Sources: Webster's Biographical Dictionary, Aschehoug og Gyldendals Store Norske Leksikon, and various sources on the web.Key:
A B C D EF G H JK L M P R S T UV WZ
Albuquerque, Affonso de, 1453-1515. Viceroy of Portuguese Indies and founder of Portuguese empire in the East. [S]
Alexander III, the Great, 356-323 B.C. Macedonian emperor. [P, S]
Alvadoro, Pedro de (Tonatiuh), 1495?-1541. Spanish soldier, companion of Cortez. [S]
Amundsen, Roald, 1872-1928. Norwegian polar explorer. [M]
Angelico, Fra (Giovanni da Fiesole), 1387-1455. Italian Dominican friar and painter. [S]
Aquinas, Saint Thomas, 1225?-1274. Italian scholastic philosopher and theologian. [P]
Aretino, Pietro, 1492-1556. Italian satirist. [M]
Aristotle, 384-322 B.C. Greek philosopher. [P]
Atahualpa, 1500?-1533. Last emperor of Peru, killed by Pizarro. [S]
Augustine, Saint, 354-430. Early Christian philosopher. [P]
Baudelaire, Charles, 1821-1867. French poet. [M, S]
Beethoven, Ludwig von, 1770-1827. German composer. [P, S]
Boehme, Jakob, 1525-1624. German theosophist and mystic. [Sh]
Bosch, Hieronymus, 1450?-1516. Dutch painter. [S]
Botticelli, Sandro, 1444?-1510. Italian painter. [S]
Brezhnev, Leonid I, 1906-1982 Soviet Russian politician. [P]
Bruno, Giordano, 1548?-1600. Italian philosopher, burned as a heretic. [P, S]
Bulatovic, Miodrag, 1930-1991. Serbian writer. [P]
Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 1788-1824. English poet. [P]
Cabral, Pedro Alvares, 1460?-1526? Portuguese navigator, claimed Brazil. [S]
Caesar, Gaius Julius, 100-44 B.C. Roman general and statesman. [P]
Callot, Jacques, 1592-1635. French painter and engraver. [M]
Calvin, John, 1509-1564. French theologian and reformer. [P, S]
Capone, Al (Alphonse), 1899-1947. American gangster. [S]
Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919. Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. [S]
Casanova, Giovanni Jacopo, 1725-1798. Italian adventurer. [P]
Castagno, Andreo del, 1423-1457. Florentine painter. [M]
Castro Ruz, Fidel, 1927- . Cuban political leader. [P]
Catherine II, the Great, empress of Russia, 1729-1796. [S]
Cavaignac, Louis Eugèlne, 1802-1857, French army commander, suppressed uprising in Paris in 1848. [S]
Céline, Louis-Ferdinand, pseud. of Louis Fuch Destouches, 1894-1961. French physician and writer. [P]
Cellini, Benvenuto, 1500-1571. Italian goldsmith and sculptor. [S]
Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906. French painter. [M, P]
Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985. Russian painter. [P]
Cimabue, Giovanni (Cenni di Pepo), 1240?-1302? Florentine painter and mosaicist. [M, S]
Clive, Robert, 1725-1774. British soldier, founder of empire of British India. [S]
Columbus, Christopher, 1451-1506. Discoverer of America. [P, S]
Conrad, Joseph (Teodor Józef Konrad Korzienowski), 1957-1924. Ukrainian-born British novelist. [M, Sh]
Cook, Thomas, 1808-1892. English tourist agent. [P]
Corday d'Armont, Charlotte, 1768-1793. French patriot. [P]
Cordova, Francisco Fernández de, d.1518. Spanish soldier and explorer, discovered Yucatan. [S]
Cortez, Hernando, 1485-1547. Spanish conqueror of Mexico. [S]
Couthon, Georges, 1755-1794. French revolutionist. [S]
Dalhousie, Lord (James Andrew Broun Ramsay), 1812-1860, British colonial administrator. [S]
Damiens, Robert François, 1715-1757. French fantatic, attempted to assassinate Louis XV. [S]
Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321. Italian poet. [M]
Danton, Georges Jacques, 1759-1794. French revolutionary leader. [P]
Deibler, Anatole, 1823-1904. French executioner. [P]
del Sarto see Sarto
Delacroix, Ferdinand Victor Eugène, 1798-1863. French painter. [S]
