callings of the archive
Essayist Biographies
Every archived life recorded as essayist, ordered by their place in the ledger.
Modern era
Theodore Roosevelt
October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919
26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 (1858–1919)
Modern era
Sigmund Freud
May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939
Founder of psychoanalysis and cartographer of the unconscious
Modern era
Carl Jung
July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961
Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (1875–1961)
Modern era
Elizabeth Blackwell
February 3, 1821 – May 31, 1910
American physician, abolitionist, women's rights activist (1821-1910)
Modern era
Rachel Carson
May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964
American marine biologist and conservationist (1907–1964)
Ancient era
Plutarch
c. 40 CE – c. 120 CE
Greek philosopher and historian (c. AD 46 – after AD 119)
Medieval era
Erasmus
October 28, 1466 – July 12, 1536
Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian (1466-1536)
Early Modern era
Michel de Montaigne
February 28, 1533 – September 12, 1592
French author, philosopher, and statesman (1533–1592)
Early Modern era
Voltaire
November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778
French Enlightenment writer and fighter for reason and tolerance
Modern era
Ralph Waldo Emerson
May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882
American philosopher (1803–1882)
Modern era
Henry David Thoreau
July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862
American essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)
Early Modern era
Mary Shelley
August 30, 1797 – February 1, 1851
English writer (1797–1851)
Modern era
Charles Baudelaire
April 9, 1821 – August 31, 1867
French poet and critic (1821–1867)
Modern era
Fyodor Dostoevsky
November 11, 1821 – January 28, 1881
Russian novelist (1821–1881)
Modern era
Robert Louis Stevenson
November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894
Scottish novelist and poet (1850–1894)
Modern era
Arthur Conan Doyle
May 22, 1859 – July 7, 1930
British writer and physician (1859–1930)
Modern era
Edgar Allan Poe
January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849
American writer and literary critic (1809–1849)
Modern era
Walt Whitman
May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892
American poet, essayist and journalist (1819–1892)
Modern era
T. S. Eliot
September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965
US-British poet (1888–1965)
Modern era
Virginia Woolf
January 25, 1882 – March 28, 1941
English modernist writer (1882–1941)
Modern era
Marcel Proust
July 10, 1871 – November 18, 1922
French novelist, critic and essayist (1871–1922)
Modern era
Thomas Mann
June 6, 1875 – August 12, 1955
German novelist and Nobel Prize laureate (1875–1955)
Modern era
Bertrand Russell
May 18, 1872 – February 2, 1970
British philosopher and logician (1872–1970)
Modern era
George Orwell
June 25, 1903 – January 21, 1950
British writer and journalist (1903–1950)
Modern era
Arthur Miller
October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005
American playwright and essayist (1915–2005)
Modern era
Langston Hughes
February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967
American writer and social activist (1901–1967)
Modern era
Sylvia Plath
October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963
American poet and writer (1932–1963)
Modern era
Chinua Achebe
November 16, 1930 – March 21, 2013
Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic (1930-2013)
Modern era
Richard Wagner
May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883
German composer (1813–1883)
Modern era
Helen Keller
June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968
American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968)
Modern era
Altaf Hussain Hali
1837 – December 31, 1914
Urdu poet and writer
Modern era
Annie Besant
October 1, 1847 – September 20, 1933
British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator (1847-1933)
Medieval era
Li Qingzhao
March 19, 1084 – May 19, 1155
Chinese Song Dynasty poet, known as "the most talented woman in all ages"
Medieval era
Sei Shonagon
966 CE – 1025
Japanese author and court lady
Modern era
Pramoedya Ananta Toer
February 6, 1925 – April 30, 2006
Indonesian writer (1925–2006)
Medieval era
Philippe de Commines
1447 – October 28, 1511
Writer and diplomat (1447-1511)
Modern era
Prafulla Chandra Ray
August 2, 1861 – June 16, 1944
Bengali chemist, educationist, poet, historian, industrialist and philanthropist (1861–1944)
Modern era
Jaishankar Prasad
January 30, 1889 – January 14, 1937
Indian poet, dramatist, and novelist of modern Hindi literature (1889–1937)
Modern era
Mir Mosharraf Hossain
November 13, 1847 – 1912
Bengali novelist, essayist and playwright
Modern era
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
January 21, 1908 – July 5, 1994
Indian author (1908–1994)
Modern era
Motiram Bhatta
September 8, 1866 – 1896
Nepalese poet (1866–1896)
Contemporary era
Meena Keshwar Kamal
February 27, 1956 – February 4, 1987
Afghan activist (1956–1987)
Modern era
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
July 8, 1926 – August 24, 2004
Swiss-American psychiatrist and pioneer in near-death studies (1926-2004)
Modern era
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861
English poet (1806–1861)
Modern era
Joseph Conrad
December 3, 1857 – August 3, 1924
Polish-British writer (1857–1924)
Modern era
Flannery O'Connor
March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964
American writer (1925–1964)
Modern era
Ralph Ellison
March 1, 1914 – April 16, 1994
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Modern era
Alice Walker
b. February 9, 1944
American author and activist (born 1944)
Modern era
Hunter S. Thompson
July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005
American journalist and author (1937–2005)
Modern era
Emile Zola
April 2, 1840 – September 29, 1902
French novelist, journalist, playwright, and poet (1840–1902)
Modern era
Julio Cortazar
August 26, 1914 – February 12, 1984
Argentine writer and translator (1914–1984)
Modern era
Umberto Eco
January 5, 1932 – February 19, 2016
Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist (1932–2016)
Modern era
Italo Calvino
October 15, 1923 – September 19, 1985
Italian journalist and writer (1923-1985)
Modern era
Lu Xun
September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936
Chinese novelist and essayist (1881–1936)
Modern era
Munshi Premchand
July 31, 1880 – October 8, 1936
Indian writer of Hindi and Urdu fiction (1880–1936); pioneer of social realism in Hindustani literature
Contemporary era
Salman Rushdie
b. June 19, 1947
Indian-born English and American novelist (born 1947)
Modern era
V. S. Naipaul
August 17, 1932 – August 11, 2018
Trinidadian-British writer (1932–2018)
Modern era
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
January 5, 1938 – May 28, 2025
Kenyan writer (1938–2025)
Modern era
Philip K. Dick
December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982
American science fiction author (1928–1982)
Modern era
Walter Benjamin
July 15, 1892 – September 26, 1940
German cultural critic, philosopher and social critic (1892–1940)