Son of well-known Urdu poet and film lyricist Jan Nisar Akhtar and Safia Akhtar, teacher and writer, Javed Akhtar belongs to a family lineage that can be traced back to seven generations of writers. The highly respected Urdu poet, Majaz was his mother’s brother and the work of Muzter Khairabadi, his grandfather, is looked upon […]

The eminent Hindi writer Jaishankar Prasad was born on 30th January, 1889 in an aristocratic family of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh. This celebrated writer of modern Hindi literature was a novelist, dramatist, poet and a story-writer. Prasad belonged to the Chhayavaadi school of Hindi poetry. He lost his father Babu Devki Prasad, a tobacco dealer

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt, the first child of a lawyer Johann Caspar Goethe, and Katherine Elisabeth Textor, the daughter of the mayor of Frankfurt. Goethe had a comfortable childhood and he was greatly influenced by his mother, who encouraged his literary aspirations. After troubles at school, he received at home an

Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born on 31st July 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. She attended Tutshill Primary School and then Wyedean Comprehensive before going to Exeter University to studied French, having been encouraged by her parents, who said that this could lead to a great career as a bilingual secretary. On graduating from Exeter

Swedish movie and theatre director, playwright, screenwriter. Although Bergman is widely known as a film director, he has also become one of the foreground figures of the modern Swedish theatre. Bergman’s artistic career includes about a hundred stage performances, forty radio productions, fifty feature films, and fifteen TV productions. In several books, from The Magic

Ian Fleming was born in London as the son of Major Valentine Fleming, a Conservative M.P., who was killed in World War I, and Evelyn St. Croix Fleming. He was educated at Eton, Sandhurst. After resigning from Sandhurst, which infuriated his mother, Fleming studied languages at the universities of Munich and Geneva. He took the

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland in 1807. His father, Stephen Longfellow, was a Portland lawyer and congressman, and mother, Zilpah, was the daughter of General Peleg Wadsworth. Longfellow was early fond of reading—Washington Irving’s Sketch-Book was his favourite and at thirteen he wrote his first poem, ‘The Battle of Lovell’s Pond,’ which appeared

Hazari Prasad Dwivedi is a well-known critic, novelist, literary historian and essayist of Hindi literature. He wrote innumerable novels, essays and a historical outline of Hindi literature. He was born in 1907 in a small village of Arat-Dubeka Chhapra, in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh. He was passionate about astrology, Sanskrit, and Indian religion and

Harold Robbins was born Harold Rubin in New York City, the son of well-educated Russian and Polish immigrants. His father was a successful pharmacist. Robbins was educated at the George Washington High School and after leaving off the school he worked at several jobs. By the age of twenty, Robbins had made his first million

Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, Kent. His father was a shopkeeper and a professional cricketer until he broke his leg. In his early childhood Wells developed love for literature. His mother served from time to time as a housekeeper at the nearby estate of Uppark, and young Wells studied books in the library

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, where he grew up in something close to genteel poverty. His father, George Carr Shaw, was in the wholesale grain trade. Lucinda Elisabeth (Gurly) Shaw, his mother, was the daughter of an impoverished landowner. George Carr was a drunkard—his example prompted his son to become a teetotaller. When

Faiz Ahmed Faiz was born in Sialkot in the Punjab, then a part of India under British rule. His family were well-to-do landowners. Faiz’s father was a prominent lawyer, who was interested in literature, and whose friends included several prominent literary figures, including Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1873-1938), the national poet of Pakistan. Faiz received his

Emile Zola was born in Paris. His father, François Zola, was an Italian engineer, who acquired French citizenship. Zola spent his childhood in Aix-en-Provence, southeast France, where the family moved in 1843. When Zola was seven, his father died, leaving the family with money problems—Emilie Aubert, his mother, was largely dependent on a tiny pension.

Ernest Hemingway was born inn Oak Park, Illinois. His mother Grace Hall, whom he never forgave for dressing him as a little girl in his youth, had an operatic career before marrying Dr. Clarence Edmonds Hemingway; he taught his son to love out-door life. Hemingway’s father took his own life in 1928 after losing his

Born on December 25, 1926 in Allahabad to Chiranji Lal (an architact) and Chanda Devi (Later Principal Kanya Gurukul, Hatharas). The only other sibling he had was his younger sister, Dr. Veerbala. The family underwent considerable financial hardships after the father died early.Dr. Dharamvir Bharati did his M.A. in Hindi from Allahabad University in 1946