The Minds Behind the Words

A. A. Milne

Alan Alexander Milne (b. 1882) was an English author, playwright, and poet best known for his classic children's stories…

Abbas Hafez

Abbas Hafez (1892–1959) was an Egyptian writer, journalist, literary critic, and prolific translator who contributed sig…

Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad

Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad (1889–1964) was an Egyptian journalist, poet, critic, and historian who became a central figure i…

Abd al-Ghaffar Makkawi

Abdel Ghaffar Makkawi (1930–2012) was a prominent Egyptian man of letters, philosopher, and translator. He is considered…

Abd Allah ibn al-Muqaffa'

Abdullah ibn al-Muqaffa (724 - 759 AD) was a writer, translator, and thinker of Persian origin who lived during the Umay…

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin (b. 1963) is a celebrated Sudanese novelist and short story writer whose courageous prose address…

Adam Smith

Adam Smith (b. 1723) was a Scottish philosopher and economist who is widely recognized as the father of modern economics…

Aesop

Aesop (b. 620 BCE) was an ancient Greek storyteller and fabulist who is credited with initiating a highly influential tr…

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890–1976) was an English writer and playwright. She is widely known for her 66 dete…

Ahmad Hafiz Awad

Ahmed Hafez Awad (1874–1950) was an Egyptian journalist, historian, and political thinker, considered a prominent figure…

Ahmad Qasim Al-Ariqi

Ahmed Qasim Ali Al-Areqi (born 1958) is a prominent Yemeni writer, pharmacist, and novelist, born in the Al-A'rooq regio…

Ahmed Mohamed Hassanein Pasha

Ahmed Muhammad Hassanein Pasha (1889–1946) was a prominent Egyptian politician, diplomat, traveler, geographical explore…

Al-Jahiz

Biography: Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri, historically known as Al-Jahiz (c. 776 CE), was an Arab polymath…

Albert Camus

French writer, philosopher, and journalist (1913 to 1960). Albert Camus was a pivotal figure in 20th-century thought and…

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist widely acknowledged as one of the most influential s…

Alexander Schmemann

Alexander Schmemann (1921–1983) was a Russian-American Eastern Orthodox priest, theologian, and educator who is widely c…

Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) lived with an unbridled energy that mirrored the grand scale of his narratives. Born the son…

Alexandre Dumas (fils)

Alexandre Dumas fils (1824–1895) While his father conquered the world with swashbuckling heroes and sprawling historical…

Alfred de Musset

Ali Moustafa Mosharafa

Dr. Ali Moustafa Mosharafa (1898–1950) was an Egyptian theoretical physicist regarded as one of the most prominent scien…

Alice Munro

Alice Ann Munro (b. 1931) was an acclaimed Canadian short story writer widely considered one of the masters of contempor…

Alphonse Daudet

Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897) was a prominent French novelist, playwright, and short story writer known for his vivid depi…

Alphonse de Châteaubriant

Alphonse de Chateaubriant (1877–1951) began his career as a celebrated voice of the French soil, only to end it as a sym…

Alphonse de Lamartine

Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (1790–1869) was a prominent French poet, statesman, and historian who served a…

Ameen Rihani

Biography: Ameen Fares Rihani (1876–1940) was a Lebanese-American essayist, poet, novelist, political activist, and tra…

Amin Salama

Biography: Amin Salama (1921–1998) was a prominent Egyptian translator, scholar, and writer who devoted his life to bri…

Andrei Platonov

Andrey Platonovich Platonov (1899–1951) was a Soviet Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, and playwright whose di…

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) was a pioneering French aviator and writer who translated the raw peril of early fl…

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (b. 1860) was a Russian physician, playwright, and short-story writer recognized as one of the m…

Antony Hope

Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863–1933), known professionally as Antony Hope, was a prolific British novelist and playwright wh…

Antoun Saadeh

Antoun Saadeh (1904-1949) was a Lebanese writer, thinker, and political philosopher, the founder of the Syrian Social Na…

Antun al-Jumayyil

Antun bin Jamil Al-Jumayyil (1887–1948) was a prominent Lebanese writer, journalist, and politician who left a clear mar…

Aristotle

Aristotle (384–322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and polymath who stands as one of the most influential figures i…

