1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian poet, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician; known for his collection of poetry that translator Edward FitzGerald titled The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám.
1452 – Henry the Younger of Poděbrady, Czech poet, writer, and translator who was Prince of Bohemia and Duke of Münsterberg.
1711 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Croat-Italian writer, poet, physicist, astronomer, priest, mathematician, diplomat, historian, polymath, geographer, theologian, university teacher, and philosopher; he is best known for his many contributions to astronomy, including the first geometric procedure for determining the equator of a rotating planet and computing a planet’s orbit from three observations of a surface feature, and the discovery of the absence of atmosphere on the Moon.
1787 – Konstantin Batyushkov, Russian writer, poet, essayist, and translator.
1809 – Harriett Low Hillard, U.S. writer and diarist who lived for several years in the Portuguese colony of Macau on the South China coast. She and her sickly aunt became the first American women to go to China; while there, she wrote a journal in the form of letters to her sister Molly.
1814 – Mikhail Bakunin, influential Russian revolutionary, writer, activist, philosopher, politician, and theorist of collectivist anarchism who is considered one of the most influential figures of anarchism and one of the principal founders of the social anarchist tradition; his book God and the State has been widely translated and remains in print.
1852 – I.L. Peretz, Polish author and playwright who wrote in Yiddish and is considered one of the three great classical Yiddish writers.
1853 – Behramji Malabari, Indian writer, poet, journalist, and social reformer who was best known for his ardent advocacy for women’s rights and for his activities against child marriage.
1858 – Inoue Enryo, Japanese philosopher, Buddhist reformer, university founder, and educator, who was a key figure in the reception of Western philosophy, the emergence of modern Buddhism, and the permeation of the imperial ideology; he was sometimes called Ghost Doc or Doctor Specter, because of his opposition to superstition.
1871 – Fanny “Franziska” zu Reventlow (real name Fanny Liane Wilhelmine Sophie Auguste Adrienne), German writer, artist, translator, and countess; she became famous as the “Bohemian Countess of Schwabing” in the years leading up to World War I.
1872 – Bertrand Russell, Nobel Prize-winning British writer, historian, essayist, philosopher, logician, social critic, mathematician, and political activist, famed for his “varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought.”
1874 – Madeleine Pelletier, French writer, essayist, autobiographer, anthropologist, physician, psychiatrist, politician, activist, socialist, and suffragist.
1877 – Elena Genrikhovna Guro, Russian Futurist painter, playwright, poet, and fiction writer.
1879 – Henry James III, Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S. biographer who was the nephew of acclaimed novelist Henry James.
1889 – Gunnar Gunnarsson, prolific Icelandic novelist, dramatist, essayist, and poet who wrote mainly in Danish (to gain a wider audience) and whose work celebrated the courage and dignity of the common people of the North; his five-volume fictionalized autobiography Kirken paa bjerget (The Church on the Mountain) is considered his best work and a masterpiece of modern Icelandic literature.
1890 – Zora Cross, Australian writer, poet, novelist, journalist, children’s writer, teacher, and actress; one of her books of poetry, Songs of Love and Life, attracted widespread attention because of its erotic content and sold out in three days.
1895 – Zhang Henshui (pen name of Zhang Xinyuan), popular and prolific Chinese novelist.
1901 – Rafael Larco Hoyle, Peruvian writer, archaeologist, and anthropologist.
1904 – Margaret Pansy Felicia Lamb (known as Lady Pansy Lamb), English writer, novelist, translator, and biographer under her maiden name, Pansy Pakenham.
1904 – Shunryū Suzuki, Japanese writer, philosopher, and Buddhist missionary.
1907 – Irene Hunt, Newbery Medal-winning U.S. author of books for children and teens, best known for her historical and coming-of-age novels; her most famous works are Across Five Aprils and Up a Road Slowly. According to one critic, “Brilliant characterization, a telling sense of story, an uncanny ability to balance fact and fiction, and compassionate, graceful writing mark Hunt’s small but distinguished body of work.”
1909 – Diosdado G. Alesna, award-winning Filipino writer and poet in the Cebuano language; he wrote under many pen names, including Diody Mangloy, Rigor Tancredo, Reynaldo Lap, Buntia, La Roca, Melendres, and Flordeliz Makaluluoy.
1910 – Ester Boserup, influential Danish writer and economist who wrote seminal books on agrarian change and the role of women in development; she is known for her theory of agricultural intensification, also known as Boserup’s theory, which posits that population change drives the intensity of agricultural production.
1913 – Nicolás Gómez Dávila, Colombian writer, philosopher, and radical critic of modernity.
1915 – Seo Jeong-ju, five-time Nobel Prize-nominated Korean poet and professor who wrote under the pen name Midang (“not yet fully grown”); he is widely regarded as one of the best poets in 20th-century Korean literature.
1915 – Isobel Lennart, U.S. screenwriter and playwright.
1925 – Lillian Hoban, U.S. children’s writer and illustrator who often collaborated with her husband, writer Russell Hoban.
1928 – José Gabriel Lopes da Silva (also known as Gabriel Mariano), Cape Verdean poet, novelist, and essayist.
1930 – Fred Saberhagen, U.S. science-fiction and fantasy author of novels and short stories.
1935 – Ahmed Baba Miské, Mauritanian writer, politician, and diplomat who is best known as the author of Lettre ouverte aux elites du Tiers-monde (Open Letters to the Elite of the Third World).
1936 – Alena Wagnerová, Czech fiction author, nonfiction writer, and journalist who writes in both Czech and German.
1943 – So Young-en, award-winning South Korean novelist and short-story writer; her works feature a deep-seated nihilism and a sense of alienation, and are often about ordinary people who long for a spiritually elevated existence while struggling with the meaninglessness of their lives.
1948 – Yi Mun-yol, bestselling, award-winning South Korean writer; his works include novels, short stories, Korean adaptations of classic Chinese novels, and political and social commentaries.
1952 – Diane Duane, U.S. and Irish science-fiction and fantasy author who writes in the Star Trek universe, as well as in her own settings.
1954 – Min Lu (real name Nyan Paw), Burmese novelist and screenwriter who adapted several of his own novels into films.
1956 – Gisèle Pineau, French/Guadeloupean novelist, writer, and psychiatric nurse who has written books on the difficulties of her childhood as a person of color growing up in Parisian society; in particular, she focuses on racism and the effects it can have on a young girl trying to discover her own cultural identity.
1957 – Lionel Shriver, U.S. and British journalist and author who was born Margaret Ann Shriver.
1959 – Debbie Dadey, U.S. author of more than 125 children’s books, including the bestselling series, The Adventure of the Bailey School Kids.
1959 – Sophie Masson, Indonesian-born French-Australian fantasy and children’s author.
1967 – Nina Björk, Swedish feminist, author, journalist, and columnist.
1970 – Tina Fey, U.S. comedy writer, comedian, playwright, actress, and television personality.
1976 – Mamizu Arisawa, award-winning Japanese author of light novels.
1985 – Azalia Suhaimi, Malaysian poet, photographer, blogger, and creative writer; she is famous for combining photography and poetry.
1988 – Lưu Quang Minh, popular Vietnamese musician and book author.
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