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Famous Writers

The best-known novelists, poets and playwrights in our archive, ranked by historical popularity.

957 writers in our database, ranked by historical popularity. Page 15 of 20.

Most famous writer

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Highest historical popularity score (HPI 93.2)

Most common birth month

February

92 of 957 were born in February

Living vs deceased

119 / 838

12% are still living

Most common nationality

American

186 people, 19% of the list

Editor-written profiles

289

30% have a full original profile so far

The ranked list (from #701)

  1. 701
    DS
    Danielle SteelRomance novelist with hundreds of millions of copies sold, making her one of the bestselling authors of all time.🇺🇸American · Born August 14, 1947View profile
  2. 702Velimir KhlebnikovVelimir KhlebnikovFuturist poet who invented the experimental language of zaum and wrote the long poem Zangezi.🇷🇺Russian · Born October 28, 1885 · Died June 28, 1922View profile
  3. 703Juliusz SłowackiJuliusz SłowackiRomantic poet and dramatist whose play Kordian is a landmark of Polish theatre and one of the nation's Three Bards.🇵🇱Polish · Born August 23, 1809 · Died April 3, 1849View profile
  4. 704Khaled HosseiniKhaled HosseiniAfghan-American novelist whose debut The Kite Runner became an international bestseller, followed by A Thousand Splendid Suns.🇺🇸American · Born March 4, 1965View profile
  5. 705Anne RiceAnne RiceNovelist whose Gothic bestseller Interview with the Vampire launched The Vampire Chronicles and reshaped modern vampire fiction.🇺🇸American · Born October 4, 1941 · Died December 11, 2021View profile
  6. 706Monique WittigMonique WittigFrench feminist writer whose essay collection The Straight Mind challenged assumptions about sex and gender, and who wrote the novel Les Guérillères.🇫🇷French · Born July 13, 1935 · Died January 3, 2003View profile
  7. 707Ugo FoscoloUgo FoscoloPoet whose long poem Dei Sepolcri and the novel Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis shaped Italian Romanticism.Venetian · Born January 26, 1777 · Died September 10, 1827View profile
  8. 708Kazi Nazrul IslamKazi Nazrul IslamBengali poet known as the Rebel Poet for his revolutionary verse Bidrohi, and later named national poet of Bangladesh.🇮🇳Indian · Born May 24, 1899 · Died August 29, 1976View profile
  9. 709Richard MathesonRichard MathesonAuthor of the vampire novel I Am Legend, who also wrote several memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone.🇺🇸American · Born February 20, 1926 · Died June 23, 2013View profile
  10. 710Charles Ferdinand RamuzCharles Ferdinand RamuzFrench-language Swiss novelist known for Derborence, a story of survival after a mountain landslide.🇨🇭Swiss · Born September 24, 1878 · Died May 23, 1947View profile
  11. 711Alexander GriboyedovAlexander GriboyedovDiplomat who wrote the verse comedy Woe from Wit, a landmark of Russian drama.🇷🇺Russian · Born January 4, 1795 · Died January 30, 1829View profile
  12. 712Pierre de MarivauxPierre de MarivauxWrote refined comedies of love such as The Game of Love and Chance, which gave the term marivaudage to French theatre.🇫🇷French · Born February 4, 1688 · Died February 11, 1763View profile
  13. 713Gavrila DerzhavinGavrila DerzhavinRussian poet and statesman remembered for the ode Felitsa, which praised Catherine the Great and won him wide renown.🇷🇺Russian · Born July 3, 1743 · Died July 8, 1816View profile
  14. 714Rasul GamzatovRasul GamzatovAvar-language poet of Dagestan whose poem Zhuravli became a beloved Soviet song, and who wrote My Dagestan.🇷🇺Russian · Born September 8, 1923 · Died November 3, 2003View profile
  15. 715Charles PéguyCharles PéguyFounded and edited the journal Cahiers de la Quinzaine, which published leading writers of his day.🇫🇷French · Born January 7, 1873 · Died September 5, 1914View profile
  16. 716Stanisław Jerzy LecStanisław Jerzy LecAphorist whose collection Unkempt Thoughts, full of dry wit about tyranny and absurdity, became a classic of Polish literature.🇵🇱Polish · Born March 6, 1909 · Died May 7, 1966View profile
  17. 717Thomas Mayne ReidThomas Mayne ReidWrote popular adventure novels such as The Headless Horseman, drawing on his experience of the Mexican–American War.🇺🇸American · Born April 4, 1818 · Died October 22, 1883View profile
