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Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography/Core biographies

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This page was developed by the Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography as a list of the most important biographies in Wikipedia, to have a work list of articles to improve. Any such list is subjective and will not find universal agreement.

This was used as a worklist for the Version 1.0 Editorial Team. The worklist can be found at Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Biographies. It is essentially a work list for anyone who chooses to use it. The main idea is to pick an article towards the bottom of the list e.g. at C-class and bring it to as close to featured status as possible. Criteria for inclusion is below and must meet the definition for Top.

Criteria

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For placement on this list, consider the following criteria.

  • Top/Core - Must have had a large impact outside of their main discipline, across several generations, and in the majority of the world. For instance, Einstein, brilliant physicist, but his theories have affected people outside of physics and in many other countries besides his nation of origin and several generations. His ideas have changed the way people think. No member should give this rating to any biography without first getting Project approval from the other members.

For an understanding of how "Top" relates to potential lower-importance categories, keep this in mind, as it might help decide if a biography is really "Top" or "High," etc.:

  • High - Must have had a large impact in their main discipline, across a couple of generations. Had some impact outside their country of origin.
  • Mid - Important in their discipline
  • Low - A contributor to their discipline and is included in Wikipedia to expand depth of knowledge of other articles.

The list

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The following list is transcluded from Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography/Core biographies/list
Name Date of birth Date of death Age Country of birth Country of death Occupation
Aeschylus c. 525 BC c. 456 BC 68–69  Greece  Italy Writer
Akbar October 24, 1542 October 12, 1605 62  Pakistan  India Politician
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi 780 850 69–70  Uzbekistan  Iraq Scientist
Alexander the Great July 20, 356 BC June 10, 323 BC 32  Greece  Iraq Politician
Muhammad Ali January 17, 1942 June 3, 2016 74  United States  United States Athlete
Thomas Aquinas January 28, 1225 March 7, 1274 49  Italy  Italy Theologian
Archimedes c. 287 BC c. 212 BC 74–75  Italy  Italy Scientist
Aristotle 384 BC 322 BC 61–62  Greece  Greece Philosopher
Attila c. 406 453 46–47  Hungary  Hungary Politician
W. H. Auden February 21, 1907 September 29, 1973 66  United Kingdom  Austria Writer
Augustine of Hippo November 13, 354 August 28, 430 75  Algeria  Algeria Theologian
Augustus January 16, 63 BC August 19, 14 77  Italy  Italy Politician
Jane Austen December 16, 1775 July 18, 1817 41  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Writer
Charles Babbage December 26, 1791 October 18, 1871 79  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Johann Sebastian Bach March 21, 1685 July 28, 1750 65  Germany  Germany Artist
Francis Bacon January 22, 1561 April 9, 1626 65  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Philosopher
Mikhail Baryshnikov January 28, 1948 76  Russia Artist
The Beatles February 25, 1943 December 8, 1980 37  United Kingdom  United States Artist
Ludwig van Beethoven December 16, 1770 March 26, 1827 56  Germany  Austria Artist
Alexander Graham Bell March 3, 1847 August 2, 1922 75  United Kingdom  Canada Scientist
