Artists & Writers

Painters, poets, and storytellers of the human soul.

records written

Ancient era

Eratosthenes

276 BCE – 194 BCE

Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, librarian and music theorist

Ancient era

Galen

c. 200 CE – c. 300 CE

2nd-century Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher

Ancient era

Hypatia

360 CE – 415 CE

Alexandrian mathematician and philosopher, martyr of ancient learning

Ancient era

Ptolemy I Soter

c. 365 BCE – c. 285 BCE

Macedonian general, ruler of Egypt

Ancient era

Cicero

106 BCE – 43 BCE

Roman statesman, lawyer, orator, and philosopher (106–43 BC)

Ancient era

Julius Caesar

100 BCE – 44 BCE

Roman general and statesman whose rise ended the Republic

Ancient era

Marcus Junius Brutus

85 BCE – 42 BCE

Assassin of Julius Caesar

Ancient era

Cato the Younger

95 BCE – 46 BCE

Roman statesman, general and writer (95–46 BC)

Ancient era

Nero

December 15, 1937 CE – June 9, 1968 CE

Fifth and last Roman Emperor of Julio-Claudian dynasty (54–68)

Ancient era

Hadrian

January 24, 1976 CE – July 10, 138 CE

14th Roman Emperor (117–138)

Ancient era

Marcus Aurelius

April 26, 121 CE – March 17, 180 CE

16th Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher

Ancient era

Justinian I

May 11, 482 CE – November 14, 565 CE

Eastern Roman Emperor who ruled from 527 to 565 (482-565)

Ancient era

Sun Tzu

544 BCE – 496 BCE

6th century BCE Chinese general and military strategist

Ancient era

Mencius

372 BCE – 289 BCE

Chinese Confucian philosopher (372–289 BC)

Ancient era

Emperor Wu of Han

156 BCE – 87 BCE

Seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of China (157 BC–87 BC)

Ancient era

Cao Cao

155 CE – 220 CE

Chinese warlord and statesman (155–220)

Ancient era

Chanakya

375 BCE – 283 BCE

Ancient Indian teacher and strategist who authored the foundational manual on political economy

Ancient era

Seneca the Younger

c. 4 BCE – April 12, 1965 CE

Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman and dramatist (c. 4 BCE–65 CE)

Ancient era

Epictetus

50 CE – 138 CE

Greek Stoic philosopher (c. 50–c. 138)

Medieval era

Alfred the Great

849 CE – October 26, 899 CE

King of Wessex (r. 872–901)

Medieval era

Richard the Lionheart

September 8, 1157 – April 6, 1199

King of England from 1189 to 1199 (1157–1199)

Medieval era

Harun al-Rashid

March 7, 766 CE – March 24, 809 CE

5th Abbasid caliph (r. 786–809)

Medieval era

Mehmed the Conqueror

March 30, 1432 – May 3, 1481

Seventh Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1444–1446, 1451–1481)

Medieval era

Babur

February 14, 1483 – December 26, 1530

Founder of the Mughal Empire (1526–1530)

Early Modern era

Qianlong Emperor

September 25, 1711 – February 7, 1799

Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1711–1799)

Early Modern era

Thomas Jefferson

April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826

Founding Father, U.S. president from 1801 to 1809 (1743–1826)

Early Modern era

James Madison

March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836

President of the United States from 1809 to 1817 (1751–1836)

Early Modern era

Maximilien Robespierre

May 6, 1758 – July 28, 1794

French revolutionary lawyer and politician (1758–1794)

Modern era

Ulysses S. Grant

April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885

President of the United States from 1869 to 1877

Modern era

Theodore Roosevelt

October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919

26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 (1858–1919)

Modern era

Franklin D. Roosevelt

January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945

President of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (1882–1945)

Modern era

Eleanor Roosevelt

October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962

American diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (1884–1962)

Modern era

Dwight D. Eisenhower

October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969

President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 (1890–1969)

Modern era

John F. Kennedy

May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963

President of the United States from 1961 to 1963 (1917–1963)

Modern era

Jimmy Carter

October 1, 1924 – December 29, 2024

President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 (1924–2024)

Contemporary era

George W. Bush

b. July 6, 1946

43rd President of the United States (2001–2009)

Contemporary era

Barack Obama

b. August 4, 1961

44th President of the United States (2009–2017)

Modern era

Joe Biden

b. November 20, 1942

46th President of the United States (2021–2025)

Modern era

Queen Victoria

May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901 (1819-1901)

Modern era

Benjamin Disraeli

December 21, 1804 – April 19, 1881

British statesman (1804–1881)

Modern era

William Gladstone

December 29, 1809 – May 19, 1898

British Liberal prime minister (1809–1898)

Modern era

Winston Churchill

November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965

British Prime Minister who led the defiance of Nazi Germany

Modern era

Willy Brandt

December 18, 1913 – October 8, 1992

German politician (SPD), chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Modern era

Francois Mitterrand

October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996

21st President of the French Republic from 1981 to 1995 (1916–1996)

Modern era

Giuseppe Garibaldi

July 4, 1807 – June 2, 1882

Italian general, patriot and republican (1807–1882)

Modern era

Vladimir Lenin

April 10, 1870 – January 21, 1924

Founding leader of the Soviet Union (1870–1924)

Modern era

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

1881 – November 10, 1938

Founding father of the Republic of Turkey (c. 1881–1938)

Modern era

Mahatma Gandhi

October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948

Leader of India's independence movement through nonviolent resistance

Modern era

Jawaharlal Nehru

November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964

Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964

Modern era

Subhas Chandra Bose

January 23, 1897 – August 18, 1945

Indian nationalist leader (1897-1945)

Modern era

Indira Gandhi

November 19, 1917 – October 31, 1984

Prime Minister of India (1966-1977; 1980-1984)

Modern era

Deng Xiaoping

August 22, 1904 – February 19, 1997

Chinese politician and paramount leader from 1978 to 1989

Modern era

Ho Chi Minh

May 19, 1890 – September 2, 1969

Vietnamese communist leader, founder of North Vietnam (1890–1969)

Contemporary era

Aung San Suu Kyi

b. June 19, 1945

Former State Counsellor of Myanmar and Leader of the National League for Democracy

Modern era

Kwame Nkrumah

September 21, 1909 – April 27, 1972

Ghanaian politician (1909–1972)

Modern era

Julius Nyerere

April 13, 1922 – October 14, 1999

Tanzanian politician and writer, first Prime Minister and President of Tanzania (1922–1999)

Modern era

Jomo Kenyatta

October 20, 1893 – August 22, 1978

First Prime Minister (1963 to 1964) and President (1964 to 1978) of self-governing Kenya

Modern era

Fidel Castro

August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016

Cuban politician, author and revolutionary (1926–2016)

Modern era

Che Guevara

June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967

Argentine Marxist revolutionary (1928–1967)

Early Modern era

Leonardo da Vinci

April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519

Renaissance polymath — painter of the Mona Lisa, engineer, and anatomist