On this day
May 31 in literary history
Literary history for May 31: 13 writers born, 22 writers who died and 2 literary events from 1329 to 2016. Born on this day: Chris Elliott, Carole Achache, Jean Chalopin.
Writers born on May 31
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Chris Elliott | American actor, writer, and comedian (born 1960) |
| 1952 | Carole Achache | French writer, photographer and actress |
| 1950 | Jean Chalopin | French producer and writer |
| 1948 | Svetlana Alexievich | Belarusian author and Nobel Prize winner (b. 1948) |
| 1940 | Gilbert Shelton | American cartoonist (born 1940) |
| 1925 | Julian Beck | American actor, stage director, poet, and painter (1925–1985) |
| 1919 | Robie Macauley | American novelist |
| 1898 | Norman Vincent Peale | American minister, author, and positive thinking proponent (1898-1993) |
| 1892 | Konstantin Paustovsky | Russian writer (1892–1968) |
| 1887 | Saint-John Perse | French poet and diplomat (1887–1975) |
| 1863 | Francis Younghusband | British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer (1863–1942) |
| 1819 | Walt Whitman | American poet, essayist and journalist (1819–1892) |
| 1773 | Ludwig Tieck | German poet, writer, and critic (1773–1853) |
Writers who died on May 31
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Carla Lane | English television writer (1928–2016) |
| 2015 | Gladys Taylor (publisher) | Canadian writer and publisher (1917–2015) |
| 2014 | Marilyn Beck | American syndicated columnist and author |
| 2014 | Mary Soames | English author (1922–2014) |
| 2013 | Frederic Lindsay | Scottish writer |
| 2013 | Miguel Méndez | American writer and educator (1930–2013) |
| 2011 | Hans Keilson | Hans Keilson, German-Dutch psychoanalyst and author (born 1909) |
| 2004 | Étienne Roda-Gil | French writer, lyricist (1941–2004) |
| 2000 | A. Jeyaratnam Wilson | Sri Lankan Tamil academic, historian and author |
| 1995 | Stanley Elkin | American novelist, essayist, and professor |
| 1989 | Owen Lattimore | American Orientalist and writer (1900–1989) |
| 1987 | John Abraham (director) | Indian film director and screenwriter |
| 1985 | Gaston Rébuffat | French alpinist, mountain guide, and author |
| 1970 | Clare Sheridan | English sculptor, journalist and writer |
| 1967 | Billy Strayhorn | American jazz pianist, composer, lyricist, and arranger (1915–1967) |
| 1960 | Willem Elsschot | Flemish writer |
| 1957 | Leopold Staff | Polish poet (1878–1957) |
| 1908 | Louis-Honoré Fréchette | Canadian politician and writer (1839–1908) |
| 1899 | Stefanos Koumanoudis | Greek archaeologist, teacher and writer |
| 1848 | Eugénie de Guérin | French writer |
| 1847 | Thomas Chalmers | Scottish clergyman, writer and historian (1780 – 1847) |
| 1329 | Albertino Mussato | Italian statesman, writer and historian (1261-1329) |
Literary events on May 31
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1981 | An organized mob of police and government-sponsored Sinhalese paramilitary forces began three days of attacks that led to the burning of the Jaffna Public Library (renovated building pictured) in Sri Lanka, destroying more than 97,000 items in one of the most violent 20th-century examples of ethnic biblioclasm. |
| 1790 | The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790. |
Featured
Chris Elliott (1960) — Christopher Nash Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his surreal sense of humor.
Carole Achache (1952) — Carole Hélène Marthe Andrée Achache was a French writer, photographer and actress. She was the daughter of French writer Monique Lange and the mother of French-Moroccan film director Mona Achache. She appeared in films such as The Gypsy (1975), Special Section (1975), Lumière (1976), Mr.
Jean Chalopin (1950) — Jean Chalopin is a French businessman, banker and former television animation producer. In 1971, he founded the production company DIC Entertainment, which specialized in children-oriented animated television and film productions.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.