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 Waharoa, a sculpture by artist Selwyn Muru, was created to metaphorically turn Aotea Square in Auckland into the courtyard of a Māori meeting house?
- ... that an 18th-century hymn inspired the title of George W. Bush's 1999 autobiography?
- ... that in 1825 the Suquamish leader Kitsap led an alliance of tribes stretching from the Columbia River to Puget Sound to stop the Cowichan slave raids wreaking havoc on the Sound?
- ... that Spanish diplomat Ángel Sagaz Zubelzu secured the release of more than 1,500 Jews from prison in Egypt by arguing they were descended from expelled Jews and thus entitled to Spanish citizenship?
- ... that the prime minister of Serbia signed the 1918 Geneva Declaration after intervention from the President of France?
- ... that the earliest-known Jewish writer in the Americas was the nephew of a conquistador?
- ... that Dusko Doder reported the 1984 death of Yuri Andropov, the leader of the Soviet Union, before any official announcement?
- ... that Zimbabwean musician Joshua Sacco and his band used to perform songs at ZANU–PF election rallies before he became a party member?
- ... that Chickaboom!, by country musician Tami Neilson, was nominated for both Canadian and New Zealand music awards?
- ... that Dani Sanchez-Lopez wanted to be an actor but switched to cinematography after realizing that actors deliver others' lines?
- ... that during his tenure as Governor of Central Java, Muhammad Ismail banned rock music concerts and car rallies?
- ... that educational writer Ștefan Tita gave Romanian students impractical advice on mending damaged bark with bandages of dirt?
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 5
Births
- 1537 – Ashikaga Yoshiaki, last shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate (d. 1597)
- 1894 – Charles Robberts Swart, 1st State President of South Africa (d. 1982)
- 1896 – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1901 – Walt Disney, animator and co-founder of The Walt Disney Company (d. 1966)
- 1911 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2000) (pictured)
- 1925 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, 73rd President of Nicaragua (d. 1980)
Deaths
- 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer (b. 1756)
- 1951 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player (b. 1887)
- 1926 – Claude Monet, French impressionist painter (b. 1840)
- 1963 – Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1892)
- 1977 – Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
- 2002 – Ne Win, 4th President of Burma (b. 1911)
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)