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870. English novelist. [P]
Dillinger, John, 1902-1934. American bank robber. [S]
Dionysius the Areopagite, fl. ca. 500. Medieval theologian. [M]
Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi), 1386?-1466. Italian sculptor. [P]
Dostoevsky, Feodor Mikhailovich, 1821-1881. Russian novelist. [P]
Dürer, Albrecht, 1471-1528. German painter and engraver. [S]
Eckhart, Meister Johannes, 1260?-?1327. German Dominican theologian, mystic and preacher. [M, Sh]
Engel, George, 1836-1887; Adolph Fischer, 1858-1887; and August Spies, 1855-1887. American (German-born) anarchists, executed for alleged Haymarket bombing. [P]
Eriksson, Leif, fl. 1000. Norse mariner, discovered Vinland. [S]
Feuerbach, Ludwig, 1804-1872. German philosopher. [M]
Fischer, Adolph see Engel
Francis of Assisi, Saint, 1182-1226. Italian friar and preacher, founder of the Franciscan order. [M]
Franco, Francisco, 1892-1975. Spanish general and dictator. [P]
Gênet, Jean, 1910-1986. French criminal and writer. [P]
Gide, André, 1869-1951. French writer. [S]
Giotto di Bondone, 1276?-1337? Florentine painter, architect and sculptor. [S]
Goebbels, Joseph Paul, 1897-1945. German Nazi leader. [P]
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832. German poet. [M, S]
Goldoni, Carlo, 1707-1793. Italian playwright. [P]
Goldsmith, Oliver, 1728-1774. British poet, playwright, and novelist. [S]
Goncourt, Edmond (1822-1896) and Jules (1830-1970). French novelists, brothers. [P]
Göring, Hermann, 1893-1946. German Nazi leader. [P]
Goya y Lucientes, Francisco José de, 1746-1828. Spanish painter, etcher and lithographer. [M]
Grijalva, Juan de, 1489?-1527. Spanish explorer. [S]
Grock, 1880-1939. Swiss clown. [M]
Grünewald, Isaac, 1889-1946. Swedish painter, teacher of Bjørneboe. [M]
Grünewald, Matthias (Matthis der Maler), fl. 1500-1530. German painter. [M]
Guatemotzin, 1495?-1525. Last Aztec emperor of Mexico. [S]
Hastings, Francis Rawdon- , 1st marquis of Hastings, 1754-1826. British soldier and colonial adminstrator. [S]
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770-1831. German philosopher. [Sh]
Heine, Heinrich, 1791-1856. German poet and critic. [M, S]
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961. American journalist and writer. [P]
Henry VIII, king of England, 1491-1547. [P]
Herschel, Sir William, 1738-1822. English astronomer. [Sh]
Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945. German chancellor and Führer. [M, P, S]
Hofer, Andreas, 1767-1810. Tyrolese patriot. [P]
Hölderlin, Johann Christian Friedrich, 1770-1943. German poet. [M, P]
Hus, Jan, 1369?-1415. Bohemian religious reformer, burned at stake [P]
Jæger, Hans Henrik, 1854-1910. Norwegian writer and anarchist. [Sh]
James I, king of Great Britain, 1566-1625. [P]
Josephson, Ernst, 1952-1906. Swedish painter and poet. [M]
Joshua (Jeschua) ben Josef, Rabbi = Jesus Christ [M, S]
Keats, John, 1795-1821, English poet. [S]
Kemmler, William, d. 1890. American murderer, first person executed by electric chair. [P]
Ketch, John, known as Jack, d. 1686. English hangman. [P]
Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936. English writer. [S]
Kropotkin, Pëtr Alekseevich, 1842-1921. Russian geographer, revolutionist, and social philosopher. [Sh]
Lang, Josef ("Pepe"), d. 1936. Austrian hangman and suicide. [P]
Languille, d. 1905. French murderer. [P]
LaRochefoucauld, duc François de, 1613-1680. French writer. [M, P]
Lawrence, Thomas Edward (Lawrence of Arabia), 1888-1935. British archaeologist, soldier, and writer. [S]
LeComte, Claude Martin, 1817-1871. French general killed during siege of Paris [Sh]
