Writers in London
The atlas holds 68 people and 315 moments here, from 1374 to 2015. The most recorded lives are Charles Dickens, John Milton and Freddie Mercury.
Notable people
Giordano Bruno
from 1583 to 1584
2 moments here
Italian Renaissance philosopher, Dominican friar, writer, and cosmological theorist. Born at Nola, Bruno studied and lived in Italy, Switzerland,…
Giuseppe Verdi
from 1847 to 1875
2 moments here
Italian composer whose career transformed nineteenth-century opera. Born near Busseto, Verdi studied and worked in Busseto and Milan, then traveled…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
from 1673 to 1676
2 moments here
German polymath, philosopher, mathematician, jurist, diplomat, court councillor, historian, and librarian.…
Hans Christian Andersen
in 1847
2 moments here
Danish writer renowned for literary fairy tales including “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Snow Queen,” and “The Ugly…
Helen Keller
from 1930 to 1946
5 moments here
Helen Adams Keller was an American deafblind author, lecturer, disability-rights advocate, and political activist.…
Indira Gandhi
from 1966 to 1969
2 moments here
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was an Indian stateswoman who served as prime minister from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.…
James Joyce
from 1904 to 1931
3 moments here
Irish novelist, poet, and critic whose life moved between Dublin, continental Europe, and Switzerland.…
Jane Austen
from 1788 to 1815
7 moments here
English novelist Jane Austen spent her life in southern England, principally in Hampshire, Bath, Southampton, Chawton, and Winchester.…
Jawaharlal Nehru
from 1905 to 1948
3 moments here
Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and statesman who became independent India’s first prime minister, serving from 15 August 1947 until his…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
in 1766
2 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
Jimmy Carter
in 1977
1 moment here
James Earl Carter Jr. was an American naval officer, Georgia state senator and governor, the 39th president of the United States, and a…
John Adams
in 1785
1 moment here
American lawyer, revolutionary leader, diplomat, first vice president of the United States, and second U.S. president.…
John F. Kennedy
from 1938 to 1961
4 moments here
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was an American naval officer, journalist, congressman, senator, and the 35th president of the United States.…
John Locke
from 1647 to 1702
6 moments here
English philosopher, physician, and political writer. Locke was born in Somerset, educated in London and Oxford, served Lord Shaftesbury in London,…
John Milton
from 1608 to 1674
17 moments here
English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. This chronology follows documented residences, education, continental travel, marriages, public service,…
Jonathan Swift
from 1707 to 1726
3 moments here
Anglo-Irish writer, satirist, political pamphleteer, and Church of Ireland cleric, best known for Gulliver's Travels, A Tale of a Tub, and A Modest…
J. R. R. Tolkien
from 1936 to 1972
3 moments here
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English philologist, university professor, and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.…
Jules Verne
in 1868
1 moment here
French novelist, playwright, and poet whose documented life included residences and work in Nantes, Paris, Amiens, Auteuil, and Le Crotoy, together…
Karl Marx
from 1845 to 1883
9 moments here
German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Born in Trier, Marx studied in Bonn and Berlin, worked in Cologne, and…
Lord Byron
from 1788 to 1812
10 moments here
George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1788–1824), was a British poet, peer, and political speaker.…
Mahatma Gandhi
from 1888 to 1931
4 moments here
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist, and leader of mass nonviolent resistance.…
Mark Twain
from 1871 to 1900
4 moments here
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known as Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, journalist, lecturer, riverboat pilot, and traveler.…
Michael Faraday
from 1791 to 1860
9 moments here
English chemist and physicist whose experimental work transformed the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.…
Montesquieu
from 1729 to 1730
2 moments here
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French jurist, historian, and political philosopher.…
Moments
- 1651 Petty France garden house John Milton
- 1656 Marriage to Katherine Woodcock John Milton
- 1660 Birth in Cripplegate Daniel Defoe
- 1660 Encounter with Charles II in the Strand Thomas Hobbes
- 1660 Hiding at Bartholomew Close John Milton
- 1660 Holborn refuge after imprisonment John Milton
- 1661 Jewin Street residence John Milton
- 1663 Marriage to Elizabeth Minshull John Milton
- 1664 Artillery Walk residence John Milton
- 1667 Residence at Exeter House John Locke
- 1673 First London visit and Royal Society demonstration Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1674 Death at Bunhill Row John Milton
- 1676 Second London visit Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1679 Arrival in London after French travels John Locke
- 1684 Marriage to Mary Tuffley Daniel Defoe
- 1689 Residence at Dorset Court John Locke
- 1689 Return voyage with Princess Mary John Locke
- 1689 Volunteer escort in the City Daniel Defoe
- 1701 With the Kentish petitioners Daniel Defoe
- 1702 Final visit to London John Locke
- 1703 Imprisonment in Newgate Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Pilloried at Cheapside Conduit Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Pilloried at Temple Bar Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Pilloried at the Royal Exchange Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Seditious-libel trial Daniel Defoe
- 1707 First-Fruits mission in London Jonathan Swift
- 1710 Political work in London Jonathan Swift
- 1724 Journeyman printer in London Benjamin Franklin
- 1724 House at Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe
- 1726 Stayed with Pope at Twickenham Jonathan Swift
- 1726 Lives with Fawkener in Wandsworth Voltaire
- 1726 Takes rooms at Durham Court Voltaire
- 1727 Lodges above the White Peruke Voltaire
- 1729 Arrival in London Montesquieu
- 1730 Initiation at Horn Tavern Lodge Montesquieu
- 1731 Burial at Bunhill Fields Daniel Defoe
- 1731 Death in Ropemakers Alley Daniel Defoe
- 1757 London colonial agency Benjamin Franklin
- 1764 Departure from Glasgow for London Adam Smith
- 1764 Second London mission Benjamin Franklin
- 1766 Arrival in London Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1766 Stay at Chiswick Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- 1766 Return to London from France Adam Smith
- 1773 London research and writing Adam Smith
- 1774 London residence while finishing The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith
- 1777 London lodgings in Suffolk Street Adam Smith
- 1785 First audience with George III John Adams
- 1786 London meeting with George III Thomas Jefferson
- 1788 Kent and London family journey Jane Austen
- 1788 Birth on Holles Street Lord Byron