120th birthday of Mikhail Bulgakov

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (Russian: Михаи́л Афана́сьевич Булга́ков, May 15 [O.S. May 3] 1891, Kiev – March 10, 1940, Moscow) was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Jan Werich's birthday

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Jan Werich (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈvɛrɪx]) (6 February, 1905, Prague – 31 October, 1980, Prague) was a Czech actor, playwright and writer.

Almeida Garrett's birthday

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João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, 1st and Only Viscount of Almeida Garrett (February 4, 1799 — December 9, 1854) was a Portuguese poet, playwright, novelist and politician. He is considered to be the introducer of the Romanticism in Portugal, with the epic poem Camões, based on the life of Luís de Camões. He is regarded as one of History's greatest romantics and a true revolutionary and humanist. [Read more on Wikipedia]

A lithograph of Garrett, by Pedro Augusto Guglielmi

Jean-Paul Sartre's 105th Birthday

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Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (French pronunciation: [saʁtʁ], English: /ˈsɑrtrə/; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, existentialism, and Marxism, and his work continues to influence fields such as Marxist philosophy, sociology, critical theory and literary studies. Sartre was also noted for his long polyamorous relationship with the author and social theorist, Simone de Beauvoir. He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature but refused the honour. [Read more on Wikipedia]

150th Birthday of J.M. Barrie

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Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM (9 May 1860 – 19 June 1937) was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired him in writing about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (included in The Little White Bird), then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a "fairy play" about this ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. This play quickly overshadowed his previous work and although he continued to write successfully, it became his best-known work, credited with popularising the name Wendy, which was very uncommon previously. Barrie unofficially adopted the Davies boys following the deaths of their parents. Before his death, he gave the rights to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital, which continues to benefit from them. [Read more on Wikipedia]

James Matthew Barrie in 1890

150th Anniversary of Anton Chekhov's Birthday

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Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Russian: Антон Павлович Чехов, pronounced [ɐnˈton ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ˈtɕɛxəf]; 29 January [O.S. 17 January] 1860 – 15 July [O.S. 2 July] 1904) was a Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout most of his literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress." [Read more on Wikipedia]

Ivan Kostoylevsky's Birthday

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Ivan Petrovych Kotlyarevsky (Ukrainian: Іван Петрович Котляревський) (9 September [O.S. 29 August] 1769, Poltava – 10 November [O.S. 29 October] 1838, Poltava), was a Ukrainian writer, poet and playwright, regarded as the pioneer of modern Ukrainian literature. Kotliarevsky was a veteran of the Russo-Turkish War. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Alexander Pushkin's Birthday

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Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин, pronounced [ɐlʲɪˈksandr sʲɪˈrɡʲejevʲɪtɕ ˈpuʃkʲɪn] ( listen)) (June 6 [O.S. May 26] 1799–February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1837) was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin pioneered the use of vernacular speech in his poems and plays, creating a style of storytelling—mixing drama, romance, and satire—associated with Russian literature ever since and greatly influencing later Russian writers. He also wrote historical fiction. His The Captain's Daughter provides insight into Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great. [Read more on Wikipedia]

Aleksandr Pushkin by Vasily Tropinin