Portal:Biography
The Biography Portal
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.
Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from literature to film, form the genre known as biography.
An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An unauthorized biography is one written without such permission or participation. An autobiography is written by the person themselves, sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter. (Full article...)
Featured biographies –
Did you know... -
- ... that Frances Helen Prideaux's skill convinced Sir William Gull that women were intellectually capable of being doctors?
- ... that after becoming a religious leader of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, Slaybebtikud united the tribes and established himself as their sole leader?
- ... that the party leader of the new Dutch youth political party LEF – For the New Generation tattooed his party's program points on his forearm?
- ... that the children of papercutting artist Claire von Greyerz received some of their education together with Napoleon III?
- ... that street artist TVBoy, known for his murals of footballers in Barcelona, painted uplifting art in regions of Kyiv ahead of the one-year anniversary of the 2022 Russian invasion?
- ... that one of the districts in the city of Astrakhan is named after Bolshevik leader Aleksandr Trusov?
- ... that Russian artist Igor Grabar dug a trench in snow to paint February Azure?
- ... that Mexican musician Christian Nodal was the first artist to have a regional Mexican song enter the Billboard Hot 100?
- ... that a Japanese samurai was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI, nearly 400 years after his execution during the Great Martyrdom of Edo?
- ... that Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester, began the construction of the modern Winchester Cathedral in 1079?
- ... that the pseudonymous manga artist Junichi Yamakawa never disclosed to his editor his legal name, address, or contact information?
- ... that the British musician Coupdekat recorded the vocals for "It's Not You" while trampolining on her bed?
Get involved
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Biography-related articles, see WikiProject Biography.
On this day – December 7
Births
- 521 – Columba, Irish missionary, monk, and saint (d. 597)
- 1302 – Azzone Visconti, Founder of the state of Milan (d. 1339)
- 1724 – Louise of Great Britain, Queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1751)
- 1860 – Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1947)
- 1863 – Richard Warren Sears, co-founder of Sears (d. 1914)
- 1905 – Gerard Kuiper, Dutch-American astronomer (d. 1973)
Deaths
- 43 BC – Cicero, Roman orator and prose stylist (b. 106 BC)
- 1775 – Charles Saunders, English admiral (b. 1715)
- 1879 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence leader (b. 1811)
- 1894 – Ferdinand de Lesseps, diplomat and co-developer of the Suez Canal (b. 1805)
- 1993 – Wolfgang Paul, German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Martin Rodbell, American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
In the news
- 13 February 2024 – Estonia–Russia relations
- Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas is reportedly placed on the Russian Interior Ministry's register of wanted people due to the country's removal of Soviet War Memorials, making Kallas the first known government leader to be added to a wanted list by Russian authorities. (The Guardian)
- 4 February 2024 – 66th Annual Grammy Awards
- Taylor Swift wins Album of the Year for Midnights, becoming the first artist to win the award four times. She also announces the release of a new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19. (Variety)
- 27 January 2024 –
- Venezuela's Supreme Court ratifies a ban from seeking any political office for 15 years on María Corina Machado, opposition leader backed by the United States. (Le Monde) (The Economist)
- 24 January 2024 –
- The Constitutional Court of Thailand acquits former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat for owning shares in the defunct media company iTV, thereby allowing Limjaroenrat to resume serving as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives. (AP)
- 23 January 2024 –
- North Korea demolishes the Arch of Reunification in Pyongyang after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ruled out peaceful reunification with South Korea. (NDTV)
- The Senate of the Philippines' committee on women conducts a public hearing regarding the alleged abuses within the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Three women, two Ukrainian nationals and one Filipino, accuse church leader Apollo Quiboloy of sexually abusing them. (CNN Philippines)