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician who revolutionized the mystery genre, though he often felt i…

As'ad Khalil Dagher

As'ad Khalil Dagher (1860–1935) was a Lebanese writer, historian, and translator, regarded as a prominent literary and i…

Asad Rustum

Asad Rustum (1897–1965), a Lebanese national, was the "Historian of the See of Antioch" and guardian of the Mashriqi (Ea…

Avicenna

Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina (980 CE - 1037 CE), known in the West as "Avicenna," was a Muslim physician, ph…

Bar Hebraeus

Abu al-Faraj Jamal al-Din ibn Harun al-Malati, known as Bar Hebraeus (1226 - 1286 AD), was a prominent Syriac historian,…

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706) was an American polymath, writer, scientist, and statesman who served as one of the Founding…

Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) was an Irish playwright, critic, and political activist whose work profoundly transforme…

Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and essayist who is wide…

Blair, Eric Arthur

Eric Arthur Blair (b. 1903), who wrote under the pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, and journali…

Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker (1847–1912) was an Irish author whose name became synonymous with the most enduring monster in literary hist…

C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (b. 1898) was a British writer, scholar, and lay theologian who became one of the most influential l…

Cecil Delisle Burns

Cecil Delisle Burns (b. 1879) was a British author, lecturer, and political philosopher best known for his insightful st…

Charles Alexander Pasternak

Biography: Charles Alexander Pasternak (born 1930) is a distinguished British biochemist, academic, and writer who has …

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821–1867) was a French poet, essayist, and art critic who is widely regarded as one of the m…

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) possessed a rare, radical patience. While his five-year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle furnishe…

Charles Dickens

English novelist and social critic (1812 to 1870). Charles John Huffam Dickens was the definitive voice of the Victorian…

Charles Lamb

Charles Lamb (1775–1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian who is best remembered for his personal essays a…

Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault (1628–1703) was a French author, lawyer, and high-ranking civil servant who is widely recognized as the…

Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855) was a pioneering English novelist whose fiercely independent heroines forever changed the …

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) was a trailblazing American feminist, sociologist, and author who fiercely dismantl…

Churchill, Winston S. [Spencer]

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (b. 1874) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who served as Prime Mi…

Corrado Alvaro

Corrado Alvaro (1895–1956) was an Italian novelist, journalist, poet, and screenwriter renowned for his poignant portray…

Costi Bendaly

Dr. Costi Bendaly (1926–2013) was a prominent Lebanese thinker, educator, psychologist, and Orthodox theologian, conside…

Countess of Ségur

Sophie Rostopchine, Comtesse de Segur (1799–1874), was a prolific French novelist of Russian origin who became one of th…

Daniel Defoe

Dorothy Leigh Sayers

Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893–1957) was an English crime novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, and translator. Recognized a…

E. M. Forster

E. M. Forster (1879–1970) was a masterful English novelist whose quiet, elegant prose masked a piercing critique of Edwa…

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (1858–1924) was an English novelist and poet who revolutionized children's literature under the pen name E.…

Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and designer who became the first woman to win t…

Edward Page Mitchell

Edward Page Mitchell (1852–1927) was an American journalist and author who stood as a foundational figure in early scien…

Edward Said

Biography: Edward Wadie Said (born 1935) was a Palestinian-American literary theorist, cultural critic, and professor o…

Elias Abu Chabake

Elias Abu Chabake (1903-1947) was a Lebanese poet, writer, and translator, considered one of the most prominent pioneers…

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810–1865) was a prominent English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era.…

Elizabeth Von Arnim

Born Mary Annette Beauchamp in Australia and raised in England, Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941) found her literary voice…

Emil Ludwig

Emil Ludwig (b. 1881) was a German-Swiss author and biographer known for popularizing a narrative, psychologically drive…

Emily Brontë

Emily Jane Brontë (1818–1848) was an English novelist and poet who remains one of the most enigmatic figures in the hist…

Enid Blyton

Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English children's writer whose prolific output made her one of the most successful …

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) fundamentally altered the course of modern fiction with his stark, economical prose. Operat…

Evelyn Waugh

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (b. 1903) was an acclaimed English novelist, travel writer, and journalist widely regarded …

