendel used pea plants to study the transmission of hereditary traits. His findings that traits were either dominant or recessive and passed on independently of one another became the foundation for modern genetic studies.

Learn More About Gregor Mendel

Louis Pasteur

Chemist and microbiologist 1822-1895

Pasteur used his observations of microorganisms to suggest hygienic methods we take for granted today, like sterilizing linens, dressings, and surgical instruments. The process of treating food items with heat to kill pathogens—known as pasteurization—also bears his name.

However, the French scientist is arguably most renowned for his efforts in creating vaccines for diseases such as cholera, smallpox, anthrax, and rabies. He worked on the rabies vaccine despite suffering from a severe brain stroke in 1868.

Learn More About Louis Pasteur

Sigmund Freud

Psychologist 1856-1939

Although his research initially focused on neurobiology, Freud—who was born in what is now the Czech Republic but grew up in Austria—became known for his psychoanalytic theory that past traumatic experiences caused neuroses in patients. He also proposed the ideas of the id, ego, and superego as the three foundations of human personality and that dreams were a method of coping with conflicts rooted in the subconscious.

Learn More About Sigmund Freud

Nikola Tesla

Physicist and mathematician 1856-1943

Chances are you’re reading this in a lit room. If so, you have the Croatia-born Tesla to thank. He designed the alternative current, or AC, electric system, which remains the primary method of electricity used throughout the world (rival Thomas Edison created a direct current system).

Additionally, his patented Tesla coil used in radio transmission antennas helped build the foundation for wireless technology. The scientist also helped pioneer remote and radar technology.

Learn More About Nikola Tesla

George Washington Carver

Botanist and agricultural scientist Circa 1864-1943

Washington Carver is best known for his work with the peanut plant. Born into slavery , the Missouri native developed more than 300 uses for it —including shaving cream, shampoo, plastics, and of course, recipes for foods like bread and candies. But he also looked out for farmers by teaching them livestock care and cultivation techniques. Washington Carver built fruitful friendships with major figures like automaker Henry Ford , whom he worked with to create a soybean-based alternative to rubber and an experimental lightweight car body.

Learn More About George Washington Carver

Marie Curie

Physicist and chemist 1867-1934

Curie, originally from modern-day Poland, was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize —in physics—and also became the first person to win two Nobel prizes .

The scientist, with the help of husband Pierre Curie , discovered radioactivity and the elements polonium and radium. She also championed the use of portable X-ray machines on the battlefields of World War I. Curie died from aplastic anemia, likely caused by her exposure to radiation.

Learn More About Marie Curie

Albert Einstein

Physicist 1879-1955

In addition to his frizzy hair and reported distaste for wearing socks, Einstein became famous for his theory of relativity , suggesting that space and time are intertwined . And, of course, the famous equation E=MC², which showed that even the tiniest particles can produce large amounts of energy.

The German scientist was also a champion for civil rights , once calling racism a “disease.” He joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the 1940s.

Learn More About Albert Einstein

Physicist 1885-1962

Bohr studied and played soccer at Denmark’s University of Copenhagen before embarking to England to work with J.J. Thomson , who discovered the electron. Bohr proposed an entirely different model of the atom, in which electrons can jump between energy levels. This helped pave the way for quantum mechanics.

Bohr was also a key contributor to the Manhattan Project, in which the United States developed an atomic bomb during World War II. Bohr worked with project director J. Robert Oppenheimer , the subject of the 2023 biopic Oppenheimer .

Learn More About Niels Bohr

Rachel Carson

Biologist 1907-1964

Carson penned the famous book Silent Spring in 1962. The American scientist’s research on the adverse effects of DDT and other pesticides in nature is credited with beginning the modern environmental movement . Soon after the book’s release, the Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970, and the use of DDT was banned by 1972. Carson, who died of breast cancer, posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980.

Learn More About Rachel Carson

Alan Turing

Computer scientist and mathematician 1912-1954

A skilled cryptanalyst, Turing helped decipher coded messages from the German military during World War II. The British mathematician is also considered the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, with his Turing Test purported to measure a machine’s ability to exhibit behaviors comparable to human beings.

Turing’s life and efforts during the war were the basis for the 2014 movie The Imitation Game , starring Benedict Cumberbatch .

