On this day
April 21 in literary history
Literary history for April 21: 17 writers born, 15 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1488 to 2019. Born on this day: David Servan-Schreiber, Hervé Le Tellier, Herbert Wetterauer.
Writers born on April 21
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | David Servan-Schreiber | French physician, neuroscientist and author |
| 1957 | Hervé Le Tellier | French author; winner of the 2020 Prix Goncourt |
| 1957 | Herbert Wetterauer | German painter and author |
| 1956 | Peter Kosminsky | British writer, director and producer (born 1956) |
| 1956 | Phillip Longman | American demographer and author |
| 1955 | Murathan Mungan | Turkish author, short story writer, playwright, and poet (born 1955) |
| 1952 | Gerald Early | American essayist and professor (born 1952) |
| 1936 | James Dobson | American evangelical Christian psychologist and author (1936–2025) |
| 1930 | Hilda Hilst | Brazilian poet, novelist, and playwright |
| 1927 | Ahmed Arif | Turkish poet |
| 1923 | John Mortimer | British barrister and author (1923–2009) |
| 1922 | Alistair MacLean | Scottish writer (1922–1987) |
| 1868 | Mary Rogers Miller | American author and educator |
| 1816 | Charlotte Brontë | English novelist and poet (1816–1855) |
| 1775 | Alexander Anderson (illustrator) | American physician and illustrator |
| 1642 | Simon de la Loubère | French diplomat, writer and mathematician (1642–1729) |
| 1488 | Ulrich von Hutten | German scholar, poet and reformer (1488–1523) |
Writers who died on April 21
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Polly Higgins | Scottish barrister, author, and environmental lobbyist (1968–2019) |
| 2014 | Win Tin | Burmese writer and political prisoner (12 March 1929 – 21 April 2014) |
| 2013 | Shakuntala Devi | Indian writer and mental calculator (1929–2013) |
| 2012 | Doris Betts | American writer |
| 1992 | Väinö Linna | Finnish author (1920–1992) |
| 1986 | Salah Jahin | Egyptian poet and cartoonist |
| 1980 | Sohrab Sepehri | Iranian poet and painter (1928–1980) |
| 1973 | Kemal Tahir | Turkish novelist and intellectual (1910-1973) |
| 1956 | Charles MacArthur | American writer |
| 1938 | Muhammad Iqbal | Islamic philosopher and poet (1877–1938) |
| 1930 | Robert Bridges | British poet (1844-1930) |
| 1910 | Mark Twain | American author and humorist (1835–1910) |
| 1740 | Thomas Tickell | English poet (1685–1740) |
| 1720 | Antoine Hamilton | Irish soldier and writer (died 1719) |
| 1699 | Jean Racine | 17th-century French dramatist (1639–1699) |
Literary events on April 21
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1934 | The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1994, it is revealed to be a hoax). |
Featured
David Servan-Schreiber (1961) — David Servan-Schreiber was a French physician, neuroscientist and author. He was a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He was also a lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine of Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.
Hervé Le Tellier (1957) — Hervé Le Tellier is a French writer and linguist, and a member of the international literary group Oulipo. He is its fourth president. Other notable members have included Raymond Queneau, Georges Perec, Italo Calvino, Jacques Roubaud, Jean Lescure and Harry Mathews. He won the 2020 Prix Goncourt for The Anomaly.
Herbert Wetterauer (1957) — Herbert Wetterauer is a German painter, sculptor and author. He is known for his paintings in ink and life-sized figures made of paperboard, for which he developed his own technique.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.