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald known widely as F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) was the undisputed laureate of the Jazz Age…

Faraj Jubran

Faraj Jubran was a prominent Egyptian writer, journalist, and translator, renowned for his distinguished travel literatu…

Father Ibrahim Sarrouj

Priest, intellectual, and library founder (born in 1942). Father Ibrahim Sarrouj is a Lebanese Orthodox priest and a gua…

Father Nehme Saliba

Priest, researcher, and academic (contemporary). Father Nema Saliba is a pastor in the Greek Orthodox Church, and is act…

Felix Salten

Born Siegmund Salzmann in Budapest and raised in Vienna, Felix Salten (1869–1945) was a central figure in the "Young Vie…

Fortuné du Boisgobey

Fortuné Du Boisgobey (1821–1891) picked up the torch of the French detective novel when the genre was still in its infan…

Fouad Daaboul

Fouad Daaboul is a renowned Lebanese media figure, journalist, and political analyst, widely regarded as one of the most…

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (b. 1849) was a British-American novelist and playwright best known for her classic childr…

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright, best known for her timeless contribu…

François-René de Chateaubriand

François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848) was a French writer, diplomat, and statesman who is widely regarded as the fo…

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (b. 1818) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escapin…

Frederick H. Martens

Frederick Herman Martens (1874–1932) was a prolific American writer, music journalist, and translator who made prominent…

Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels (b. 1820) was a German political philosopher, social scientist, and journalist who co-developed Marxist…

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (b. 1844) was a German philosopher, cultural critic, and classical philologist whose work pr…

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist, philosopher, and essayist (1821 to 1881). Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was a titan of world literatu…

Gaby Fouad Daaboul

Gaby Fouad Daboul (lawyer) is a contemporary Lebanese poet and writer, considered one of the distinctive voices in the L…

George Eliot

George Eliot (1819–1880) born Mary Ann Evans, possessed one of the most formidable intellects of the Victorian era. She …

George Orwell

George Orwell (1903–1950), born Eric Arthur Blair, was an English novelist, essayist, and critic widely regarded as one …

George Sand

George Sand (1804–1876), born Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, was a pioneering French novelist, memoirist, and social crit…

George Tannous

Biography: George Tannous (1880–1926) was a prominent Egyptian writer and journalist who made notable contributions to t…

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (1931–2022) was a Tibetan Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, scholar, and author who pioneered the …

Gustave Flaubert

Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) was a titan of French literature and the demanding architect of modern literary realism. He…

Gustave Le Bon

Gustave Le Bon (1841 - 1931) was a renowned French physician, historian, and social psychologist, considered one of the …

Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893) was a French writer and journalist who is widely celebrated as a master of the short story…

H. Beam Piper

Henry Beam Piper (1904–1964) was an American science fiction author known for his intricate future histories and sophist…

H. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells known as H. G. Wells (1866–1946) didn't merely predict the future; he built the imaginative archite…

Hafez Afifi

Dr. Muhammad Hafiz Afifi Pasha (1886–1961) was a prominent Egyptian physician, politician, and diplomat, considered one …

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was a Danish author, poet, and playwright who achieved international acclaim for his…

Harry Harrison

Harry Maxwell Harrison (1925–2012) was an American science fiction author, illustrator, and editor renowned for his sati…

Hasan Hanafi

Hassan Hanafi (1935–2021) was an influential Egyptian philosopher, academic, and public intellectual who served as a lea…

Henri Guys

Henri-Joseph Guys (1787–1878) was a French diplomat, orientalist, and travel writer who served as the French consul in B…

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) was a Norwegian playwright whose uncompromising vision dismantled the artificial conventions of…

Henry David Thoreau

American naturalist, philosopher, and essayist (1817 to 1862). Henry David Thoreau was a leading figure in the Transcend…

Hercule-Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac

Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655) was a French writer, poet, and free-thinker of the seventeenth centur…

Herman Melville

Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American literary titan whose most profound work went entirely unappreciated during h…

Hernando Téllez

Hernando Téllez (1908–1966) was a prominent Colombian journalist, essayist, and fiction writer. He is widely recognized …