  18. 718Daniil KharmsDaniil KharmsAbsurdist writer of the Soviet avant-garde and member of the OBERIU group, known for his bizarre, brief prose sketches.🇷🇺Soviet · Born December 17, 1905 · Died February 2, 1942View profile
  19. 719Lao SheLao SheBeijing-born novelist and dramatist who wrote Rickshaw Boy and the play Teahouse, celebrated for their lively local speech.🇨🇳Chinese · Born February 3, 1899 · Died August 24, 1966View profile
  20. 720Waris DirieWaris DirieSomali model whose memoir Desert Flower drew attention to female genital mutilation.Somali · Born October 21, 1965View profile
  21. 721Josef ČapekJosef ČapekPainter who coined the word robot for his brother Karel's play.Czechoslovak · Born March 23, 1887 · Died April 13, 1945View profile
  22. 722Vittorio AlfieriVittorio AlfieriPlaywright regarded as the founder of Italian tragedy, author of Saul and an acclaimed autobiography.Sardinian · Born January 16, 1749 · Died October 8, 1803View profile
  23. 723Gottfried BennGottfried BennExpressionist poet and doctor, author of the collection Morgue.🇩🇪German · Born May 2, 1886 · Died June 7, 1956View profile
  24. 724Nathalie SarrauteNathalie SarrautePioneer of the nouveau roman, author of Tropisms and The Planetarium.🇫🇷French · Born July 18, 1900 · Died September 19, 1999View profile
  25. 725Nikolaus LenauNikolaus LenauRomantic poet of melancholy whose verse epics Faust and Don Juan were widely admired.🇦🇹Austrian · Born August 13, 1802 · Died August 22, 1850View profile
  26. 726Theodor StormTheodor StormWrote the novella The Rider on the White Horse, a celebrated work of German realism set on the North Sea coast.Prussian · Born September 14, 1817 · Died July 4, 1888View profile
  27. 727Elizabeth GaskellElizabeth GaskellVictorian novelist who wrote North and South and Cranford, and also published a notable biography of Charlotte Brontë.🇬🇧British · Born September 29, 1810 · Died November 12, 1865View profile
  28. 728Jean GionoJean GionoFrench novelist whose Provençal tales, including Regain and The Man Who Planted Trees, celebrate rural life.🇫🇷French · Born March 30, 1895 · Died October 8, 1970View profile
  29. 729Yeghishe CharentsYeghishe CharentsPoet who wrote Dantesque Legend and the verse epic Epic Requiem, and who was executed during Stalin's purges.🇷🇺Soviet · Born March 13, 1897 · Died November 27, 1937View profile
  30. 730Peter AltenbergPeter AltenbergViennese café-society writer famed for Wie ich es sehe, a collection of short prose sketches that helped shape early modernism.🇦🇹Austrian · Born March 9, 1859 · Died January 6, 1919View profile
  31. 731Carson McCullersCarson McCullersSouthern Gothic novelist who wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Member of the Wedding.🇺🇸American · Born February 19, 1917 · Died September 29, 1967View profile
  32. 732Andrei PlatonovAndrei PlatonovWrote The Foundation Pit, a bleak satire of Soviet collectivisation that was long banned in his homeland.🇷🇺Soviet · Born August 16, 1899 · Died January 5, 1951View profile
  33. 733Maurice BarrèsMaurice BarrèsNationalist novelist and politician whose trilogy The Cult of the Self made his name in French literature.🇫🇷French · Born August 19, 1862 · Died December 4, 1923View profile
  34. 734Anthony BourdainAnthony BourdainChef and author of Kitchen Confidential who explored world food on Parts Unknown.🇺🇸American · Born June 25, 1956 · Died June 8, 2018View profile
  35. 735Dylan ThomasDylan ThomasWelsh poet whose radio drama Under Milk Wood and rage against the dying light still resonate.🇬🇧British · Born October 27, 1914 · Died November 9, 1953View profile
  36. 736Joyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol OatesProlific American author of novels, stories and essays, including the acclaimed novel them, which won the 1970 National Book Award.🇺🇸American · Born June 16, 1938View profile
  37. 737Ivan VazovIvan VazovWrote Under the Yoke, the first great Bulgarian novel, set around the April Uprising against Ottoman rule.🇧🇬Bulgarian · Born June 27, 1850 · Died September 22, 1921View profile
  38. 738Bankim Chandra ChatterjeeBankim Chandra ChatterjeeBengali novelist who wrote Anandamath, which contained the song Vande Mataram, later India's national song.British Raj · Born June 26, 1838 · Died April 8, 1894View profile
