The Greatest Writers in History
From the playwrights of the Renaissance to the philosophers of the Enlightenment, these writers gave form to human experience and drove the spread of ideas.
- 1 96
William Shakespeare
Writer · 1564 – 1616
William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist.
- 2 95
Homer
Poet · b. 800 BC
Homer was the legendary ancient Greek poet to whom the great epics the Iliad and the Odyssey are attributed, foundational works of Western literature.
- 3 95
Karl Marx
Philosopher · 1818 – 1883
Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, and revolutionary whose theories of historical materialism and class struggle, set out in The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, became among the most influential and contested ideas in modern history.
- 4 93
Dante Alighieri
Poet · 1265 – 1321
Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet of the late Middle Ages whose masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, is considered one of the greatest works of world literature and helped establish the Italian language.
- 5 92
Augustine of Hippo
Theologian · 354 – 430
Augustine of Hippo was a Roman North African theologian and philosopher whose works, including Confessions and City of God, shaped Western Christianity and laid intellectual foundations for medieval and modern thought.
- 6 92
Friedrich Nietzsche
Philosopher · 1844 – 1900
Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher whose radical critiques of morality, religion, and truth—including the proclamation that "God is dead" and the ideal of the Übermensch—made him one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the modern era.
- 7 92
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Writer · 1749 – 1832
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, poet, and statesman, widely regarded as the greatest figure in German literature and one of the towering minds of European culture.
- 8 92
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Novelist · 1828 – 1910
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian novelist and moral philosopher whose epics War and Peace and Anna Karenina rank among the greatest works of fiction, and whose later doctrine of nonviolence influenced Gandhi and King.
- 9 91
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
Novelist · 1821 – 1881
Fyodor Dostoevsky was a Russian novelist whose psychologically penetrating works, including Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, probe faith, guilt, and freedom and helped shape modern existential thought.
- 10 91
Martin Luther
Theologian · 1483 – 1546
Martin Luther was a German theologian and reformer whose challenge to the Catholic Church sparked the Protestant Reformation and reshaped the religious, political and cultural landscape of Europe.
- 11 91
Miguel de Cervantes
Novelist · 1547 – 1616
Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish writer whose novel Don Quixote is widely regarded as the first modern novel and one of the greatest works in world literature.
- 12 90
Benjamin Franklin
Inventor · 1706 – 1790
Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath — a founding father, scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat — whose work on electricity and statesmanship made him one of the most admired figures of the 18th century.
- 13 90
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Philosopher · 1712 – 1778
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan-French philosopher, writer, and composer whose ideas on the social contract, the general will, and natural human goodness shaped modern political thought, education, and the Romantic movement.
- 14 90
Sun Tzu
Military Strategist · 544 BC – 496 BC
Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese general and strategist, traditionally the author of The Art of War, the most influential treatise on strategy ever written.
- 15 90
Voltaire
Writer · 1694 – 1778
Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher and wit, a tireless champion of reason, free speech and religious tolerance and one of the most influential figures of his age.
- 16 89
Victor Marie Hugo
Novelist · 1802 – 1885
Victor Hugo was a French novelist, poet, and dramatist, the towering figure of French Romanticism, whose novels Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame are monuments of world literature.
- 17 88
Cicero
Statesman · 106 BC – 43 BC
Cicero was a Roman statesman, orator and philosopher whose speeches and writings defined Latin prose, transmitted Greek philosophy to Rome, and championed the values of the Roman Republic.
- 18 88
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Philosopher · 1770 – 1831
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher and the leading figure of German idealism, whose dialectical method and grand vision of history as the self-development of Spirit profoundly shaped modern philosophy.
- 19 88
Jane Austen
Novelist · 1775 – 1817
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose witty, incisive novels of manners, including Pride and Prejudice and Emma, are masterpieces of English literature and remain enduringly popular.
- 20 88
Niccolò Machiavelli
Philosopher · 1469 – 1527
Niccolò Machiavelli was a Renaissance Italian diplomat, political philosopher and writer whose treatise The Prince founded modern political science and gave his name to ruthless statecraft.
- 21 87
John Stuart Mill
Philosopher · 1806 – 1873
John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher and economist, the leading liberal thinker of the nineteenth century, whose works on utilitarianism, liberty, and the rights of women shaped modern political and ethical thought.
- 22 85
Mary Wollstonecraft
Writer · 1759 – 1797
Mary Wollstonecraft was an English Enlightenment writer and philosopher, a pioneer of feminist thought whose A Vindication of the Rights of Woman argued for the education and equality of women.
- 23 84
Hildegard of Bingen
Composer · 1098 – 1179
Hildegard of Bingen was a German Benedictine abbess and one of the most remarkable polymaths of the Middle Ages — a visionary, composer, writer, healer and natural philosopher.
- 24 84
Marco Polo
Explorer · 1254 – 1324
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and explorer whose travels across Asia to the court of Kublai Khan, recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo, gave medieval Europe its most influential account of the East.