Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography.
Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Alb= Albania, Am=Armenia, AR=Ancient Rome, Au=Austria, AH=Austria/Hungary, Ca=Canada, Eg=Egypt, En=England, Fl=Finland, Fr=France, Ge=Germany, Gr=Greece, Id=Indonesia, In=India, Ir=Ireland, Is=Israel, It=Italy, Jp=Japan, Nw=Norway, Ru=Russia, SA=South Africa, Sc=Scotland, SL=Sierra Leone, So=Somalia, Sp=Spain, Sw=Sweden, TT=Trinidad & Tobago, US=United States, Ve=Venezuela, Wl=Wales
A–C
Hermann Abert (Ge, 1871–1927) – Niccolò Jommelli, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Robert Schumann Gino Agnese (It, 1936–2026) – Umberto Boccioni and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Alfred Ainger (En, 1837–1904) – Charles Lamb Gëzim Alpion (Alb/En) – Mother Teresa Ellis Amburn (US, 1933–2018) – Warren Beatty, Buddy Holly, Janis Joplin, Jack Kerouac, Roy Orbison and Elizabeth Taylor Rudolph Angermüller (Ge, 1940–2021) – Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Núria Añó (Sp, born 1973) – Salka Viertel Marie Célestine Amélie d'Armaillé (Fr, 1830–1918) – Catherine de Bourbon, Élisabeth of France, Marie Leszczyńska, Marie Antoinette, Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême, Septimanie d'Egmont, Désirée Clary Margaret Aston (En, 1932–2014) – Thomas Arundel Rosemary Ashton (Sc/En, born 1947) – George Eliot Aaron Badgley (Ca, living) – George Harrison and Ringo Starr Anne Baker (En, 1914–2025) – Florence Baker, Valentine Baker and Geoffrey Salmond Deborah Baker (US, living) – Allen Ginsberg and Laura Riding Jean-Claude Baker (Fr/US, 1943–2015) and Chris Chase (US, 1924–2013) – Josephine Baker David Baldwin (En, 1946– 2016) – Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, Richard III of England, Elizabeth Woodville and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York Lady Frances Balfour (En, 1858–1931) – Elsie Inglis and Lady Victoria Campbell Lois Banner (US, born 1939) – Ruth Benedict, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Cady Stanton Angelica Bäumer (Au, 1932–2025) – Soshana Afroyim, Gustav Klimt and Erich Lessing Mary Benson (SA, 1919–2000) – Tshekedi Khama, Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela Mary Matilda Betham (En, 1776–1852) – Caroline of Brunswick Elizabeth Biddulph, Baroness Biddulph (En, 1834–1916) – Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke Jennie M. Bingham (US, 1859–1933) – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, Charlotte Brontë, Margaret Fuller, Charles Lamb and Briton Rivière Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield (US, 1858–1918) – Aphra Behn, Charlotte Aïssé, Rosalba Carriera, Gerberga II, Abbess of Gandersheim and Hrotsvitha Lucie Boissonnas (Fr, 1839–1877) – Robert E. Lee Martin Bommas (Ge/Eg, born 1967) – Tutankhamun Charlotte Booth (En/Eg, born 1975) – Horemheb, Hypatia and Tutankhamun James Boswell (Sc, 1740–1795) – Samuel Johnson Peter Bourne (En, born 1939) – Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro Catherine Drinker Bowen (US, 1897–1973) – Edward Coke, Benjamin Franklin and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Paula Broadwell (US, born 1972) – David Petraeus Sarah Bradford (En, born 1938) – Cesare Borgia, Lucrezia Borgia, Diana, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth II, George VI, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Sacheverell Sitwell David W. Blight (US, born 1949) – Frederick Douglass Max Brod (AH/Is, 1884–1968) – Franz Kafka Leslie Brody (US, born 1952) – Jessica Mitford Vincent Brome (En, 1910–2004) – Clement Attlee, Aneurin Bevan, Frank Harris and H. G. Wells Brigid Brophy (1929–1995) – Aubrey Beardsley, Ronald Firbank, Grigory Gagarin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Andrea Cagan (US, living) – Diana Ross Thomas Carlyle (Sc, 1795–1881) – Frederick the Great and John Sterling Robert A. Caro (US, born 1935) – Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson Humphrey Carpenter (En, 1946–2005) – W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Spike Milligan, Ezra Pound, Robert Runcie, J. R. R. Tolkien and Evelyn Waugh Virginia Spencer Carr (US, 1929–2012) – Paul Bowles, Carson