Otto von Bismarck April 1, 1815 July 30, 1898 83  Germany  Germany Politician
Simón Bolívar July 24, 1783 December 17, 1830 47  Venezuela  Colombia Politician
Jorge Luis Borges August 24, 1899 June 14, 1986 86  Argentina  Switzerland Writer
Gautama Buddha c. 563 BC c. 483 BC 79–80  Nepal  India Theologian
Edmund Burke January 12, 1729 July 9, 1797 68  Ireland  United Kingdom Philosopher
Lord Byron January 22, 1788 April 19, 1824 36  United Kingdom  Greece Writer
Julius Caesar July 12, 100 BC March 15, 44 BC 55  Italy  Italy Politician
Cai Lun c. 50 AD 121 70–71  China  China Scientist
John Calvin July 10, 1509 May 27, 1564 54  France  Switzerland Theologian
Catherine the Great April 21, 1729 November 17, 1796 67  Poland  Russia Politician
Miguel de Cervantes September 29, 1547 April 23, 1616 68  Spain  Spain Writer
Charlemagne April 2, 742 January 28, 814 71  Belgium  Germany Politician
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor February 24, 1500 September 21, 1558 58  Belgium  Spain Politician
Charlie Chaplin April 16, 1889 December 25, 1977 88  United Kingdom  Switzerland Artist
Christopher Columbus August 1451 May 20, 1506 54–55  Italy  Spain Politician
Winston Churchill November 30, 1874 January 24, 1965 90  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Politician
Cleopatra January 69 BC August 12, 30 BC 38–39  Egypt  Egypt Politician
Confucius September 28, 551 BC 479 BC 71–72  China  China Philosopher
Constantine the Great February 27, 272 May 22, 337 65  Serbia  Turkey Politician
Nicolaus Copernicus February 19, 1473 May 24, 1543 70  Poland  Poland Scientist
Hernán Cortés 1485 December 2, 1547 61–62  Spain  Spain Politician
Marie Curie November 7, 1867 July 4, 1934 66  Poland  France Scientist
Cyrus the Great c. 600 BC 530 BC 69–70  Iran  Uzbekistan Politician
Louis Daguerre November 18, 1787 July 10, 1851 63  France  France Scientist
Dante Alighieri May 14, 1265 September 13, 1321 56  Italy  Italy Writer
Charles Darwin February 12, 1809 April 19, 1882 73  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
René Descartes March 31, 1596 February 11, 1650 53  France  Sweden Philosopher
Charles Dickens February 7, 1812 June 9, 1870 58  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Writer
Walt Disney December 5, 1901 December 15, 1966 65  United States  United States Artist
Fyodor Dostoevsky November 11, 1821 February 9, 1881 59  Russia  Russia Writer
Frederick Douglass February 1818 February 20, 1895 76–77  United States  United States Politician
Thomas Edison February 11, 1847 October 18, 1931 84  United States  United States Scientist
Albert Einstein March 14, 1879 April 18, 1955 76  Germany  United States Scientist
T. S. Eliot September 26, 1888 January 4, 1965 76  United States  United Kingdom Writer
Elizabeth I September 7, 1533 March 24, 1603 69  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Politician
Euclid c. 325 BC c. 265 BC 59–60  Egypt  Egypt Scientist
Leonhard Euler April 15, 1707 September 18, 1783 76  Switzerland  Russia Scientist
Michael Faraday September 22, 1791 August 25, 1867 75  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Pierre de Fermat August 17, 1601 January 12, 1665 63  France  France Scientist
Alexander Fleming August 6, 1881 March 11, 1955 73  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Henry Ford July 30, 1863 April 7, 1947 83  United States  United States Scientist
Francis of Assisi September 26, 1181 October 3, 1226 45  Italy  Italy Theologian
Benjamin Franklin January 17, 1706 April 17, 1790 84  United States  United States Politician
Frederick the Great January 24, 1712 August 17, 1786 74  Germany  Germany Politician
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor December 26, 1194 December 13, 1250 55  Italy  Italy Politician
