1446 – Ippolita Maria Sforza, Italian writer and poet of the Sforza family, which ruled the Duchy of Milan from 1450 until 1535; she married Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, who later reigned as King Alfonso II of Naples.
1734 – Elsa Beata Bunge, Swedish writer, physicist, agronomist, botanist, satirical poet, and countess who made her reputation as a botanist with her book Om vinrankors beskaffenhet efter sjelfva naturens anvisningar (About the Nature of Vine Grapes by Direction From Nature Itself”); she also aroused attention because of her preference for dressing in man’s clothing, but with a skirt.
1817 – George Henry Lewes, British philosophical writer and literary critic.
1850 – Charles Joseph Antoine “Jo” Labadie, U.S. labor organizer, anarchist, social activist, printer, publisher, essayist, and poet.
1853 – Ana Roque de Duprey, Puerto Rican writer, educator, suffragist, and activist who was known as “Flor del Valle”; she was one of the founders of the University of Puerto Rico.
1864 – Richard Harding Davis, U.S. war journalist and author of fiction and nonfiction.
1874 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian poet, diarist, essayist, and children’s author who is regarded as the best Croatian writer for children.
1889 – Jessie Mary Grey Street (née Lillingston, also called Lady Street), Australian suffragette, writer, and campaigner for Indigenous Australian rights; dubbed “Red Jessie” by the media, she was Australia’s only female delegate to the founding of the United Nations in 1945.
1896 – Na Hye-sok (pen name Jeongwol), Korean novelist, short-story writer, poet, politician, painter, journalist, educator, and philosopher who is considered the first female professional painter and the first feminist writer in Korea, and became well known as a feminist with her criticism against the marital institution in the early 20th century.
1913 – Muttathu Varkey, Indian Malayalam novelist, short-story writer, and poet who is best known for his work in a genre of sentiment-filled romantic fiction known as the painkili (janapriya) novel in Malayalam literature.
1915 – Joy Davidman, award-winning U.S.-born poet, novelist, and screenwriter who began as a child prodigy and started college at age 15; her second husband was British writer C.S. Lewis.
1917 – Toshio Shimao, Japanese novelist and screenwriter who has been called a “writer’s writer,” as both a compliment and a criticism.
1918 – André Bazin, renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist.
1918 – Shinobu Hashimoto, award-winning Japanese screenwriter, film director, film producer, director, producer; as a frequent collaborator with renowned director Akira Kurosawa, he wrote the scripts for such internationally acclaimed films as Rashomon and Seven Samurai.
1922 – Thomas Nigel Kneale, award-winning British screenwriter.
1924 – Abdul Samad Ismail, a Malaysian journalist, writer, and editor who often went by the moniker Pak Samad.
1932 – Nadine de Rothschild (née Nadine Lhopitalier), French author and former actress.
1935 – Costas Ferris, Greek film director and screenwriter.
1938 – Jwalamukhi, pen name of Veeravalli Raghavacharyulu, Indian poet, novelist, writer and political activist.
1941 – Cho Hae-il (birth name Cho Hae-ryong), award-winning South Korean novelist and short-story writer whose work often focuses on the weaknesses of individuals and societies.
1941 – Lillian Sara Robinson, U.S. Marxist feminist activist, writer, professor, and theorist.
1947 – Kathy Acker, U.S. feminist poet, punk playwright, essayist, and postmodernist writer.
1948 – Hayat Al-Fahad, Kuwaiti poet, short-story writer, screenwriter, actress, broadcaster, and producer who is one of the most prominent artists in the Persian Gulf region.
1948 – Sam Ukala, Nigerian playwright, poet, short-story writer, actor, theatre director, film producer, and professor who promotes “folkism,” the tendency to base literary plays on indigenous history and culture and to compose and perform them in accordance with the aesthetics of African folktale composition and performance.
1952 – Fumio Hayashi (林 文夫), Japanese economist, author, and professor whose books include Econometrics, and Understanding Saving: Evidence from the United States and Japan.
1958 – Tarmo Teder, award-winning Estonian writer, poet, essayist, editor, novelist, critic, and short-story writer.
1959 – Susan Faludi, Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S. feminist writer, author, biographer, and journalist; she is best known for her book Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, about the 1980s’ backlash against feminism, especially due to the spread of negative stereotypes about career-minded women.
1961 – Felicia D. Henderson, U.S. television producer, screenwriter, comic-books writer, and director of music videos and television episodes.
1961 – John Mordecai Podhoretz, U.S. writer, magazine editor, newspaper columnist, presidential speechwriter, and author of several books on politics.
1962 – Annie Yellowe Palma, British poet, author, autobiographer, social critic, and child-protection advocate; born to an Irish mother and a Nigerian father, she has written about her experiences growing up as a Black woman in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles.
1963 – Robert A. Kurson, U.S. author, best known for his 2004 bestselling book, Shadow Divers, the true story of two Americans who discover a World War II German U-boat sunk 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey.
1964 – Niall Campbell Ferguson, Scottish historian, author, and professor who writes and lectures on international history, economic and financial history, and British and American imperialism; Time magazine has named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
1964 – Lourenço Mutarelli, Brazilian writer, novelist, comics artist, comic book writer, actor, film animator, and painter.
1967 – Fabio Caressa, Italian author, journalist, sportswriter, television presenter, and football commentator; he is married to Italian television journalist Benedetta Parodi.
1969 – Keith DeCandido (full name Keith Robert Andreassi DeCandido), U.S. science-fiction and fantasy writer, musician, and critic who works on comic books, novels, media tie-in books, role-playing games, and video games.
1970 – Lena Andersson, award-winning Swedish novelist, journalist, and literary critic.
1975 – Álvaro Bisama, award-winning Chilean writer, educator, and literary critic who is considered one of Chile’s best young writers.
1985 – Jessica Townsend, award-winning Australian author known for the children’s fantasy novel series Nevermoor.
1987 – Boonaa Mohammed, Canadian poet, spoken-word poet, writer, and short-story author who is the son of Ethiopian immigrants of Oromo descent.
1994 – Alexandra Adornetto, pen name of Alexandra Grace, an Australian author who writes for children and young adults; her first book, The Shadow Thief, was published when she was 14.
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