Learn More About Alan Turing

Gertrude B. Elion

Biochemist and pharmacologist 1918-1999

Elion, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988, developed 45 patents in medicine throughout her remarkable career. Hired by Burroughs-Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) in 1944, the American soon went on to develop a drug, 6-MP, to combat leukemia. In 1977, she and her team created the antiviral drug acyclovir that debunked the idea that any drug capable of killing a virus would be too toxic for humans. It’s used to treat herpes, chickenpox, and shingles.

Learn More About Gertrude B. Elion

Katherine Johnson

Mathematician 1918-2020

Each of NASA’s early milestones—from sending an astronaut, Alan Shepard , to space for the first time in 1961, to Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew landing on the moon eight years later—were all possible because of Johnson. The West Virginia native helped perform the mathematical calculations necessary to determine their correct flight paths .

In a show of gratitude, NASA named a building at its Langley Research Center in Virginia after Johnson in 2017. Her inspiring true story was told in the 2016 movie Hidden Figures , with Taraji P. Henson playing her on the big screen.

Learn More About Katherine Johnson

Rosalind Franklin

Chemist and biophysicist 1920-1958

Franklin began working at King’s College London in 1951 and used X-ray diffraction techniques to find that human DNA had two forms: a dry “A” form and wet “B” form. However, Franklin’s discovery was overlooked after a colleague leaked her findings to scientists Francis Crick and James Watson . That pair went on to create the double helix model for DNA structure. Franklin died from ovarian cancer at age 37.

Learn More About Rosalind Franklin

Jane Goodall

Primatologist 1934-present

Goodall’s extensive study of chimpanzees has helped us understand how similar humans are to our evolutionary relatives. After arriving in Tanzania in 1960, the British scientist discovered chimps create and use tools, develop complex language and social systems, and aren’t exclusively vegetarian as once believed.

Once she understood chimpanzees, Goodall turned her efforts to preserving their habitats and preventing unethical treatment of the animals in scientific experiments.

Learn More About Jane Goodall

Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.

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15 Famous Short People Who Reached the Stars

If there’s one thing the media and people on social networks love to throw around is “facts.” We’ve put them in quotes because many of them are based on stereotypes and have no truth to them. You’ve probably heard of so-called studies that have been conducted and show that short people tend to be less successful, wealthy, and less attractive.

It also doesn’t help that historians sometimes focus heavily on an important historical figure’s height. Take the example of Napoleon. For most Europeans, he was an invader and, in the grand scheme of things, a villain that belongs in history books. It’s rumored that he was very short and had image problems, which supposedly led him to be such a despicable person. On the other hand, the Russian tsar Peter the Great, the emperor who developed Russia and westernized it, is rumored to have been 6’7”.

These aren’t the only examples of famous short people being associated with less successful, while tall people are considered to be well-liked and charismatic.

In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s no correlation between height and economic and social status. To prove this point, we’ve compiled a list of 15 short famous people. After reading it, will you still think that being short means you’re doomed to be forgotten about?

15. Peter Dinklage (4’5”)

Despite having been born with dwarfism, Peter Dinklage never gave up his dream of one day becoming an actor. He studied acting at Bennington College and during his student days starred in numerous amateur stage performances.

Once he finished his studies, he went on to win everyone’s hearts with his spectacular performances in blockbusters such as Elf, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

His latest movie, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, has won him his first Screen Actors Guild Award. But this wasn’t the first award Dinklage ever won. Thanks to his amazing acting in the hit show Game of Thrones, he has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmys, of which he won three. This role also guaranteed him a Golden Globe in 2012.

Not only is Peter Dinklage one of the most famous short people on TV and cinema, he’s also one of the most talented actors around!

14. Lady Gaga (5’1”)

We don’t really need to tell you who Lady Gaga is since she’s sold upwards of 30,000,000 albums and 150,000,000 singles. Her music was iconic during the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Besides being known to be a wealthy and successful singer, Lady Gaga is also famous for wearing over-the-top outfits and owning them. Who could forget about her meat dress for the 2010 MTV Video Awards? If there’s a celebrity that is very much out there and embraces who she is, that’s Lady Gaga.

13. Daniel Radcliffe (5’5”)

During an interview with Playboy, Radcliffe was asked if his height bothered him when it came to being an actor in Hollywood. He made it very clear that he didn’t see himself as very short and that his height had never been a problem to him, professionally. Although it does limit what roles he can play, he doesn’t feel like he’s missing out for being 5’5”!

