Artists & Writers
Painters, poets, and storytellers of the human soul.
records written
Contemporary era
Zaha Hadid
October 31, 1950 – March 31, 2016
Iraqi British architect, designer and painter (1950–2016)
Modern era
Richard Wagner
May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883
German composer (1813–1883)
Modern era
Giuseppe Verdi
April 10, 1813 – January 27, 1901
Italian opera composer (1813–1901)
Modern era
Hector Berlioz
December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869
French composer and conductor (1803–1869)
Modern era
George Gershwin
September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937
American composer and pianist (1898–1937)
Contemporary era
Andrew Lloyd Webber
b. March 22, 1948
British theatre composer (born 1948)
Medieval era
Amerigo Vespucci
March 9, 1454 – February 22, 1512
Florentine explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer
Medieval era
Hernan Cortes
1485 – December 2, 1547
Spanish conquistador
Early Modern era
Walter Raleigh
January 22, 1552 – October 29, 1618
English statesman, soldier and writer (1552–1618)
Modern era
David Livingstone
March 19, 1813 – May 1, 1873
Scottish missionary and explorer (1813-1873)
Modern era
Henry Morton Stanley
January 28, 1841 – May 10, 1904
British journalist and explorer (1841–1904)
Modern era
Richard Francis Burton
March 19, 1821 – October 20, 1890
British explorer, army officer, writer and scholar (1821–1890)
Modern era
Roald Amundsen
July 16, 1872 – June 18, 1928
Norwegian explorer; first person to reach the South Pole (1872–1928)
Modern era
Robert Falcon Scott
June 6, 1868 – March 29, 1912
Royal Navy officer and explorer (1868–1912)
Modern era
Robert Peary
May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920
Explorer from the United States (1856–1920)
Modern era
Matthew Henson
August 8, 1866 – March 9, 1955
American explorer (1866–1955)
Modern era
Florence Nightingale
May 12, 1820 – August 13, 1910
Founder of modern nursing and pioneer of medical statistics
Modern era
Charles Lindbergh
February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974
American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist (1902–1974)
Modern era
Thor Heyerdahl
October 6, 1914 – April 18, 2002
Norwegian anthropologist and adventurer (1914-2002)
Modern era
John Glenn
July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016
American astronaut and politician (1921–2016)
Contemporary era
Sally Ride
May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012
American astronaut and physicist (1951–2012)
Modern era
Harriet Tubman
1821 – March 10, 1913
African-American abolitionist (1822–1913)
Modern era
Frederick Douglass
1817 – February 20, 1895
African-American social reformer, writer, and abolitionist (c. 1818–1895)
Early Modern era
Sojourner Truth
1797 – November 26, 1883
Abolitionist and African-American activist for women's rights (1797–1883)
Modern era
Susan B. Anthony
February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906
American women's rights activist (1820–1906)
Modern era
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902
American writer, suffragist and Women's Rights activist (1815–1902)
Modern era
Ida B. Wells
July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931
American journalist and civil rights activist (1862–1931)
Modern era
W. E. B. Du Bois
February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963
American sociologist and activist (1868–1963)
Modern era
Booker T. Washington
April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915
African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor (1856-1915)
Modern era
Marcus Garvey
August 17, 1887 – June 10, 1940
Jamaica-born British political activist, Pan-Africanist, orator, and entrepreneur (1887-1940)
Modern era
Mother Jones
May 1, 1830 – November 30, 1930
Irish-born American labor and community organizer (1837–1930)
Modern era
Jane Addams
September 6, 1860 – June 21, 1935
American feminist social activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and writer (1860–1935)
Early Modern era
William Wilberforce
August 24, 1759 – July 29, 1833
English politician and abolitionist (1759–1833)
Early Modern era
Olaudah Equiano
1745 – March 31, 1797
Black British abolitionist and writer (c. 1745 – 1797)
Modern era
Raoul Wallenberg
August 4, 1912 – January 1, 1947
Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarian (1912-1947)
Modern era
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945
German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident (1906–1945)
Modern era
Simon Wiesenthal
December 31, 1908 – September 20, 2005
Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter (1908–2005)
Modern era
Elie Wiesel
September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016
Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
Modern era
Primo Levi
July 31, 1918 – April 11, 1987
Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor, and writer (1919–1987)
Modern era
Helen Keller
June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968
American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968)
Modern era
Nellie Bly
May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922
American journalist
Contemporary era
Steve Biko
December 18, 1946 – September 12, 1977
South African anti-apartheid activist (1946–1977)
Contemporary era
Rigoberta Menchu
b. January 9, 1959
Guatemalan human rights activist
Contemporary era
Malala Yousafzai
b. July 12, 1997
Youngest Nobel laureate, voice for girls' education
Modern era
Charlie Chaplin
April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977
Silent-film genius whose Tramp became cinema's first icon
Modern era
Buster Keaton
October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966
American motion picture director, motion picture producer, motion picture producers and director, comedian, actor
Modern era
Walt Disney
December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966
Animator and showman who industrialized imagination
Modern era
Orson Welles
May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985
American actor and filmmaker (1915–1985)
Modern era
Stanley Kubrick
July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999
American filmmaker and photographer (1928–1999)
Modern era
Akira Kurosawa
March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998
Japanese filmmaker (1910–1998)
Modern era
Federico Fellini
January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993
Italian filmmaker (1920–1993)
Modern era
Ingmar Bergman
July 14, 1918 – July 30, 2007
Swedish director and screenwriter (1918–2007)
Modern era
Satyajit Ray
May 2, 1921 – April 23, 1992
Indian filmmaker and writer (1921–1992)
Modern era
Martin Scorsese
b. November 17, 1942
American filmmaker (born 1942)
Modern era
Francis Ford Coppola
b. April 7, 1939
American filmmaker (born 1939)
Contemporary era
Quentin Tarantino
b. March 27, 1963
American filmmaker and actor (born 1963)
Contemporary era
James Cameron
b. August 16, 1954
Canadian filmmaker and explorer (born 1954)
Contemporary era
Christopher Nolan
b. July 30, 1970
English-American filmmaker (born 1970)
Modern era
Hayao Miyazaki
b. January 5, 1941
Japanese animator, film director, and mangaka (born 1941)
Modern era
Humphrey Bogart
December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957
American actor (1899–1957)