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  • 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...

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  • 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...

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Sample of Authors

Portrait of Len Deighton

Deighton, Len
1929 -

The British author Len Deighton was born as Leonard Cyril Deighton in London. His father was a chauffeur; his mother worked...

Further reading
Portrait of Jasper Fforde

Fforde, Jasper
1961 -

Jasper Fforde is a British author. He grew up in London and Wales. His father was an economist who was Chief Cashier of the...

Further reading
Portrait of Bret Easton Ellis

Ellis, Bret Easton
1964 -

American writer, the oldest of three siblings born and raised in a wealthy family at Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Ellis's...

Further reading
Portrait of Elfriede Jelinek

Jelinek, Elfriede
1946 -

The Austrian author Elfriede Jelinek was born in Mürzzuschlag in the federal state of Steiermark, where Jelinek spent her ...

Further reading