Homer

Ancient Greek poet (c. 8th Century BCE). Homer stands as the foundational figure of the Western canon, a poet whose work…

Honoré de Balzac

French novelist and playwright (1799 to 1850). Honoré de Balzac was a titan of world literature and a founding father of…

Hugh Walpole

Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884–1941) was an English novelist, critic, and dramatist who became one of the most prolific and …

Ibrahim Ramzi

Ibrahim Ramzi (1884–1949) was an Egyptian playwright, essayist, and translator who stood among the early pioneers of mod…

Ibrahim Zeidan

Ibrahim Zaidan (1879–1956) was a Lebanese-Egyptian writer, publisher, and educator, widely regarded as a prominent figur…

J. M. Barrie

James Matthew Barrie (1860–1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright whose enduring legacy is inextricably linked to …

J. M. Synge

Edmund John Millington Synge (1871–1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, and folklore collector who became a leading figu…

Jack London

John Griffith London (b. 1876) was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist who became one of the first wor…

Jacob Abbott

Jacob Abbott (1803–1879) was a prolific American author and educator best known as a pioneer of juvenile literature who …

Jacob Grimm

German philologist, jurist, and mythologist. Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (1785 to 1863) was a seminal figure in the study o…

James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) was the first great myth-maker of American literature, practically inventing the front…

James Hilton

James Hilton (1900-1954) was an English novelist and screenwriter whose imaginative storytelling left an indelible mark …

James Joyce

James Joyce (1882–1941) was a monumental figure of literary modernism who radically reinvented the boundaries, structure…

Jane Austen

English novelist (1775 to 1817). Jane Austen was a preeminent figure in English literature whose keen observations of th…

Jean de La Fontaine

French poet, fabulist, and writer (1621 to 1695). Jean de La Fontaine was one of the most widely read and enduring figur…

Jean Racine

Jean Racine (1639–1699) was a preeminent French dramatist and one of the three great playwrights of seventeenth-century …

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer whose political philosophy heavily inf…

John Locke

John Locke (1632–1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlighte…

John R. Bradley

John R. Bradley (born 1970) is a British journalist, author, and Middle East specialist. He is widely known for his deep…

John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill (b. 1806) was a British philosopher, political economist, and civil servant who stood as one of the mos…

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, and cleric (1667 to 1745). Jonathan Swift was the undisputed mast…

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short-story writer who is widely regarded as one of the grea…

Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was a globally renowned French writer, considered one of the founding fathers of science…

Jurji Zaydan

Jurji Habib Zaydan (1861 - 1914) was a Lebanese writer, novelist, and historian, considered one of the most prominent pi…

Kadria Hussein

Kadriya Hussein (1888–1955) was an Egyptian princess, writer, painter, and prominent intellectual who made pioneering co…

Kallistos Ware

Kallistos Ware (1934–2022), born Timothy Richard Ware, was an English Eastern Orthodox bishop, theologian, and one of th…

Karl Marx

Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary socialist whose fierce critique o…

Khalil Gibran

Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, and visual artist who remains one of the most cel…

Khalil Mardam

Khalil Mardam Bey (1895–1959) was a prominent Syrian poet, scholar, and minister, widely considered one of the most dist…

L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum (b. 1856) was an American author, playwright, and journalist best known as the creator of one of the mo…

L. M. Montgomery

Canadian novelist, poet, and short story writer (1874 to 1942). Lucy Maud Montgomery was a defining voice in Canadian li…

Leo Tolstoy

Born into the highest echelons of Russian nobility, Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828–1910) became one of the undispu…

Lester Dent

Lester Dent (b. 1904) was an American pulp fiction author and master of adventure storytelling. He was best known as the…

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, led a fascinating double life. By day, he was a quie…

Linda Brent

Linda Brent (b. 1813), the pen name of Harriet Jacobs, was an American author, abolitionist, and social reformer. She is…

Louis Sédillot

Louis-Amélie Sédillot (1808–1875) was a French historian, orientalist, and scholar known for his pioneering contribution…

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) grew up in the intellectual heart of 19th-century New England, surrounded by towering tran…

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (b. 1889) was an Austrian-British philosopher who is widely regarded as one of the most…

Madame de Lafayette

Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette (1634-1693), was a French woman of letters and salonnière of…

