1724 - Noël François de Wailly, French writer, linguist, grammarian, and lexicographer.
1767 - Amélie-Julie Candeille, French writer, playwright, librettist, memoirist, composer, singer, actress, comedian, pianist, harpsichordist, and harpist. At aged 7, she played in a concert before the French king, and also played a concert alongside the teenage Mozart.
1774 - Diodata Saluzzo Roero, Italian poet, playwright, novelist, short-story writer, and historical-fiction writer who was one of the first women to be admitted to the Accademia degli Arcadi.
1807 - Clara de Chatelain, prolific English writer, translator, novelist, short-story writer, fairy-tale writer, elegist, and composer who wrote widely under her pseudonym Leopold Wray.
1816 - Marie Luise Auguste Petersen, German author and mythographer who was most famous for her fairy tale Princess Ilse.
1820 - Avdotya Panaeva, Russian novelist, memoirist, short-story writer, and salonnière; she published much of her work under the pseudonym V.
Stanitsky.
1831 - Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Russian writer, journalist, philosopher, and occultist who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 and gained an international following as the leading theoretician of Theosophy, the esoteric religion that her society promoted.
1853 - Teréza Nováková (née Lanhausová), Czech feminist author, short-story writer, novelist, editor, and ethnographer.
1856 - Bertilda Samper Acosta, Colombian writer, poet, and nun; she is best known for her revision and expansion of the Novena of Aguinaldos, a popular devotional novena of Advent used during the Christmas season in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
1861 - Josephine Turpin Washington, U.S. African-American writer, essayist, biographer, and educator who wrote extensively about racism in America.
1875 - Kunio Yanagita, Japanese writer, folklorist, linguist, Esperantist, university teacher, agronomist, anthropologist, and lexicographer who is considered the father of Japanese native folkloristics, or minzokugaku.
1880 - Premchand (pen name for Dhanpat Rai Shrivastava), prolific Indian writer, screenwriter, novelist, essayist, translator, and short-story author who wrote in Hindi and Urdu and also used the pen names Munshi Premchand and Nawab Rai. He is one of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent, and has been called the "Upanyas Samrat" ("Emperor among Novelists").
1882 - Grete Gulbransson, Austrian writer and poet, especially known for her bestselling family chronicle Geliebte Schatten.
1893 - Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani biographer, dental surgeon, stateswoman, and one of the leading founders of Pakistan; she was widely known as Mader-e Millat ("Mother of the Nation").
1904 - Bret Halliday, the most famous pseudonym of U.S. author Davis Dresser, who wrote in the mystery, romance and western genres; he wrote under a variety of names, including Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, and Anderson Wayne.
1912 - Milton Friedman, influential U.S. free-market economist, statistician, writer, and professor.
1912 - Irv Kupcinet (known as "Kup"), U.S. newspaper columnist, talk-show host, author, and Chicago Bears football commentator.
1919 - Primo Levi, Italian chemist, author, and poet who is best known for writing about his time in a Nazi concentration camp; the Royal Institution of Great Britain named his book The Periodic Table the greatest science book ever written.
1921 - Julieta Pinto, Costa Rican novelist, children's author, short-story writer and professor.
1926 - Anne Paolucci, prolific Italian-born novelist, playwright, poet, literary critic, short-story writer, translator, scholar, and professor who was based in the U.S.
1926 - Hilary Whitehall Putnam, U.S. philosopher, author, professor, mathematician, and computer scientist who is a central figure in analytic philosophy.
1929 - Lynn Reid Banks, British author of novels for children and adults and of biographies about the Bronte family; Banks is best known for her bestselling children's book, The Indian in the Cupboard.
1933 - Cees Nooteboom, Dutch novelist, poet, translator, travel writer, and journalist who is considered a Nobel Prize contender.
1938 - Muriel Feelings, U.S. writer and educator whose picture books aimed to introduce children to African culture; a Caldecott Honor Book winner and American Book Award nominee.
1940 - Fleur Jaeggy, award-winning Swiss novelist and translator who writes in Italian.
1942 - Bayoumi Andil, Egyptian writer and linguist who authored many books on Egyptian culture and Modern Egyptian language.
1942 - Triztán Vindtorn (born Kjell Erik Larsen), Norwegian poet and performance artist who was considered one of Norway's most distinctive poets; his work was influenced by futurism, dadaism, surrealism, expressionism, and pop art.
1943 - Susan Cheever, U.S. novelist, nonfiction author, columnist, essayist, biographer, literary critic, and teacher; novelist and short-story writer John Cheever was her father.
1944 - Jonathan Dimbleby, British writer, political commentator, filmmaker, and radio and TV presenter; he is the son of prominent war correspondent and news commentator Richard Dimbleby.
1945 - Germano Almeida, award-winning Cape Verdean novelist, short-story writer, publisher, and lawyer.
1949 - Kristina Carlson (also known by her pen name Mari Lampinen), Finnish novelist, poet, journalist, and young-adult author.
1950 - Roberto Vidal Bolaño, Spanish Galician playwright, writer, and actor.
1952 - João Manuel Rosado Barreiros (also known by the pseudonym José de Barros), Portuguese science-fiction author, satirical writer, editor, translator, literary critic, and teacher.
1952 - Faye Kellerman, U.S. writer of bestselling mystery novels who also has a doctorate degree in dental surgery; many of her books involve Jewish themes and characters, including her popular series involving the characters Peter Decker andRina Lazarus. She and her husband, suspense novelist Jonathan Kellerman, are the only married couple ever to appear on the New York Times bestseller list simultaneously for two different books.
1956 - Lynne Rae Perkins, Newbery Medal-winning U.S. author and illustrator of children's books.
1956 - Pam Withers, U.S.-born Canadian author of outdoor adventure and sports novels for young adults; she is also a former journalist, magazine editor, whitewater kayak racer, and whitewater rafting guide.
1959 - Andrew Marr, British broadcaster, journalist, political commentator, and actor.
1963 - Junji Ito, Japanese manga writer, short-story writer, and screenwriter who specializes in horror writing.
1965 - Joanne K. Rowling, phenomenally successful British author best known for the Harry Potter fantasy books (written as J.K. Rowling), which make up the bestselling book series ever, and on which are based the highest-grossing movie series ever; she has also written novels for adults, including the Cormoran Strike detective series (written as Robert Galbraith), and is known for her philanthropy and her support of left-wing causes. In recent times she has come under fire for prejudicial comments about transgender people. (Her character Harry Potter has his birthday today, too.)
1967 - Yasmina "Nina" Bouraoui, French novelist and songwriter born in France to an Algerian father and a French mother; her novels explore questions of identity, desire, memory, writing, childhood, and celebrity culture.
1967 - Elizabeth Wurtzel, controversial bestselling U.S. memoirist, essayist, and journalist.
1970 - Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian novelist, short-story writer, and children's author.
1978 - Tui T. Sutherland, Venezuelan-U.S. children's book author who has written under the pen names Heather Williams, Erin Hunter, and Rob Kidd, sharing some of those names with other authors who write for the same popular series; she once won $46,000 as a two-day champion on the Jeopardy quiz show.
1980 - Yamilka Noa, award-winning Cuban-Costa Rican poet and filmmaker.
1990 - Hakan Massoud Nawabi, Afghani-born freelance journalist, writer, entrepreneur, and blogger, based in Canada; he writes in both Dari and English. His grandfather was Ghulam Habib Nawabi, the last of the great Dari poets and one of the first to introduce modern Dari poetry in Afghanistan.
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