-
It is 152 years today since Bertrand Russell was born.
The British philosopher and author Bertrand Arthur William Russel was born in Trelleck, Monmouthshire, Wales, to an aristocratic family that included the former Prime Minister Lord John Russell. His parents were liberal and advocated, among other things, the emancipation of women. Although his godfather was John Stuart Mill, the boy was brought up by his Presbyterian grandmother after he was...
-
It is 80 years today since W.G. Sebald was born.
Winfried Georg (W.G.) Sebald was born near the end of the Second World War in the Bavarian mountain village of Wertach where his mother had moved to get away from the bombing of the town of Bamberg. His parents, Rosa and Georg, had three children. His father, an officer of the Wehrmacht who had participated in the invasion of Poland, was a prisoner of war until 1947, but mentioning the war was...
Sample of Authors
Watson, Colin
1920 - 1983
Some refer to the British journalist Colin Watson's Flaxborough (population 15,000) stories as among the funniest in...
Further reading
Leonard, Elmore
1925 - 2013
The American author Elmore John Leonard, Jr. was born in New Orleans, but because his father worked for the automobile...
Further reading
Oksanen, Sofi
1977 -
The Finnish author and playwright Sofi Oksanen had a major impact on the literary scene in the first decade of the 21st...
Further reading
Balzac, Honoré de
1799 - 1850
Honoré de Balzac was born Honoré Balzac in Tours, France, to a civil servant and his wife who was 30 years his junior. He a...
Further reading