Lenin, V. I. (Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov), 1870-1924. Russian Communist leader. [P, S]
Leonardo da Vinci see Vinci
Leopold II, 1835-1909. King of Belgium. [M]
Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph, 1742-1799. German physicist and satirist. [M]
Linnaeus, Carolus (Karl von Linné), 1707-1778. Swedish botanist. [M]
Lochner, Stephan, d. 1451. German painter. [P]
Louis XV, king of France, 1710-1774. [P, S]
Louis XVI, king of France, 1754-1793. [P]
Luther, Martin, 1483-1546. German religious reformer. [P, S]
Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 1800-1859. English writer and statesman. [P]
Machiavelli, Niccolo, 1469-1527. Italian statesman and political philosopher. [S]
Malaparte, Curzio, pseud. of Kurt Erich Suckert, 1898-1957. Italian journalist and writer. [P]
Mao Tse-tung, 1893-1976. Chinese Communist leader. [P, S]
Marat, Jean Paul, 1743-1793. Swiss-born French Revolutionary politician. [P]
Martini, Simone, 1283?-1344. Italian painter. [M]
Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. German political philosopher. [M, P, S]
Mary I, queen of England, 1516-1558. [P]
Matthis der Mahler see Grünewald, Matthias
Matisse, Henri, 1869-1954. French painter. [M]
Maupassant, Guy de, 1850-1893. French short-story writer and novelist. [M, S]
Maury, Jean Siffrein, 1746-1817. French Roman Catholic prelate. [S]
Michel, Louise, 1830-1905. French anarchist. [Sh]
Michaelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1563. Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. [M, P]
Modigliani, Amedeo, 1884-1920. Italian painter and sculptor. [P]
Molière, pseud. of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, 1622-1673. French actor and playwright. [P]
Monmouth, Duke of. James Scott, 1649-1685. Natural son of Charles II, claimant to English throne and leader of rebellion. [P]
Montezuma II, 1480?-1520. Aztec emperor at time of Spanish conquest. [S]
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791. Austrian composer. [M, Sh]
Mussolini, Benito, 1883-1945. Italian dictator. [M, P]
Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821. French emperor. [M, S]
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte), 1808-1873. French emperor. [Sh]
Negovsky, Vladimir Aleksandrovich, 20th cent. Russian medical researcher. [P]
Nerval, Gérard de, pseud. of Gérard Labrunie, 1808-1855. French writer and eccentric. [S]
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 1944-1900. German philosopher. [M, P, S]
Nixon, Richard Milhous, 1913-1994 U.S president. [P, S]
Novalis (pseud. of Baron Friedrich von Hardenberg), 1772-1801. German lyric poet. [M, P]
Paul, Saint, apostle. d. ca. 67 A.D. [P]
Pisano, Antonio (Il Pisanello), 1397?-?1455. Veronese painter and medalist. [M]
Pizarro, Francisco, 1470?-1541. Spanish conqueror of Peru. [S]
Plato, 427?-347 B.C. Greek philosopher. [P]
Plutarch, 46?-120? A. D. Greek biographer. [S]
Polo, Marco, 1254?-1324. Italian traveler. [S]
Potëmkin, Grigori Aleksandrovich, 1739-1791. Russian soldier and statesman. [S]
Reichart, Jean-Baptiste. German hangman under Nazis and for Nuremburg trials. [P]
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669. Dutch painter. [M]
Rhodes, Cecil John, 1853-1902. British administrator and financier in South Africa. [S]
Richard III, king of England, 1452-1485. [P]
Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926. German poet and writer. [M]
Robespierre, Maximilien François Marie Isidore de, 1758-1794. French Revolutionary leader. [P, S]
Rodin, François Auguste René, 1840-1917. French sculptor. [P]
