Imamu Amiri Baraka is an African-American poet and scholar. He has served as professor emeritus of Africana Studies at the State Unversity of New York at Stony Brook.
1934-
Roland Barthes was a French literary philosopher whose work influenced structuralism, semiotics and anthropology.
1915-1980
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet best known for his controversial volume of poems, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil).
1821-1867
Robert Benchley was an American humorist, drama critic and film actor who is best known for his small roles in over 40 films, including How To Sleep.
1889-1945
James M. Buchanan is an American economist best known for his work on public choice theory, for which he receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986.
1919-
Alistair Cooke was a British-born journalist who worked in newspaper, radio and television. He hosted television's Masterpiece Theatre.
1908-2004
Jacques Derrida was an influential postmodern French philosopher who developed the analytic method known as Deconstruction.
1930-2004
Art critic Sergei Diaghilev started the artistic collaboration the Ballet Russes, which toured worldwide and was a forerunner of the Royal Ballet.
1872-1929
British poet Robert Graves is best known for writing his first volumes of poetry, primarily about war, while serving at the Western Front during World War I.
1895-1985
Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher who wrote about Christian belief systems and helped birth existentialism.
1813-1855
1860-1936
American poet and critic Robert Pinksy is best known for writing about the significance of every-day experiences.
1940-
1896-1989
Gore Vidal was best known as a prolific American writer, but was also famous for frequent talk-show appearances and witty political criticisms.
1925-2012
1905-1989