Joseph Alexander Altsheler (1862 - 1919)

Author. He wrote novels of adventure and mystery, predecessors of the popular “Hardy Boys” and “Nancy Drew” series. He was voted Most Popular Writer of Boy’s Stories in 1918.  Family links:  Parents:  Joseph Altsheler (1826 – 1881)  Lucy C Snoddy Altsheler (1830 – 1902)  Spouse:  Sarah Boles Altsheler (1862 – 1964)*  Children:  Sydney B Altsheler […]

Manuel Altolaguirre (1905 - 1959)

Poet, Literary Editor. He was born in Málaga (Andalucía, Spain) and died in Burgos (Castilla-León, Spain). He was a member of the Generation of 1927, along with Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti or Vicente Aleixandre. In 1926, he along with writer Emilio Prados founded the prestigious magazine Litoral and began his literary career. In 1933, […]

Peter Altenberg (1859 - 1919)

Author.  He was a well-known Viennese literary figure in the years before World War I.  Altenberg noted the world around him with witty,  aphoristic little sketches that blurred the line between poetry and prose.  To keep them brief he often composed them on the backs of postcards.  Typical of his observations are “There is only […]

Stewart Alsop (1914 - 1974)

Journalist. He became widely acclaimed for his political news reporting and commentary. His career lasted from 1945 to 1974, and he wrote for the “New York Herald Tribune”, the “Saturday Evening Post”, and “Newsweek”. He was the younger brother of journalist Joseph Wright Alsop.  Family links:  Parents:  Joseph Wright Alsop (1876 – 1953)  Corinne Douglas […]

Joseph Wright Alsop (1910 - 1989)

Journalist. Educated at Harvard University, he has a newspaper journalism career that thirty-seven years, obtained a following beginning with his reportage of the 1934 Lindbergh baby kidnapping case. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy with the “Flying Tigers”.  Known for being a powerbroker through his varied political connections, as well […]

Dámaso Alonso (1898 - 1990)

Author. He was member of Generation of 1927. He is remembered for his books “Hijos de la Ira,” “Gozos de la Vista” and “Hombre y Dios.” He wrote essays about Góngora, Lope de Vega and San Juan de la Cruz.  Family links:  Spouse:  Eulalia Galvarriato (1904 – 1997)* *Calculated relationship

Carl Jonas Love Almqvist (1793 - 1866)

Composer, Author. He died in Bremen, Germany and was first buried there. The body was moved to Solna in 1901 and reburied there.

Miguel Almereyda (1883 - 1917)

Journalist, Social Radical. He was the founder and editor of the radical weekly journal “La Guerre Sociale”(1906 to 1913) and the socialist daily “Le Bonnet Rouge”(1913 to 1917), he made many enemies in the French government during World War I. On August 6, 1917, Almereyda was arrested for treason, allegedly for receiving funds from Germany […]

Almafuerte (1854 - 1917)

Poet. Born Pedro Bonifacio Palacios, he was a humble teacher, despite his intellectual production, he lived and died poor.  He wrote two books: “Lamentaciones,” and “Almafuerte y la Guerra de 1914.”

Aaron Dale Allston (1960 - 2014)

Author. He is the author of 13 Star Wars novels as well as many other science fiction, game based fiction and mystery novels, short stories and technical guides for writers. He was a widely sought out speaker and lecturer for state and national conferences and traveled extensively throughout the country teaching and mentoring aspiring writers. […]

William Allingham (1824 - 1889)

Poet. Prominent Anglo-Irish poetry figure.  Family links:  Spouse:  Helen Patterson Allingham (1848 – 1926)* *Calculated relationship

Frederick Lewis Allen (1890 - 1954)

Historian. He is best remembered as an American historian of the first half of the 20th century. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and received his primary education at Groton School, a private school in Groton, Massachusetts. He enrolled in Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts and graduated in 1912 with a Bachelor’s Degree followed by a […]

Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321)

Author. Born Durante Alighieri in Florence, Italy the son of Alighiero di Bellincione Alighieri, a notary, and his first wife. His studies included rhetoric, grammar, philosophy, literature , theology, philosophy, and theology. In 1293 he joined the guild of physicians and apothecaries in order to gain entry into the political life of the city. About […]

Nelson Algren (1909 - 1981)

Author. Born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of three, he moved to the South Side of Chicago, Illinois and when he was eight, the family moved to the North Side. He graduated from what is now known as Roosevelt High School, then attended The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received […]

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836 - 1907)

Author, Poet, Editor. Aldrich was an only child and his father often moved the whole family as he followed business opportunities. Shortly after his birth, the family moved from New Hampshire to New York for four years, then to New Orleans for about three years. He would later fictionalize these experiences of his childhood in […]

Eliseo “Lichi” Alberto (1951 - 2011)

Writer, Author. Born Eliseo Alberto de Diego Garcia Marruz, he was the recipient of the Premio Alfaguara de Novela, an international Spanish-language literary award in 1998 for the melancholic novel ‘Caracol Beach’. Other novels include ‘La Fábula de José (José’s Fable)’ and ‘La Eternidad Por Fin Comienza en Lunes (Eternity Finally Begins on a Monday). […]

Alain (1868 - 1951)

Philosopher.