Sigmund Freud May 6, 1856 September 23, 1939 83  Czech Republic  United Kingdom Scientist
Galileo Galilei February 15, 1564 January 8, 1642 77  Italy  Italy Scientist
Mahatma Gandhi October 2, 1869 January 30, 1948 78  India  India Politician
Carl Friedrich Gauss April 30, 1777 February 23, 1855 77  Germany  Germany Scientist
Genghis Khan c. 1162 1227 64–65  Mongolia  China Politician
Edward Gibbon April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794 56  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Politician
Giotto 1267 January 8, 1337 69–70  Italy  Italy Artist
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe August 28, 1749 March 22, 1832 82  Germany  Germany Writer
Mikhail Gorbachev March 2, 1931 August 30, 2022 91  Russia  Russia Politician
Brothers Grimm February 24, 1786 December 16, 1859 73  Germany  Germany Writer
Che Guevara May 14, 1928 October 9, 1967 39  Argentina  Bolivia Politician
Johannes Gutenberg c. 1395 February 3, 1468 72–73  Germany  Germany Scientist
Hammurabi c. 1810 BC 1750 BC 59–60  Iraq  Iraq Politician
Hannibal 247 BC 183 BC 63–64  Tunisia  Turkey Politician
Stephen Hawking January 8, 1942 March 14, 2018 76  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Ernest Hemingway July 21, 1899 July 2, 1961 61  United States  United States Writer
Henry II of England March 25, 1133 July 6, 1189 56  France  France Politician
Henry VIII June 28, 1491 January 28, 1547 55  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Politician
Herodotus c. 484 BC c. 425 BC 58–59  Turkey  Italy Writer
Hippocrates c. 460 BC c. 370 BC 89–90  Greece  Greece Scientist
Alfred Hitchcock August 13, 1899 April 29, 1980 80  United Kingdom  United States Artist
Adolf Hitler April 20, 1889 April 30, 1945 56  Austria  Germany Politician
Ho Chi Minh May 19, 1890 September 2, 1969 79  Vietnam  Vietnam Politician
Thomas Hobbes April 5, 1588 December 4, 1679 91  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Philosopher
Homer c. 800 BC c. 750 BC 49–50  Turkey  Greece Writer
Victor Hugo February 26, 1802 May 22, 1885 83  France  France Writer
David Hume April 26, 1711 August 25, 1776 65  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Philosopher
Henrik Ibsen March 20, 1828 May 23, 1906 78  Norway  Norway Writer
Ivan the Terrible August 25, 1530 March 18, 1584 53  Russia  Russia Politician
Michael Jackson August 29, 1958 June 25, 2009 50  United States  United States Artist
Thomas Jefferson April 13, 1743 July 4, 1826 83  United States  United States Politician
Jesus 4 BC 29 32–33  Israel  Israel Theologian
Joan of Arc c. 1412 May 30, 1431 18–19  France  France Theologian
Michael Jordan February 17, 1963 61  United States Athlete
James Joyce February 2, 1882 January 13, 1941 58  Ireland  Switzerland Writer
Franz Kafka July 3, 1883 June 3, 1924 40  Austria  Austria Writer
Immanuel Kant April 22, 1724 February 12, 1804 79  Germany  Germany Philosopher
Johannes Kepler December 27, 1571 November 15, 1630 58  Germany  Germany Scientist
John Maynard Keynes June 5, 1883 April 21, 1946 62  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Søren Kierkegaard May 5, 1813 November 11, 1855 42  Denmark  Denmark Philosopher
Martin Luther King Jr. January 15, 1929 April 4, 1968 39  United States  United States Theologian
Akira Kurosawa March 23, 1910 September 6, 1998 88  Japan  Japan Artist
Laozi c. 604 BC c. 531 BC 72–73  China  China Philosopher
Antoine Lavoisier August 26, 1743 May 8, 1794 50  France  France Scientist
Bruce Lee November 27, 1940 July 20, 1973 32  United States  China Artist
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz July 1, 1646 November 14, 1716 70  Germany  Germany Philosopher
Vladimir Lenin April 10, 1870 January 21, 1924 53  Russia  Russia Politician
Leonardo da Vinci April 15, 1452 May 2, 1519 67  Italy  France Artist
