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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...
Sample of Authors
Ball, Hugo
1886 - 1927
Hugo Ball was born in Pirmasens, Germany, to Catholic parents who were as poor as they were pious. He wanted to study, but...
Further reading
Smith, Zadie
1975 -
Zadie Smith, born Sadie Adeline Smith, grew up in Kilburn and Willesden Green, north-west London, with her two younger...
Further reading
Ashbery, John
1927 - 2017
The poet, art critic, translator and essayist John Lawrence Ashbery was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up on a farm...
Further reading
Beauvoir, Simone de
1908 - 1986
The French author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir was born and grew up as the oldest daughter of a noble Catholic family...
Further reading