Bella Akhmadulina (1937 - 2010)

Poetess. She created several well received collections of verse which often dealt with the mundane events of everyday life while trying to avoid the political difficulties of writing in the Soviet Union. Born Izabella Akhatovna Akhmadulina, she was raised initially in Moscow then lived with her family in Kazan during World War II; starting to […]

Harrison Ainsworth (1805 - 1882)

Author.  Born on King Street, Manchester, he was educated at the Manchester Grammar School and, at the age of sixteen, was articled to a solicitor. In 1824 his father died, and he went to London to study at the Inner Temple. In 1826 he married daughter of a publisher who was also the Manager of […]

Alfred Ainger (1837 - 1904)

Author, Religious Leader.  Born in London, England in the family of an architect, he was educated , at King’s College, where he experienced the influence of John Frederick Denison Maurice, one of the principal theologians of his time.  The sudden death of his father made it imperative that he enter a profession in which he […]

Delmira Agustini (1886 - 1914)

Poet. A major Latin American author of the early 20th Century. Her verse expressed intense erotic yearning with bold, dense imagery.  Many view her as a proto-feminist because she saw sex as empowering for women, much to the  outrage of her predominately male critics. Agustini’s most provocative work is the poem cycle “The Rosary of […]

Sarah Flower Adams (1805 - 1848)

Poet. Born in Old Harlow, Essex, in England. The youngest daughter of Benjamin Flower, a newspaper editor. During the years 1832 to 1835 Sarah became a contributor to the pages of the Monthly Repository, then edited by Mr. W. Johnson Fox, and contributed to by John Stuart Mill, Crabb Robinson, Robert Browning, R. H. Horne, […]

Hannah Adams (1755 - 1831)

Author. She wrote a number of works on religious themes, including “Alphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects Which Have Appeared from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Present Day,” “A Summary History of New England,” “History of the Jews” and “Letters on the Gospels.”  Family links:  Parents:  Thomas Adams (1725 – 1812)  Elizabeth […]

Ed Benedict (1912 - 2006)

Cartoon Animator. Best known for designing the characters of “The Flintstones” cartoon series. He designed the look of Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty as well as their houses and foot-driven cars. He was working for MGM, Universal and various other studios on cartoon shorts when, in the late 1950s, he joined Bill Hanna and Joe […]

George Wesley Bellows (1882 - 1925)

Artist. He was a realist painter-lithographer noted for his paintings of action scenes, expressive portraits and seascapes. While attending Ohio State University, he started by providing illustrations for the school’s student yearbook, then relocated to New York in 1904, to study at the New york School of Art. By 1908, he had his own studio […]

Bill Belew (1931 - 2008)

Costume Designer. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, designed costumes for over 70 theatrical productions, musicals, operas, ballets, Television specials and series. He was once former head costumer at NBC Studios in Burbank, California until the early 1980’s. He designed apparel for such celebrities as Lynne Redgrave, Lena Horne, Josephine […]

Sir Max Beerbohm (1872 - 1956)

Caricaturist, Author. Born in London, England. The youngest of nine children of a Lithuanian-born grain merchant, Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm (1811–92). His mother was Eliza Draper Beerbohm (d. 1918).  Affectionately known to everyone as “Max” he was the younger half brother of the actor-producer Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, he was accustomed to fashionable society from […]

Claud Beelman (1884 - 1963)

American Architect. Beelman de­signed numerous buildings in the Beaux-Arts, Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles. In the 1920s, Beelman and his then partner, William Curlett, designed no fewer than 22 structures in Los Angeles.  Following the dissolution of the partnership in the early 1930s, Beelman designed the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, an addition to the […]

Saul Bass (1920 - 1996)

Graphic Designer. He was born in New York. He is known as one of the best ever graphic designers for film, specially for the Alfred Hitchcock Film “Psycho” (1960) of which he co-directed the very famous shower scene. Also he is remembered for his creations for Alfred Hitchcock films “Vertigo” (1958) and “North by Northwest” […]

Henry Coleman Baskerville (1905 - 1969)

Baskervill and Son has maintained a consistent history as one of the most successful Richmond, Va., architectural firms since its establishment in 1897. The firm, then called Noland and Baskervill, was the partnership of architect William Churchill Noland (1865-1951) and electrical engineer Henry Baskervill (1867-1930). The firm began to develop its reputation in the Richmond […]