McCullers and John Dos Passos David C. Cassidy (US, born 1945) – Albert Einstein, Mileva Marić and J. Robert Oppenheimer Charles Castle (En, 1939–2013) – Noël Coward, Joan Crawford, Oliver Messel, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, La Belle Otero and Richard Tauber George Cavendish (En, 1494 – c. 1562) – Thomas Wolsey Nirad C. Chaudhuri (In, 1897–1999) – Clive of India and Max Müller Ron Chernow (US, born 1949) – Alexander Hamilton Pasquale Chessa (It, born 1947) – Benito Mussolini Na Chokkan (In, born 1977) – Sachin Tendulkar, Dhirubhai Ambani, Charlie Chaplin, Rahul Dravid, Azim Premji, Lakshmi Mittal, Walt Disney etc. in Tamil Heather Clark (US, living) – Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath John Henrik Clarke (US, 1915–1998) – Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X Claude Clegg (US, living) – Elijah Muhammad Vincent Cronin (En, 1924–2011) – Napoleon, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Catherine the Great Anne de Courcy (En, born 1927) – Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, Margot Asquith, Coco Chanel, Nancy Cunard, Irene Curzon, 2nd Baroness Ravensdale, Lady Alexandra Metcalfe, Lady Cynthia Mosley, Diana Mosley and Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry Maud Cruttwell (En, 1859 – 1939) – Donatello, Andrea Mantegna and Luca Signorelli
D–G
Douglas Day (US, 1932–2004) – Malcolm Lowry Mahasweta Devi (In, 1926–2016) – Rani of Jhansi Thomas DiLorenzo (US, born 1954) – Abraham Lincoln Damon DiMarco (US, born 1971) – Roy Simmons Rebecca Donner (US) – Mildred Harnack Helen Dukas (Ge, 1896–1982) – Albert Einstein Erica Armstrong Dunbar (US) – Harriet Tubman Jonathan Eig (US, 1964) – Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackie Robinson Richard Ellmann (US, 1918–1987) – James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and W. B. Yeats Marthe Emmanuel (France, 1901–1997) – Jean-Baptiste Charcot and Robert Falcon Scott Hélène Carrère d'Encausse (Fr, 1929–2023) – Vladimir Lenin and Alexandra Kollontai Alberthiene Endah (Id, living) – Chrisye, Krisdayanti and Raam Punjabi Ivar Eskeland (Nw, 1927–2005) – Gisle Straume and Snorri Sturluson Wayne Federman (US, born 1959) – Pete Maravich Elaine Feinstein (En, 1930–2019) – Marina Tsvetaeva, Alexander Pushkin and Ted Hughes Mary Fels (US, 1863–1953) – Joseph Fels Kitty Ferguson (US, born 1941) – Stephen Hawking William Fitzstephen (En, died 1190) – Thomas Becket Sarah Foot (En, born 1961) – Æthelstan Amanda Foreman (En/US, born 1968) – Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Esther G. Frame (US, 1840–1920) – Esther G. Frame Antonia Fraser (En, born 1932) – Marie Antoinette, Oliver Cromwell, Caroline Lamb, Caroline Norton and Mary, Queen of Scots Russell Freedman (US, 1929–2018) – Abraham Lincoln Douglas Southall Freeman (US, 1886–1953) – Robert E. Lee and George Washington Leonie Frieda (Sw/En, born 1956) – Catherine de' Medici Gabriele Fritsch-Vivié (Gr, born 1968) – Kurt Singer and Mary Wigman Paul Frölich (Ge, 1884–1953) – Rosa Luxemburg Jean Overton Fuller (En, 1915–2009) – Sir Francis Bacon, Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Algernon Charles Swinburne Elizabeth Gaskell (En, 1810–1865) – Charlotte Brontë Peter Gay (US, 1923–2015) – Sigmund Freud and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Gary Giddins (US, born 1948) – Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby and Charlie Parker Martin Gilbert (En, 1936–2015) – Winston Churchill Annie Somers Gilchrist (US, 1841–1912) – Some representative women of Tennessee Marcia Ann Gillespie (US, born 1944) – Maya Angelou Josef Greiner (Au, c. 1886–1947) – Adolf Hitler Adrian Greenwood (En, 1973–2016) – Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde Germaine Greer (En, born 1939) – Anne Hathaway Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli (It, 1800–1873) – Lord Byron Peter Guralnick (US, born 1943) – Elvis Presley and Sam Phillips Ramachandra Guha (In, born 1958) – Verrier Elwin and Mahatma Gandhi
H–M