Rosenkreutz, Christian, 15th cent. Reputed (legendary?) founder of Rosicrucian Society. [Sh]
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 1712-1778. French philosopher and author. [S]
Russell, William (Lord Russell), 1639-1683. English parliamentary leader, executed. [P]
Sacco, Nicola, 1891-1927 and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, 1888-1927. Italian-born political radicals, executed in US. [P]
Sade, Donatien Alphonse François de (Marquis de Sade), 1740-1814. French writer. [P, S]
Salazar (Salazaar), Antonio de Oliviera, 1889-1970. Portuguese dictator. [P]
Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus), 86-34 B.C. Roman historian and politician. [S]
Sanson, Charles-Henri, 1740-1795. French executioner. [P]
Sarto, Andreo del, 1486-1531. Florentine painter. [M]
Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich von, 1759-1805. German poet and playwright. [P]
Schmidt, Tobias, German harpsichord maker and musician, built first guillotine. [P]
Schulz, Bruno, 1892-1942. Polish-Jewish writer. [P]
Schweizer, Albert, 1875-1965. French philosopher, missionary physician and music scholar. [S]
Servetus, Michael (Miguel Serveto), 1511-1553. Spanish theologian and physician, burned at stake by Calvin. [P]
Shaw, George Bernard, 1856-1950. British playwright, novelist and critic. [S]
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822. English poet. [S]
Simone see Martini
Slovik, Pvt Edward, 1920-1945. American soldier, executed for desertion. [P]
Socrates, 470?-399 B.C. Greek philosopher. [M, P]
Spellman, Francis Joseph, 1889-1967, American Catholic cardinal. [P]
Spies, August see Engel
Stalin, Joseph (Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili), 1879-1953. Russian political leader. [M, P, S]
Stendhal (pseud. of Marie Henri Beyle), 1783-1842. French writer. [M, P]
Stirner, Max (pseud. of Kaspar Schmidt), 1806-1856. German philosopher. [M]
Strauss, Franz Josef, 1915-1998. German statesman. [P]
Streicher, Julius, 1885-1946. German journalist and politician. [M, P]
Swedenborg, Emanuel, 1688-1772. Swedish scientist, philosopher and religious writer. [P]
Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745. English satirist. [M]
Thomas, Clément, d. 1871. French general, killed during siege of Paris. [Sh]
Thomas Aquinas see Aquinas
Thomas à Kempis, 1380-1471. German ecclesiastic and writer. [M]
Tito (Josip Broz), 1892-1980. Yugoslav premier. [P]
Tolstoy, Lev Nikolaevich, 1828-1910. Russian novelist, philosopher and mystic. [M]
Torquemada, Tomás de, 1420?-1498. Spanish grand inquisitor. [P]
Trotsky, Leon (Lev Davydovich Bronstein), 1877-1940. Russian Communist leader. [P]
Utrillo, Maurice, 1883-1955. French painter. [P]
Van Gogh, Vincent, 1853-1890. Dutch painter. [Sh]
Vanzetti see Sacco
Velasquez, Diego, 1465?-1522? Spanish soldier and administrator, governor of Cuba [S]
Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien, 1753-1793. French lawyer and Revolutionary politician. [S]
Vespucci, Amerigo, 1454-1512. Italian navigator. [S]
Villon, François, b. 1431. French poet. [S]
Vinci, Leonardo da, 1452-1519. Florentine painter, sculptor, and scientist. [M]
Voltaire (François Marie Arouet), 1694-1778. French writer. [P]
Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883. German composer. [M, S]
Walther von der Vogelweide, 1170?-?1230. Middle High German poet and minnesinger. [M]
Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills, 1854-1900. Irish poet, wit, and dramatist. [M, S]
Wilhelm II, 1859-1941. Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia (1888-1918). [M]
Wolf, Hugo, 1860-1903. German composer. [M, S]
Zola, Émile, 1840-1902. French novelist. [M]