12. Ellen Page (5’1”)

She starred in hit movies, such as Juno, Inception, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Tallulah. Thanks to her unmeasurable talent she has been nominated several times for the BAFTA Awards, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and even for an Oscar.

But her influence doesn’t end on the movie screen. She’s become a gay-rights activist and gives talks all over North America about the importance of acceptable, as well as advocating for the end of sexual-preference-based discrimination.

11. Prince (5’3”)

A little-known fact about Prince is that this wasn’t a stage name: he really was born Prince Rogers Nelson. Maybe that helps explain why he was such a dazzling and extravagant character back in his days.

Prince was a very creative and productive music star. He wrote thousands of songs, even more than the Beatles did. From a young age, he wanted to become a musician like his parents were. At the young age of seven, Prince wrote his first song.

Who can forget about “Purple Rain” or “Kiss”? He was a musician that got over his height-related complexes and defined the musical scene of the 1980s.

10. Reese Witherspoon (5’1”)

Known for her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blond and as Madeline Mackenzie in Big Little Lies, Reese Witherspoon was never held back by her height, southern accent, or blond hair. She’s one of the most loved actresses in Hollywood (besides being one of the most famous short people who made it on the big screen) and is known for being super friendly with her fans.

Once you look at Reese Witherspoon, you see that her smaller stature is not a limitation: it only makes her look cuter and more loveable.

9. Pablo Picasso (5’4”)

Being the creator of one of the most well-known art movements in 20th-century art, Pablo Picasso will forever live on. His Cubist paintings inspired dozens of already-influential artists and millions of amateur artists to push the boundaries of art and create new and exciting things.

To this day, you can still see Picasso’s influence in the creative world. From books inspired by his “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” and by his “Guernica.” Who can deny that Pablo Picasso was the most influential artist in the 1900s?

8. Kristen Bell (5’1”)

When Kirsten Bell arrives at Hollywood parties and events, she’s usually accompanied by her husband. Well, being next to a 6’2” tall man doesn’t help to mask her short stature — and she doesn’t need to!

The actress has always embraced her body and loved herself for who she is. Which is perhaps why she’s so good at her job and loved by her fans. She owns up to being short and isn’t afraid to take on roles that accentuate her petite figure.

7. Bruno Mars (5’5”)

Besides being known as a terrific singer and songwriter, it’s no secret that Bruno Mars is famous for being short. There have been hundreds of articles written about his height and some magazines (such as Cosmopolitan) have even run funny pieces titled “31 Times Bruno Mars Was the Shortest Person in the Room.”

Instead of being ashamed by his height, Bruno Mars says it doesn’t have any influence over his talent. And he’s right! Height is something no one can change, and the American singer has said this on multiple occasions. It surely doesn’t stop him from selling millions of records and singles.

6. Ariana Grande (5’1”)

While her short stature worked in her favor during her days as Sam & Cat star, some people had doubts about whether she would be able to make the transition from tween-star to “serious” star. But Ariana Grande surprised everyone once again when she launched her first album.

Grande’s impressive vocal range and petite stature have turned her into the superstar she is today. She has owned up to being short and uses that to her advantage, maybe taking some people by surprise.

5. Ulysses S. Grant (5’8”)

While 5’8” doesn’t seem that short nowadays, back then for a man who was president and a general, he was considered short. There are even written records of people who consistently mentioned his shorter stature when describing him.

Despite being seen by others as “slightly stooped,” Ulysses S. Grant was, undoubtedly, one of the most memorable presidents. He led the Union troops to win the Civil War, outlawed the Ku Klux Klan, and served two four-year terms as President.

Nowadays, we might not associate Ulysses S. Grant with being short — and in reality, it doesn’t really matter either way!

4. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (5’ and 5’1”)

Mary-Kate only measures 5’, while her sister is an inch taller. The saying “good things come in small packages” rings true for these two social butterflies. Not only did they start their careers in Hollywood when they were in diapers, but they’ve also managed to build quite the empire for themselves.

3. Kevin Hart (5’2”)

With so many basketball and football stars towering over six feet, it can be easy to forget that not all black man are ridiculously tall. Kevin Hart has embraced the fact that he’s short — and built a career on that.