  39. 739Barbara CartlandBarbara CartlandProlific romance novelist whose hundreds of books, many set in Victorian and Edwardian times, made her one of the century's best-selling authors.🇬🇧British · Born July 9, 1901 · Died May 21, 2000View profile
  40. 740Mikhail Saltykov-ShchedrinMikhail Saltykov-ShchedrinRussian satirist who mocked provincial officials and landowners, most famously in the novel The Golovlyov Family.🇷🇺Russian · Born January 15, 1826 · Died April 28, 1889View profile
  41. 741Giovanni VergaGiovanni VergaLed the Italian verismo movement with the novels I Malavoglia and Mastro-don Gesualdo, set among Sicilian working people.🇮🇹Italian · Born August 31, 1840 · Died January 27, 1922View profile
  42. 742Norman MailerNorman MailerWrote The Executioner's Song, a long non-fiction novel about the killer Gary Gilmore, and won the Pulitzer Prize for it.🇺🇸American · Born January 31, 1923 · Died November 10, 2007View profile
  43. 743Harry HarrisonHarry HarrisonScience fiction author who created the comic hero the Stainless Steel Rat and wrote Make Room! Make Room!, basis of Soylent Green.🇺🇸American · Born March 12, 1924 · Died August 15, 2012View profile
  44. 744Garcilaso de la VegaGarcilaso de la VegaSoldier-poet who brought Italian Renaissance forms such as the sonnet into Spanish verse, leaving celebrated eclogues and elegies.🇪🇸Spanish · Born February 6, 1501 · Died October 13, 1536View profile
  45. 745Alfonsina StorniAlfonsina StorniModernist poet whose candid verse, including the collection Ocre, became a notable voice in Argentine literature.🇦🇷Argentine · Born May 29, 1892 · Died October 25, 1938View profile
  46. 746Ba JinBa JinChinese novelist whose family saga Family, first of the Torrent trilogy, depicted generational conflict in a traditional household.🇨🇳Chinese · Born November 25, 1904 · Died October 17, 2005View profile
  47. 747Alexander RadishchevAlexander RadishchevAuthor of Journey from St Petersburg to Moscow, a critique of serfdom that led to his exile.🇷🇺Russian · Born August 20, 1749 · Died September 11, 1802View profile
  48. 748Pío BarojaPío BarojaNovelist of the Generation of '98 who wrote The Tree of Knowledge and the trilogy The Struggle for Life.🇪🇸Spanish · Born December 28, 1872 · Died October 30, 1956View profile
  49. 749Sławomir MrożekSławomir MrożekPlaywright whose absurdist satire Tango, a sharp comedy of political and social disorder, made him one of Poland's most performed dramatists abroad.🇵🇱Polish · Born June 26, 1930 · Died August 15, 2013View profile
  50. 750Robert BrowningRobert BrowningVictorian poet whose dramatic monologues, including My Last Duchess, made him a master of voice and irony.🇬🇧British · Born May 7, 1812 · Died December 12, 1889View profile

How we rank and select

  • Ranking: people are ordered by their Historical Popularity Index (HPI) from Pantheon. HPI combines how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about a person, how many page views those articles get, how evenly the views are spread across languages and how long ago the person lived. People Pantheon does not yet cover are listed after them, ordered by our own popularity score (the number of Wikipedia language editions with an article about them).
  • Membership: each person appears in one occupation list only, based on their primary occupation as classified by Pantheon (for example, a queen who wrote poetry is listed as royalty, not as a writer). Kings, queens, emperors, sultans and royal consorts are not listed as politicians or writers: anyone who held a monarch's office on Wikidata, and never served as a president or head of government, counts as royalty. For the few people Pantheon does not cover, we use the primary field recorded in our database.
  • One-line summaries: each summary is an original line written for this site with AI assistance under our editorial rules, then checked against the Wikipedia introduction so no wording is copied.
  • Statistics: every figure on this page is calculated live from our database each time the page loads, so it changes as we add people.

Further reading

Reviewed by the Who Shares My Birthday editorial team.

Last reviewed: October 2026

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