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist (1869 to 1948). Mohandas Karamcha…

Marcel Proust

French novelist, literary critic, and essayist (1871–1922). Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French nov…

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (b. 121) was a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher who ruled the Roman Empire from 161 until h…

Mark Twain

Mark Twain (1835–1910), born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, is widely celebrated as the father of American literature. Raised…

Maroun Abboud

Maroun Abboud (1886–1962) was a pioneering Lebanese writer, literary critic, and educator who played a monumental role i…

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) was born into radical intellectual royalty, the daughter of feminist pioneer Mar…

Maurice Leblanc

Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (1864-1941) was a renowned French novelist and short story writer, famous for creating one o…

Metropolitan George Khodr

Metropolitan of Mount Lebanon, theologian, and luminous writer (born 1923). George Khodr is the spiritual heartbeat of t…

Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Metropolitan Hierotheos, Metropolitan of Nafpaktos (born 1945), is a Greek Eastern Orthodox metropolitan, theologian, an…

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (1547 to 1616). Miguel de Cervantes is the preeminent figure in Spanish literatur…

Mohamed Sameh El-Said El-Sebaei

Mohamed Sameh El-Said El-Sebai (b. 1974) is an Egyptian writer, critic, and architect. He is considered one of the autho…

Molière

Molière (1622–1673), born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, is widely celebrated as the supreme master of French comedy. Abandonin…

Monastery of Saint George - Deir el-Harf, Lebanon

An Orthodox monastic community and spiritual destination (its modern revival was launched in late 1957). The monastic co…

Montesquieu

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689–1755) was a French lawyer, man of letters, and poli…

Muhammad al-Khidr Husayn

Sheikh Muhammad al-Khidr Husayn (born 1876) was a Tunisian Muslim religious scholar of Algerian descent, and is consider…

Muhammad Husayn Haykal

Dr. Muhammad Husayn Haykal (1888–1956) was a prominent Egyptian man of letters, novelist, historian, and politician, con…

Muhammad Kurd Ali

Muhammad Kurd Ali (1876–1953) was a prominent Syrian thinker, historian, man of letters, and journalist. He is considere…

Muhammad Salim al-Jundi

Muhammad Salim al-Jundi (1881) was a Syrian linguist, teacher, historian, and poet, considered one of the most prominent…

Muhammad Yusuf Musa

Biography: Dr. Muhammad Yusuf Musa (1899–1963 AD) was an Egyptian jurist, legal theorist, and philosopher, considered on…

Naguib el-Rihani

Naguib El-Rihani (1889–1949) was an Egyptian author, actor, director, and theater figure, considered one of the most pro…

Najib al-Haddad

Sheikh Najib Suleiman Al-Haddad (1867–1899 AD) was a Lebanese journalist, translator, poet, and playwright, considered o…

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) remains the undisputed master of American dark romanticism. Haunted by the grim legacy o…

Niccolò Machiavelli

Italian diplomat, philosopher, and historian (1469 to 1527). Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was a central figure of…

Nicola Fayyad

Nicola Fayyad (b. 1873) was a Lebanese physician, poet, and orator who played a significant role in the cultural revival…

Nicola Haddad

Nicola Haddad (1878–1954) was a pioneering Lebanese-Egyptian journalist, sociologist, and novelist who played a signific…

Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano (b. 1745) was an African-British abolitionist, writer, and merchant seaman whose life story became one o…

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was the dazzling, controversial epicenter of late-Victorian London society. An Irish-born playwr…

P. G. Wodehouse

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881–1975) was an English novelist, playwright, and humorist who remains one of the most…

Pierre Corneille

Pierre Corneille (1606–1684) was a preeminent French dramatist and poet who is widely regarded as the father of French c…

Plato

Plato (b. c. 427 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and educator who is widely regarded as one of the most influential…

Rachel Carson

Rachel Louise Carson (b. 1907) was an American marine biologist, conservationist, and writer whose landmark books advanc…

Reinhart Dozy

Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy (b. 1820) was a distinguished Dutch Orientalist, historian, and professor who made foundationa…

René Descartes

René Descartes (1596 to 1650), French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. René Descartes is universally celebrate…