He’s one of the most famous black comedians still active today. And being one of the shortest, it comes as no surprise that much of his comedic content is based around the fact that he’s short. But his height isn’t the only thing he’s famous for. Kevin Hart is a genuinely laugh-out-loud comedian who has a knack for grabbing people’s attention and making a room come alive.

In fact, in several interviews, Kevin Hart has made fun of his “petite not small” stature (his own words). Not that many people can be as relaxed and chilled about a characteristic many people pick on.

2. Chandra Wilson (5’)

Chandra Wilson has won the Screen Actors Guild Awards several times, the Satellite Award for Television, the People’s Choice Awards, and the TV Land Future Classic Award. There’s no doubt that this woman has plenty of talent. Just goes to show, talent and height are not at all related!

Besides being an outstanding actress, Chandra Wilson is also an active voice for the equality of African-Americas and everyone else. For this, the NAACP has awarded her several nominations, and she continues to be one of the most revered black actresses.

1. Yuri Gagarin (5’2”)

Height limitations in Russia in the 1960s were much more lenient than those imposed by NASA. Thanks to this, Yuri Gagarin, who only stood 5’2”, was allowed into the Russian Space Program, where he made a name for himself.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to have reached space. He flew on board of the flight Vostok 1 and left everyone on earth stunned. It was both a feat for mankind, but also for short people from all over the world!

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100 most influential people in the world