Syeda Hameed (In, born 1943) – Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Maulana Azad and Zakir Husain Jane Sherron De Hart (US, born 1936) – Ruth Bader Ginsburg James Haskins (US) – Lena Horne, Scott Joplin, Rosa Parks, Pelé, Bill Robinson, Stevie Wonder and James Van Der Zee Zahi Hawass (Eg, born 1947) – Cleopatra, Ramesses II and Tutankhamun Seppo Heikinheimo (Fl, 1938–1997) – Aarre Merikanto, Oskar Merikanto and Martti Talvela Carolyn Gold Heilbrun (US, 1926–2003) – Lady Ottoline Morrell and Gloria Steinem Robert Hemenway (US, 1941–2015) – Zora Neale Hurston Hayden Herrera (US, born 1940) – Frida Kahlo Charles Higham (En/US, 1931–2012) – Errol Flynn, Howard Hughes and Katharine Hepburn Laura Hillenbrand (US, born 1967) – Louis Zamperini Thomas Jefferson Hogg (En, 1792–1862) – Percy Bysshe Shelley Richard Holmes (En, born 1945) – Mary Shelley and Samuel Taylor Coleridge Michael Holroyd (En, born 1935) – Lytton Strachey Imogen Holst (En, 1907–1984) – Gustav Holst Erik Hornung (Ge/Eg, 1933–2022) – Akhenaten and Seti I Louise Seymour Houghton (1838–1920) – David Livingstone Marilla Baker Ingalls (US, 1828–1902) – Mah Po Walter Isaacson (US, born 1952) – Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs and Henry Kissinger Edward Jablonski (US, 1922–2004) – George Gershwin and Irving Berlin Elizabeth Jenkins (En, 1905–2010) – Jane Austen, Henry Fielding, Lady Caroline Lamb Joseph Lister and Elizabeth I Samuel Johnson (En, 1709–1784) – Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets Ernest Jones (Wl, 1879–1958) – Sigmund Freud Kathleen Jones (En/Al, born 1946) – Katherine Mansfield Landon Jones (US, living) – William Clark Alicia Jurado (Arg, 1922–2011) – William Henry Hudson, Cunninghame Graham, Jorge Luis Borges Yvonne Kapp (En, 1903–1999) – Eleanor Marx Shakuntala Karandikar (In, 1931–2018) – Chandrashekhar Agashe Lutis Abd Al Karim (Eg) – Farida of Egypt, Ihsan Abdel Quddous and Mohammed Abdel Wahab Kitty Kelley (US, born 1942) – Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Nancy Reagan Jacqueline Kent (Al, born 1947) – Kenneth Cook, Beatrice Davis, Julia Gillard and Hephzibah Menuhin Harriette A. Keyser (US, 1841–1936) – Henry C. Potter Jennie Ellis Keysor (US, 1860–1945) – Raphael Marvin Kitman (US, 1929–2023) – George Washington and Bill O'Reilly Edward Klein (US, born 1937) – Hillary Clinton Vera Krasovskaya (Ru, 1915–1999) – Vakhtang Chabukiani, Nikita Dolgushin, Natalia Dudinskaya, Michel Fokine, Irina Kolpakova, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova Brooke Kroeger (US, living) – Nellie Bly and Fannie Hurst Robert Lacey (En, born 1944) – Elizabeth II, Princess Grace, Henry VIII, Henry Ford and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Jane Lane (En, 1905–1978) – Titus Oates Joseph P. Lash (US, 1909–1987) – Helen Keller and Eleanor Roosevelt Linda Lear (US, born 1940) – Beatrix Potter David Leavitt (US, born 1961) – Alan Turing Hermione Lee (En, born 1948) – Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf Sidney Lee (En, 1856–1926) – Dictionary of National Biography, William Shakespeare and Queen Victoria J. Michael Lennon (US, born 1942) – Norman Mailer Gerda Lerner (US, 1920–2013) – Angelina Grimké and Sarah Moore Grimké Santeri Levas (Fl, 1899–1987) – Clara & Robert Schumann, Jean Sibelius Barbara Levick (En, 1931–2023) – specialising in Roman emperors Gail Levin (US, born 1948) – Edward Hopper, Judy Chicago and Lee Krasner Roger Lewis (Wl, born 1960) – Anthony Burgess Martha D. Lincoln (US, 1838–1911) – John Wesley Powell Emil Ludwig (Ge, 1881–1948) – Otto von Bismarck, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Napoleon and Wilhelm II Kenneth S. Lynn (US, 1923–2001) – Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin and Ernest Hemingway Brenda Maddox (US/E, 1932–2019) – Elizabeth Taylor, D. H. Lawrence, Nora Joyce, W. B. Yeats and Rosalind Franklin Norman Mailer (US, 1923–2007) – Marilyn Monroe, Lee Harvey Oswald and Gary Gilmore Koryun (Am, 5th century) – Mesrop Mashtots William Manchester (US, 1922–2004) – Winston Churchill, Douglas MacArthur and John F. Kennedy Cristina Marcano (Ve, born 1960) – Hugo Chávez Bruce Marshall (Sc, 1899–1987) – Wing Commander F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas Georgina Masson (1912–1980) – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and Christina, Queen of Sweden