Abraham Lincoln February 12, 1809 April 15, 1865 56  United States  United States Politician
Carl Linnaeus May 13, 1707 January 10, 1778 70  Sweden  Sweden Scientist
Joseph Lister April 5, 1827 February 10, 1912 84  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
John Locke August 29, 1632 October 28, 1704 72  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Philosopher
Louis XIV September 5, 1638 September 1, 1715 76  France  France Politician
Martin Luther November 10, 1483 February 18, 1546 62  Germany  Germany Theologian
Niccolò Machiavelli May 3, 1469 June 21, 1527 58  Italy  Italy Philosopher
Ferdinand Magellan 1480 April 27, 1521 40–41  Portugal  Philippines Politician
Thomas Robert Malthus February 13, 1766 December 23, 1834 68  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Nelson Mandela June 18, 1918 December 5, 2013 95  South Africa  South Africa Politician
Mao Zedong December 26, 1893 September 9, 1976 82  China  China Politician
Guglielmo Marconi April 25, 1874 July 20, 1937 63  Italy  Italy Scientist
Karl Marx May 5, 1818 March 14, 1883 64  Germany  United Kingdom Philosopher
James Clerk Maxwell June 13, 1831 November 5, 1879 48  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Gregor Mendel July 20, 1822 January 6, 1884 61  Austria  Austria Scientist
Michelangelo March 6, 1475 February 18, 1564 88  Italy  Italy Artist
John Milton December 9, 1608 November 8, 1674 65  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Artist
Claude Monet November 14, 1840 December 5, 1926 86  France  France Artist
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart January 27, 1756 December 5, 1791 35  Austria  Czech Republic Artist
Muhammad c. 570 June 8, 632 61–62  Saudi Arabia  Saudi Arabia Theologian
Benito Mussolini July 29, 1883 April 28, 1945 61  Italy  Italy Politician
Napoleon August 15, 1769 May 5, 1821 51  France  United Kingdom Politician
Isaac Newton January 4, 1643 March 31, 1727 84  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Friedrich Nietzsche October 15, 1844 August 25, 1900 55  Germany  Germany Philosopher
J. Robert Oppenheimer April 22, 1904 February 18, 1967 62  United States  United States Scientist
Jesse Owens September 12, 1913 March 31, 1980 66  United States  United States Athlete
Blaise Pascal June 19, 1623 August 19, 1662 39  France  France Scientist
Louis Pasteur December 27, 1822 September 28, 1895 72  France  France Scientist
Paul the Apostle c. 5 AD c. 67 AD 61–62  Turkey  Italy Theologian
Linus Pauling February 28, 1901 August 19, 1994 93  United States  United States Scientist
Pelé October 23, 1940 December 29, 2022 82  Brazil  Brazil Athlete
Peter the Great May 30, 1672 February 8, 1725 52  Russia  Russia Politician
Philip II of Spain May 21, 1527 September 13, 1598 71  Spain  Spain Politician
Pablo Picasso October 25, 1881 April 8, 1973 91  Spain  France Artist
Max Planck April 23, 1858 October 4, 1947 89  Germany  Germany Scientist
Plato c. 427 BC c. 347 BC 79–80  Greece  Greece Philosopher
Edgar Allan Poe January 19, 1809 October 7, 1849 40  United States  United States Writer
Marco Polo September 15, 1254 January 9, 1324 69  Italy  Italy Politician
Ezra Pound October 30, 1885 November 1, 1972 87  United States  Italy Writer
Elvis Presley January 8, 1935 August 16, 1977 42  United States  United States Artist
Marcel Proust July 10, 1871 November 18, 1922 51  France  France Writer
Ptolemy c. 90 AD c. 168 AD 77–78  Egypt  Egypt Scientist
Pythagoras c. 570 BC c. 495 BC 74–75  Greece  Italy Scientist
Qin Shi Huang February 7, 260 BC August 10, 210 BC 50  China  China Politician
Raphael April 6, 1483 April 6, 1520 37  Italy  Italy Artist
Rembrandt July 15, 1606 October 4, 1669 63  Netherlands  Netherlands Artist