Top 100 List

• Muhammad (570 – 632 AD) Prophet of Islam.
• Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) – British mathematician and scientist.
• Jesus of Nazareth (c.5BC – 30 AD) Spiritual teacher and central figure of Christianity.
• Buddha (c 563 – 483 BC) Spiritual Teacher and founder of Buddhism.
• Confucius (551 – 479 BC) – Chinese philosopher.
• St. Paul (5 – AD 67) – Christian missionary and one of the main writers of the New Testament.
• Ts’ai Lun (AD 50 – 121) Inventor of paper.
• Johann Gutenberg (1395 – 1468) – Inventor of the printing press.
• Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506) – Italian explorer landed in America.
• Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German/ US scientist discovered Theory of Relativity.
• Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) French biologist. Developed a cure for rabies and other infectious diseases.
• Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) Italian scientist – confirmed the heliocentric view of the universe.
• Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) – Greek philosopher and polymath
• Euclid (c. 325 – 265 BC) – Greek mathematician
• Moses (c 1391 – 1271 BC) A key figure of Jewish / Christian history gave 10 Commandments of Old Testament
• Charles Darwin (1809 -– 1882) –Scientist who proposed and popularised theory of evolution.
• Shih Huang Ti (259 – 210 BC) – King of the state of Qin who conquered and united different regions of China in 221 BC.
• Augustus Caesar (63 BC-AD 14) – First Emperor of Rome
• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who believed Sun was the centre of the Universe – rather than earth.
• Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743 – 1794) French chemist and biologist who had a leading impact on the chemical revolution.
• Constantine the Great ( 272 AD – 337) Roman Emperor who accepted Christian religion.
• James Watt (1736 – 1819) Scottish engineer. Watt improved the Newcome steam engine creating an efficient steam engine
• Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) – English scientist who contributed in fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.
• James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) Scottish physicist. Maxwell made a significant contribution to understanding electromagnetism
• Martin Luther (1483-1546) Sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church – starting the Protestant Reformation.
• George Washington (1732 – 1799) – Leader of US forces during American Revolution and 1st President of US.
• Karl Marx (1818 -– 1883) – German Communist philosopher.
• Orville and Wilbur Wright Orville (1871 – 1948) – Wilbur (1867 – 1912) – Created and flew the first aeroplane.
• Genghis Kahn (1162 – 1227) – Military and political leader of the Mongols.
• Adam Smith (1723-1790) Scottish social philosopher and pioneer of classical economics.
• William Shakespeare (1564- 1616) English poet and playwright.
• John Dalton (1766 – 1844) English chemist and physicist. Made contributions to atomic theory.
• Alexander the Great (356 -– 323 BC) – King of Macedonia and military leader.
• Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 –- 1821) – French military and political leader.
• Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931) – Inventor and businessman helped introduce electricity and electric light bulbs.
• Antony van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) Dutch chemist – founder of microbiology.
• William T.G. Morton (1819 – 1868) American dentist who pioneered the use of anaesthetic.
• Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1937) Italian engineer who helped develop radio transmission.
• Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) – Dictator of Nazi Germany.
• Plato (424 –- 348 BC) – Greek philosopher.
• Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) – Leader of Parliamentarians in English civil war.
• Alexander Graham Bell (1847 – 1922) – Scottish inventor of the telephone.
• Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) Scottish biologist who discovered penicillin.
• John Locke (1632-1704) English political philosopher. Locke promoted a theory of liberal democracy and a social contract.
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) German composer of the classical and romantic period.
• Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) German theoretical physicist – one of the pioneers of Quantum mechanics
• Louis Daguerre (1787–1851) French artist and photographer, who is credited with the invention of the camera.
• Simon Bolivar (1783 – 1830) – Liberator of Latin American countries
• Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) French philosopher and mathematician. “I think, therefore I am.”
• Michelangelo (1475 – 1564) Renaissance sculptor, painter and architect
• Pope Urban II (1042 – 29 July 1099) Influential Pope who ordered the first Crusade to the Holy Land and set up the Papal Court
• Umar ibn al-Khattab (584 CE –  644 CE) Powerful Muslim Caliphate and senior companion of Muhammad. An influential figure in Sunni Islam.
• Asoka  (c. 260 – 232 BC) Powerful Indian King who established large empire by conquest before converting to Buddhism and pursuing a peaceful approach
• St. Augustine (354 – 430) Influential Christian saint and writer, who shaped much of Western Christian thought.
• William Harvey (1578 – 3 June 1657) English physician who made contributions to understanding how blood circulated in the body.
• Ernest Rutherford (1871 –  1937) NZ born British physicist who made discoveries in atomic physics. His work on splitting the atom was influential for the development of atomic science.
• John Calvin (1509 – 27 May 1564) Christian theologian who developed a strict brand of Protestant Christianity which stressed the doctrine of predestination.
• Gregor Mendel (1822  –  1884) Czech/Austrian scientist and friar – who founded modern science of genetics.
• Max Planck (1858 – 1947) German theoretical physicist who developed a theory of Quantum physics and discovered energy quanta.
• Joseph Lister (1827 – 1912) British surgeon who pioneered the use of sterilisation and antiseptic surgery.
• Nikolaus August Otto (1832 – 1891) German engineer who developed compressed charge internal combustion engine to run on petrol
• Francisco Pizarro (1471 – 1541) Spanish Conquistador who claimed Inca lands for Spain.
• Hernando Cortes (1485 – 1547) Spanish Conquistador who conquered the Aztec lands of modern-day Mexico.
• Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) 3rd President of US. Principle author of the US Declaration of Independence.
• Queen Isabella I (1451 – 1504) Queen of Castille, who helped create a powerful and unified state of Spain whose influence spread to the Americas.
• Joseph Stalin  (1878 – 1953) Absolute ruler of the Soviet Union from 1924 to his death. Led the Soviet Union in WWII.
• Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC) Roman ruler who oversaw the demise of the Roman Republic to be replaced with a Roman Emperor. Militarily strengthened the power of Rome.
• William the Conqueror (1028  – 1087) First Norman King of England
• Sigmund Freud  (1856 – 1939) An Austrian neurologist who founded psychoanalysis, which involved the investigation of the subconscious, dreams and human mind.
• Edward Jenner  (1749 – 1823) Developed the world’s first vaccine (the smallpox vaccine). Known as the father of immunology.
• Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen  (1845 – 1923) German physicist who discovered electromagnetic waves or X-rays.
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) Composer and organist who created some of the world’s most beautiful music.
• Lao Tzu  (6th Century BC – ) Author of Tao Te Ching and founder of Taoism
• Voltaire  (1694 –  1778). A key figure of European Enlightenment. His satirical writings played a role in the French Revolution.
• Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) German mathematician and astronomer who created laws of planetary motion.
• Enrico Fermi (1901 – 1954) Italian-American physicist who created the first nuclear reactor
• Leonhard Euler  (1707 – 1783) Swiss mathematician who made prolific discoveries in calculus and graph theory.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) – French philosopher, author of Social Contract
• Nicoli Machiavelli (1469 –  1527) Italian diplomat and Renaissance writer considered the father of political science.
• Thomas Malthus (1766 – 1834) English scholar who raised concern over growing population.
• John F. Kennedy  (1917 – 1963) 38th President of the US. Served at the height of the Cold War and helped defuse Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Gregory Pincus (1903 – 1967) American biologist who created the oral contraceptive pill.
• Mani (216 – ) Iranian founder of Manichaeism, a gnostic religion which for a time was a rival to Christianity.
• Lenin (1870 – 1924) Leader of the Russian Revolution and new Communist regime from 1917 to 1924.
• Sui Wen Ti (541 –  604) Founder of China’s Sui Dynasty and reunifying China in 589
• Vasco da Gama (1460s –1524) Portuguese explorer, first European to reach India and establish a route for imperialism.
• Cyrus the Great   (600 – 530 BC) Founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire. Relatively enlightened ruler.
• Peter the Great (1721 – 1725) Russian Emperor who expanded the Tsarist Empire to make Russia European power.
• Mao Zedong  (1893 – 1976) Leader of the Communist Revolution and dictator of China from 1949-1974.
• Francis Bacon (1561 –  1626) Creator of the scientific method and key figure in Scientific Revolution of the Enlightenment.
• Henry Ford  (1863 – 1947) Owner of Ford Motor Company. Revolutionised mass-production techniques
• Mencius (385–303BC) Chinese philosopher one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism.
• Zoroaster  (c. 1200 BC)  Iranian prophet who founded the religion of Zoroastrianism.
• Queen Elizabeth I  (1533 – 1603) Queen of England from 1558 to her death in 1603. Cemented England as a Protestant country, defeated Spanish Armada.
• Mikhail Gorbachev  (1931 – ) Leader of Soviet Communist Party who pursued reform – perestroika and glasnost to open Eastern Europe to democracy.
• Menes c. 3000 BC Egyptian pharaoh who united Upper and Lower Egypt to found the First Dynasty.
• Charlemagne  (742 – 814) United Europe to form the Carolingian Empire. First western Emperor since the fall of Rome.
• Homer Greek poet who wrote Iliad and Odyssey
• Justinian I  (482 –   565) Emperor of Eastern Roman Empire
• Mahavira (6th century BC)  Principal figure of Jainism.

