International Biographies
- Dictionary of World Biography9th edition, 2022,
OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) OAPEN 4476
Online only.
Open access.
About 9,000 short-entry articles about persons worldwide throughout history, both living and dead. Part of the ANU Lives Series in Biography, an initiative of the National Centre for Biography in the History Program in the Research School of Social Sciences at The Australian National University. The National Centre was established in 2008 to extend the work of the Australian Dictionary of Biography
- Dictionary of African BiographyOxford, 2012.
Available online and in print (Africana Library Reference CT 1920 .D52 2012).
"From the pharaohs to Frantz Fanon, Dictionary of African Biography provides a comprehensive overview of the lives of the men and women who shaped Africa’s history." --Publisher's description - Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American BiographyOxford, 2016.
Online only.
"a comprehensive overview of the lives of Caribbeans and Afro-Latin Americans who are historically significant..., unprecedented in scale, covering the entire Caribbean, and the Afro-descended populations throughout Latin America, including people who spoke and wrote Creole, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish." - Visual History Archive [of the USC Shoah Foundation].[Los Angeles, CA]: USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.
Online only.
Contains more than 54,000 audiovisual testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other acts of genocide, recorded in 63 countries and in 40 languages since 1994. Most testimonies have been terminologically indexed at one-minute segments. Aside from Holocaust testimony, the resource includes (as of 20 July 2018) testimonies from the Armenian Genocide (1915-23), the Nanjing (China) Massacre (1937), the Cambodian Genocide (1975-79), the Guatemalan Genocide (1978-83), the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and ongoing conflicts in the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Also included are testimonies about contemporary acts of violence against Jews.
National Biographies
These national biographies cover persons no longer living who were prominent in the history of that country (often including its colonial extensions). For exact coverage dates and information on other criteria for inclusion, see the front matter of the individual title. Online versions are regularly updated with new entries.
- American National Biography.Online version of the standard national biography of the United States. Profiles of more than 23,000 notable American women and men from all eras of U.S. history who are no longer alive. The ANB Online features thousands of illustrations, thousands of hyperlinked cross-references, links to select web sites, and archival sources. Articles are updated and added regularly. The ANB supersedes the Dictionary of American Biography, the previous standard national biography of the United States.
For persons not listed in the ANB, check the less authoritative, older National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (Olin Library Reference CT 213 .N27) and the K. G. Saur index and microfiche collection of biographical dictionaries.
- African American National BiographyEntries integrated into the Biography section of the Oxford African American Studies Center.
"Covering African American life for almost five centuries, from the arrival of Esteban in Spanish Florida in 1528 to notable black citizens of the present day, this major reference project collects and resurrects the lives of over 5,000 African Americans." [Introduction]
New biographies added regularly.
- The Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese BiographyBerkshire, 2014.
Available online and in print versions
Print title: Berkshire dictionary of Chinese biography / 宝库山中华传记字典 (Kroch Asia Reference DS 734 .B47 2014).
"In 135 entries, written by some of the world's leading China scholars, the Dictionary takes the reader from the important figures of ancient China to Communist leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping." [catalog summary]
- Diccionario Biográfico Español.Call Number: Library Annex CT 1343 .D52 2009Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, 2009-2013.
50 volumes.
The premier biographical dictionary of Spain.
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography.Online version of the standard Canadian national biography. Full coverage for individuals who played an important role in the formation of what is now Canada who died between the years 1000 and 1930 or whose last known date of activity falls within these years. Additional biographies cover 1940 to 2000. Annotated bibliographies include substantial listings of archival collections.
- Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie.Call Number: Olin Library Stacks CT 759 .D48 199512 volumes.
An English-language translation of this title is available, below.
For a more extensive version of German biography, available online, see Elektronische Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, below.
See also Deutsches Biographisches Archiv from K.G. Saur. - Dictionary of German Biography.Call Number: Olin Library Reference CT 759 .D48 2001München: K.G. Saur, 2001-2006.
10 volumes.
We also have the German-language edition, Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie. See above.
- Dictionary of Irish Biography.Available online and in print
Print title: Dictionary of Irish Biography: From the Earliest Times to the Year 2002 (Library Annex CT 862 .D53 2009).
9 volumes.
Contains over 9,000 signed biographical articles on the careers of Irish men and women who made a significant contribution from the earliest times to the year 2010 in Ireland and abroad in all fields of endeavor. Also includes articles on people born outside Ireland who had noteworthy careers in Ireland. Online articles may be searched by name, gender, birth or death place, birth or death dates, religion, occupation, contributor, or keywords. Articles will be added each year online to cover people who died since the previous update. - Elektronische Allgemeine deutsche Biographie: Herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek.Also known as Deutsche Biographie. Searchable database for Allgemeine deutsche biographie (ADB) and Neue deutsche Biographie (NDB). "Certified information on more than 730.000 personalities and families in the German speaking areas from the Middle Ages to the present; namely 50.000 biographies (ADB and NDB) and links to more than 230 online resources (literature, dictionaries, source editions etc.)." [database home page]
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.A continuously updated online version of the standard print British national biography, Dictionary of National Biography (Olin Library CT 773 .D55 1921 and supplements), which was originally published from 1885-1901 in 66 volumes and updated with decennial supplements. Over 50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2000 (newer entries in the online version). Portraits and citations to archival collections and major biographies of the subject. See also the K. G. Saur index and microfiche page.
Other National Biographies
- Australian Dictionary of Biography.Online, including entries from the Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Print volumes through volume 18 (1981-1990): Library Annex CT 2801 .A93 +.
Online version covers persons who died through 1995. Entries for persons who died from 1996 to 2000 are in progress.
- Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.Call Number: Olin Library Stacks CT 1143 .B61 +'s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, 1979-1994.
In Dutch.
4 volumes.
Updated version of Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek, 10 volumes.
(Olin Library Stacks Oversize CT1143 .M71 +) - Chinese Lives: The People Who Made a Civilization.London: Thames & Hudson, 2013.
(华夏人生: the people who made a civilization.)
Online version is available from ProQuest Ebook Central
Print version: Kroch Asia Reference DS 734 .M35 2013
Biographical work for major persons in Chinese history.
Description from the catalog record. - Dictionnaire de Biographie Française.Call Number: Olin Library Stacks Oversize CT 143 .D55 +Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1933-
In French.
22 volumes plus two supplements so far.
List of names covered in each volume. - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiana.Call Number: Library Annex CT 163 .D62Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1960-2020.
In Italian.
100 volumes.
List of names covered in each volume.
- Österreichisches Biographisches LexikonThe Austrian Biographical Dictionary lists important personalities who were born, lived or worked in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy or in the respective Austrian state association. Biographies that are not in the foreground of general awareness were also deliberately selected. The print edition of the ÖBL only includes people who died between 1815 and 1950. The online edition, the "Austrian Biographical Lexicon from 1815", which has been published since 2011, contains all printed biographies as well as supplements, corrections and additions. For this online edition, people who lived until 2010 are also considered. [Home page (translation)]
- Polski Slownik Biograficzny.Call Number: Olin Library Stacks CT 1230 .P76 +Kraków: Skład główny w księg, Gebethnera i Wolffa, 1935- .
In Polish.
55 volumes so far.
List of names covered in each volume.