1511 - Giorgio Vasari, Italian writer, historian, painter, and architect who wrote Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, considered the ideological foundation of art-history writing; he was also the first to use the term "Renaissance" in print.
1663 - George Stepney, English poet, letter-writer, scholar, translator, and diplomat who was the son of George Stepney, groom of the chamber to King Charles II; he was born at Westminster. Writer Samuel Johnson, who included him in his book Lives of the Poets, called him a "very licentious translator."
1695 - Charles-Philippe d'Albert (Duke of Luynes), French memoirist and journal writer who wrote an important memoir of life at the court of King Louis XV. His writing is considered to have no literary merit, but is valuable as a historic resource for the study of the aristocratic society of his day.
1784 - Leopold Schefer, German poet, novelist, short-story writer, and composer; he was well known for his novels, but even more so for his poetry, which were praised for their warmth of feeling, keen psychology, and descriptions of the beauties of nature. In the 20th century, his books and poems were banned from Prussian school curricula because of his pantheistic beliefs, which resulted in his work being largely unknown today.
1818 - Emily Jane Brontë, English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature and a defining work of the Gothic romance genre. She also published a book of poetry with her also-famous literary sisters Charlotte and Anne, titled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (their pseudonyms); her own poems are regarded as works of poetic genius.
1827 - Susan Shelby Magoffin, U.S. writer whose diary, written as she traveled along the Santa Fe Trail in the late 1840s, has been used extensively by historians as a source for information about the lives of the pioneers.
1859 - Julia Frankau, bestselling English novelist and nonfiction author who often wrote under the name Frank Danby; her first novel was controversial because of its satirical portrayal of London Jews and Jewish life and its discussion of euthanasia; she also wrote three nonfiction books about engraving.
1865 - Alicia Margaret Tyssen Amherst, English horticulturist and botanist who was the author of the first scholarly account of English gardening history.
1871 - Mathilde Georgine "Tilla" Valstad, Norwegian teacher, novelist, and journalist; her best known literary work is the trilogy Teodora, Teodora Kommer Hjem. and Men Størst av alt er Kjærlighet.
1889 - Rosa Borja de Ycaza, Ecuadorian writer, composer, poet, sociologist, essayist, dramatist, and activist for women's rights and the rights of workers.
1889 - Dorothy Violet Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington (also known as Lady Gerald Wellesley), English author, poet, and literary editor.
1893 - Fatima Jinnah (widely known as Māder-e Millat, or Mother of the Nation), Indian-born Pakistani politician, dental surgeon, stateswoman, biographer, and women's rights advocate who was one of the founders of Pakistan; she was the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the first Governor General of Pakistan, and wrote a biography of him. Some sources list her birthday as July 31.
1904 - Salvador Novo, influential Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and essayist.
1912 - Anne Ridler, English poet, writer, librettist, and editor.
1913 - Nankichi Niimi, Japanese teacher, writer, and children's author who was sometimes known as the Hans Christian Andersen of Japan.
1914 - Béatrix Beck, French writer of Belgian origin who was a screenwriter, poet, and lawyer; she was the daughter of poet Christian Beck.
1914 - Michizo Tachihara, Japanese poet, writer, and architect; in his writing, he struggled to find a way for an urban poet to root himself in traditional customs and still be "modern."
1918 - Auður Sveinsdóttir Laxness, Icelandic writer and craftswoman, credited with influencing the design and popularity of the Icelandic Lopapeysa sweater during the mid-20th century; as a writer, she sometimes collaborated with her husband, Nobel Literature laureate Halldór Laxness.
1918 - Ursula Mariana Șchiopu, Romanian writer, poet, psychologist, and academic who contributed to the development of the psychology of peace, war, and terrorism.
1924 - William H. Gass, American Book Award-winning U.S. novelist, short-story writer, essayist, critic, and professor; one critic called his debut novel "the most important work of fiction by an American in this literary generation."
1924 - José Antonio Villarreal, Mexican-U.S. novelist whose books concern Chicano life in the southwestern U.S.; he has been called the "pivotal transitional link between 'Mexican American' and 'Chicano' literature," both because of his strengths as a novelist and because of his rediscovery of Latino literature in the 1970s.
1925 - Muhammad Dahlan Abdul Baing (also known as Duta Muda dan Patria and by his pseudonym Arena Wati), Malaysian writer who was the Malaysian National Laureate; his writings were in the Malay language.
1931 - Dominique Lapierre, French novelist, memoirist, biographer, history writer, investigative journalist, and world traveler, best known in the U.S. for his collaborations with Larry Collins.
1940 - Magdalena Ribbing, Swedish writer, journalist, author, editor, lecturer, and etiquette expert.
1945 - Patrick Modiano, Nobel Prize-winning French novelist, praised "for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation."
1946 - Barbara Kopple, two-time Academy Award-winning U.S. documentary filmmaker and television director.
1953 - Raffaele Palma, award-winning Italian satirical writer, artist, and humorist.
1958 - Pattukkottai Prabakar, Indian Tamil writer of crime novels and thrillers who is also a screenwriter for television and movies.
1958 - Claudia Schreiber, German journalist, author, screenwriter, and television presenter.
1959 - T. Selva, Malaysian author, columnist, broadcaster whose work centers on ancient Indian sciences.
1960 - Marcus Pfister, Swiss children's author and illustrator best known for his bestselling Rainbow Fish books.
1962 - Lavinia Greenlaw, award-winning English poet and novelist.
1967 - Ann Brashares, U.S. author of novels for teens and adults, best known for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its sequels; she has also written biographies and has been an editor for the "Sweet Valley High" series of young-adult books.
1969 - Svetlana Viktorivna Ischenko, Ukrainian poet, translator, stage actress, teacher, and artist.
1971 - Andrey Anatolevich Simonov, Russian aviation historian who has written several books and encyclopedias about World War II and the development of aviation in the USSR.
1974 - Jacek Dukai, award-winning Polish science-fiction and fantasy novelist and short-story writer.
1975 - Cherie Priest, U.S. author and blogger who writes in the genres of Southern gothic, horror, and steampunk.
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