Jackie Robinson January 31, 1919 October 24, 1972 53  United States  United States Athlete
Auguste Rodin November 12, 1840 November 17, 1917 77  France  France Artist
Franklin D. Roosevelt January 30, 1882 April 12, 1945 63  United States  United States Politician
Jean-Jacques Rousseau June 28, 1712 July 2, 1778 66  Switzerland  France Philosopher
Babe Ruth February 6, 1895 August 16, 1948 53  United States  United States Athlete
Ernest Rutherford August 30, 1871 October 19, 1937 66  New Zealand  United Kingdom Scientist
Saladin 1138 March 4, 1193 54–55  Iraq  Syria Politician
Margaret Sanger September 14, 1879 September 6, 1966 86  United States  United States Politician
Walter Scott August 15, 1771 September 21, 1832 61  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Writer
Shaka c. 1787 c. 1828 40–41  South Africa  South Africa Politician
William Shakespeare April 26, 1564 April 23, 1616 51  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Writer
Adam Smith June 5, 1723 July 17, 1790 67  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Philosopher
Socrates c. 470 BC 399 BC 70–71  Greece  Greece Philosopher
Joseph Stalin December 18, 1878 March 5, 1953 74  Russia  Russia Politician
Suleiman the Magnificent November 6, 1494 September 5, 1566 71  Turkey  Hungary Politician
Sun Tzu 544 BC 496 BC 47–48  China  China Writer
Emperor Taizong of Tang January 28, 598 July 10, 649 51  China  China Politician
Mother Teresa August 26, 1910 September 5, 1997 87  North Macedonia  India Theologian
Nikola Tesla July 10, 1856 January 7, 1943 86  Croatia  United States Scientist
Henry David Thoreau July 12, 1817 May 6, 1862 44  United States  United States Writer
Thucydides c. 460 BC c. 395 BC 64–65  Greece  Greece Writer
Timur 1336 February 19, 1405 68–69  Uzbekistan  Kazakhstan Politician
Leo Tolstoy August 28, 1828 November 20, 1910 82  Russia  Russia Writer
Mark Twain November 30, 1835 April 21, 1910 74  United States  United States Writer
Vincent van Gogh March 30, 1853 July 29, 1890 37  Netherlands  France Artist
Giuseppe Verdi October 9, 1813 January 27, 1901 87  Italy  Italy Artist
Virgil October 15, 70 BC September 21, 19 BC 50  Italy  Italy Writer
Voltaire November 21, 1694 May 30, 1778 83  France  France Writer
Andy Warhol August 6, 1928 February 22, 1987 58  United States  United States Artist
George Washington February 22, 1732 December 14, 1799 67  United States  United States Politician
James Watt January 19, 1736 August 19, 1819 83  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Scientist
Max Weber April 21, 1864 June 14, 1920 56  Germany  Germany Writer
Walt Whitman May 31, 1819 March 26, 1892 72  United States  United States Writer
William the Conqueror c. 1028 September 9, 1087 58–59  France  France Politician
William Wordsworth April 7, 1770 April 23, 1850 80  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Writer
Mary Wollstonecraft April 27, 1759 September 10, 1797 38  United Kingdom  United Kingdom Writer
Wright brothers August 19, 1871 May 30, 1912 40  United States  United States Scientist
Frank Lloyd Wright June 8, 1867 April 9, 1959 91  United States  United States Artist
W. B. Yeats June 13, 1865 January 28, 1939 73  Ireland  France Writer
Zheng He 1371 1433 61–62  China  China Politician
Zoroaster c. 628 BC c. 551 BC 76–77  Uzbekistan  Afghanistan Theologian

Article assessment

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The following table is transcluded from User:WP 1.0 bot/Tables/Project/Biography (core)

See WikiProject Biography/Assessment for guidance on assessing the quality of biography articles.

Purge

Subpages

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A list of all subpages belonging to Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography/Core biographies:
Wikipedia talk:
WikiProject Biography/Core biographies