Book of 100 Most Influential People

100 Most influential people in the world by Michael H. Hart at Amazon

Hart, Michael H. 1992. The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, Revised and Updated for the Nineties. New York: Citadel Press Book.

• St. Thomas Aquinas
• Charles Babbage
• Marie Curie
• Benjamin Franklin
• Mohandas Gandhi
• Abraham Lincoln
• Ferdinand Magellan
• Leonardo da Vinci

Influential people since 1992

• Nelson Mandela
• Donald Trump US President
• Steve Jobs  (1955 – 2011) Entrepreneur who led digital revolution

Commentary on list

The list by Michael Hart is very useful for finding a list of very influential people. Like any list, everyone will have their own opinion and when it comes to ranking – there is ‘no’ right answer.

My main observation is that he has given a high weighting to scientists and writers than I might. Most notable omissions

Guru Nanak . Founder of Sikhism

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “100 Most influential people in the world”, Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net . Published 30 June 2013. Updated 30 July 2019.

Related pages

55 Comments

This ranking of 100 most influential people in history is fair and transparent without any prejudice and racist as you can see the author is not a muslim. he made a wondeful job, kudos to him

• May 07, 2017 5:04 PM
• By Aminu Haliru

Not trying to be rude but Muhammad and Newton do not deserve to be above Jesus. From a historical point of view and looking at the legacy he left, there’s no doubt he’s the most influential person of all time.

• May 04, 2017 1:49 PM

I must read this book, because being a Non muslim the auther given 1st rank to prophet mohammed pbuh why i don’t know. i must read perfect seerah of prophet.

• May 04, 2017 3:41 AM

How it’s not Jesus in #1? Jesus is easisy the most famous and influential person of humanity. There is more books, films, paintings, music about him than any other, he’s the central figure of the greatest religion of world, 2000 years of history, 2 billions Christians, 32% of world population, the global calendar, greatest instituition is Catholic Church, how is he behind Newton that lived only in the last 300 years? of even Muhammad? Come on.

• May 04, 2017 12:24 AM

Newton bigger than jesus? That is weird. Simon Bolivar only 48? and what about San Martin?

• April 23, 2017 4:09 PM
• By Santiago