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was a titanic, fiercely polarizing figure in 19th-century German art whose influence spilled …

Robert Barr

Robert Barr (b. 1849) was a Scottish-Canadian novelist, journalist, and short story writer celebrated for his pioneering…

Robert Byron

Robert Byron (b. 1905) was an English travel writer, art critic, and historian best known for pioneering the modern trav…

Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard (1906–1936) was an American author and poet widely regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery s…

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer celebrated for his profound impact o…

Robert W. Chambers

Robert William Chambers (1865–1933) was a prolific American artist and author who achieved immense commercial success du…

Sally-Ann Ashton

Dr. Sally-Ann Ashton, born in 1969, is a British interdisciplinary scholar, researcher, and author with dual expertise …

Sayyid al-Qimni

Sayyid al-Qemany (1947–2022) was a prominent Egyptian historian, academic, and secular intellectual. He was widely known…

Scott O'Dell

Scott O'Dell (1898–1989) was an American author and journalist who became one of the most celebrated figures in the fiel…

Shawqi Abd al-Hakim

Shawqi Abd al-Hakim (1934–2003) was an Egyptian playwright, folklore researcher, and thinker, considered an exceptional …

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian neurologist who fundamentally shattered the modern understanding of the human …

Stanley Lane-Poole

Stanley Edward Lane-Poole (b. 1854) was a British orientalist, archaeologist, and historian recognized for his prolific …

Stefan Zweig

Stefan Zweig (b. 1881) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer who became one of the most widel…

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (c. 544 BC) was a Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher. He is traditionally credited as the aut…

T. Smollett

Tobias Smollett (1721–1771) was a Scottish physician and author who became one of the defining masters of the 18th-centu…

Taha Hussein

Biography: Taha Hussein (1889–1973) was an Egyptian writer, intellectual, and scholar who is widely considered the Dean…

Tharwat Abaza

Sarwat Abaza (1927–2002) was a prominent Egyptian novelist, journalist, and playwright who made foundational contributio…

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was an English philosopher whose deeply cynical, rigorously logical view of human nature perma…

Thucydides

Thucydides (b. 460 BC) was an Athenian historian and military general. He is widely celebrated for his detailed chronicl…

United States. Office of Strategic Services

The United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the premier intelligence agency of the United States during Wor…

Various Authors

Victor Hugo

Victor Marie Hugo (1802–1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist who became the preeminent figure of the Romanti…

Virgil Gheorghiu

Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu (1916–1992) was a Romanian novelist and Eastern Orthodox priest, famous for his scathing cri…

Virginia Woolf

Adeline Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) was an English writer and publisher who became one of the most prominent modernist fi…

Vladimir Lenin

Biography: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (born 1870) was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist who served…

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet, known by his pen name Voltaire (1694–1778), was born in Paris and was a prominent French writer, …

W. E. B. Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868–1963) was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, and author w…

W. E. Johns

CAPTAIN William Earl Johns (1893–1968), widely known by his pen names W. E. Johns and E. W. Johns, was a British aviator…

Washington Irving

Washington Irving (b. 1783) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, and diplomat widely regarded as on…

Will Durant

Will Durant (1885–1981) was a visionary American historian and philosopher who dedicated his long life to the democratiz…

William Chapman

William Chapman (1850–1917) was a prominent French-Canadian poet, journalist, and civil servant who played a significant…

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) remains the most influential figure in the history of the English language, a playwright…

Wolfgang Borchert

Wolfgang Borchert (b. 1921) was a German author, playwright, and poet who became one of the defining figures of post-Wor…

World Heritage

Biography: "From World Heritage" (Min al-Turath al-Alami) is a literary designation used to classify timeless classic w…

Wright, Richard

Richard Wright (1908–1960) was an influential African American author who pioneered the social protest tradition in Blac…

Ya'qub Sarruf

Yaqub Sarruf (1852-1927) was a pioneering Lebanese journalist, novelist, and publisher who played a central role in the …

Yusuf Idris

Biography: Youssef Idris (1927–1991) was an Egyptian physician, playwright, and author, widely considered a pioneer of …

Émile Zola

Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (1840–1902) was a French novelist, playwright, and journalist who remains one of the …