callings of the archive
Poet Biographies
Every archived life recorded as poet, ordered by their place in the ledger.
Modern era
Pablo Neruda
July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973
Chilean poet and politician (1904-1973)
Modern era
Chinua Achebe
November 16, 1930 – March 21, 2013
Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic (1930-2013)
Modern era
Margaret Atwood
b. November 18, 1939
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pépiniériste and inventor (born 1939)
Modern era
Edgar Degas
July 19, 1834 – September 27, 1917
French Impressionist artist (1834–1917)
Modern era
Marc Chagall
July 14, 1887 – March 28, 1985
Belarusian-French artist (1887–1985)
Early Modern era
Walter Raleigh
January 22, 1552 – October 29, 1618
English statesman, soldier and writer (1552–1618)
Modern era
Richard Francis Burton
March 19, 1821 – October 20, 1890
British explorer, army officer, writer and scholar (1821–1890)
Modern era
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945
German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident (1906–1945)
Modern era
Primo Levi
July 31, 1918 – April 11, 1987
Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor, and writer (1919–1987)
Modern era
Bob Dylan
b. May 24, 1941
American singer-songwriter (born 1941)
Contemporary era
Syd Barrett
January 6, 1946 – July 7, 2006
British musician (1946–2006)
Contemporary era
Tupac Shakur
June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996
American rapper and actor (1971–1996)
Contemporary era
Carl Lewis
b. July 1, 1961
US track & field athlete
Contemporary era
Umer Sharif
April 19, 1960 – October 2, 2021
Pakistani film director, comedian and actor
Modern era
Sadequain
June 30, 1923 – February 10, 1987
Pakistani calligrapher (1923-1987)
Contemporary era
Parveen Shakir
November 24, 1952 – December 26, 1994
Pakistani writer and poet (1952–1994)
Modern era
Ahmad Faraz
January 12, 1931 – August 25, 2008
Pakistani writer (1931–2008)
Modern era
Habib Jalib
March 24, 1928 – March 13, 1993
Pakistani poet (1928–1993)
Modern era
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
February 13, 1911 – November 20, 1984
Pakistani Urdu poet and author (1911–1984)
Medieval era
Fariduddin Ganjshakar
1175 – 1265
12th-century Punjabi Sunni Muslim preacher and mystic
Medieval era
Nizamuddin Auliya
1238 – April 3, 1325
One of the most prominent Indian Sufi Saint, lived most of his life around Delhi. Spiritual guide to Amir Khusrau
Medieval era
Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi
1274 – September 13, 1356
Mystic poet and Sufi saint
Medieval era
Amir Khusrau
1253 – September 27, 1325
Indian poet, writer, singer and scholar (1253–1325)
Medieval era
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
1177 – 1274
Sufi saint, philosopher and poet
Early Modern era
Bulleh Shah
1680 – August 22, 1757
Punjabi poet
Early Modern era
Sultan Bahu
1630 – 1691
Punjabi Sufi mystic, poet and scholar (1630–1691)
Modern era
Mian Muhammad Bakhsh
1830 – 1907
Punjabi poet
Modern era
Khwaja Ghulam Farid
November 25, 1845 – July 24, 1901
19th-century sufi Punjabi poet of the punjab , polyglot, scholar and writer
Early Modern era
Waris Shah
January 23, 1722 – June 24, 1798
Punjabi poet (1722-1798)
Early Modern era
Sarmad Kashani
1590 – 1661
Persian mystic, poet and saint
Early Modern era
Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan
March 13, 1699 – January 6, 1781
Historical figure
Early Modern era
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
1690 – 1751
Sufi writer
Early Modern era
Sachal Sarmast
1739 – April 11, 1827
Sindhi poet
Medieval era
Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani
October 22, 1314 – January 18, 1385
Iranian Kubrawiya Sufi saint (c.1312–1384)
Medieval era
Sheikh Noor-ud-din Wali
April 9, 1378 – March 12, 1439
Kashmiri poet
Medieval era
Lal Ded
1320 – 1392
Kashmiri writer, mystic and saint.
Early Modern era
Rahman Baba
1632 – 1706
Pashtun Sufi Saint
Modern era
Hasrat Mohani
January 1, 1875 – May 13, 1951
Indian independence activist and an Urdu language poet
Modern era
G. M. Syed
January 17, 1904 – April 25, 1995
Political leader (1904-1995)
Modern era
Altaf Hussain Hali
1837 – December 31, 1914
Urdu poet and writer
Modern era
Shibli Nomani
June 3, 1857 – November 18, 1914
Indian Islamic Scholar (1857–1914)
Early Modern era
Bahadur Shah Zafar
October 24, 1775 – November 7, 1862
18th and last Mughal Emperor from 1837 to 1857
Modern era
Ram Prasad Bismil
June 11, 1897 – December 19, 1927
Revolutionary, poet & writer (1897–1927)
Modern era
Sarojini Naidu
February 13, 1879 – March 2, 1949
Indian poet, politician, governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from1947 to 1949
Medieval era
Abdul Qadir Gilani
March 17, 1078 – February 14, 1166
Sunni Muslim preacher, mystic and jurist (1078–1166)
Modern era
Anwar Shah Kashmiri
November 26, 1875 – May 28, 1933
Islamic scholar
Modern era
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
b. October 3, 1943
Pakistani judge
Medieval era
Mirabai
1498 – 1546
16th-century Hindu mystic poet, saint and devotee of the god Krishna
Early Modern era
Tulsidas
1532 – 1623
Hindu saint and poet (1532–1623), author of the Ramcharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa
Early Modern era
Surdas
b. c. 1500
Indian writer
Medieval era
Ravidas
c. 1450 – c. 1520
Buddhism
Early Modern era
Tukaram
1608 – 1650
Bhakti sant-poet
Medieval era
Dnyaneshwar
1275 – 1296
13th-century Hindu Marathi saint and philosopher
Modern era
Savitribai Phule
January 3, 1831 – March 10, 1897
Indian social reformer (1831-1897)
Modern era
Sri Aurobindo
August 15, 1872 – December 5, 1950
Indian Bengali philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet and nationalist (1872–1950)
Early Modern era
Mir Taqi Mir
May 28, 1723 – September 20, 1810
Indian Urdu language poet (1723-1810)
Early Modern era
Khwaja Mir Dard
1721 – January 6, 1785
Urdu writer
Modern era
Momin Khan Momin
1801 – May 14, 1852
Indian writer
Modern era
Daagh Dehlvi
May 25, 1831 – March 17, 1905
Indian poet
Modern era
Akbar Allahabadi
November 16, 1846 – September 9, 1921
Poet (1846-1921)