Historical Figures Born in 1897

  • Jan 8 Dennis Wheatley, British author (d. 1977)
  • Jan 9 Karl Löwith, German philosopher, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1973)
  • Jan 11 August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)
  • Jan 12 Hendrik Valk, Dutch painter, cartoonist and graphic artist (d. 1986)
  • Jan 14 Hasso von Manteuffel, German WWII general (5th Panzer Army) and politician, born in Potsdam, Germany (d. 1978)
  • Jan 15 Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (d. 1931)
  • Jan 16 Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet, born in Villahermosa, Tabasco (d. 1977)
  • Jan 17 Marcel Petiot, French mass murderer (d. 1946)
  • Jan 21 René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
  • Jan 23 Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2000)
  • Jan 23 Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian politician & nationalist, born in Cuttack, British India (d. 1945)
  • Jan 28 Valentin Kataev, novelist/playwright (Embezzled), born in Odessa Ukraine (d. 1986)
  • Feb 1 Denise Robins, English romantic novelist (1st Long Kiss), born in London, England (d. 1985)
  • Feb 2 Aimé Avignon, France's former oldest living man (d. 2007)
  • Feb 2 Howard Johnson, American hotelier (d. 1972)
  • Feb 4 Ludwig Erhard, German politician (CDU, as Chancellor of Germany 1963-66 led German "economic miracle"), born in Fürth, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1977)
  • Feb 5 Dirk Stikker, Dutch politician, diplomat (Ambassador to Great Britain, 1952-58; Secretary General of NATO, 1961-64), and CEO (Heineken), Born in Winschoten, Netherlands (d. 1979)
  • Feb 6 Alberto [de Almeida] Cavalcanti, Brazilian director (Nicholas Nickleby), born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 1982)

Louis BuchalterLouis Buchalter (1897-1944)

Feb 6 Jewish-American mobster (Murder, Inc.), born in NYC, New York

  • Feb 8 Zakir Husain, 3rd President of India (1967-69) and scholar, born in Hyderabad, Hyderabad State (d. 1969)
  • Feb 9 Charles Kingsford-Smith, Australian pioneering aviator (1st transpacific flight), born in Brisbane, Australia (d. 1935)
  • Feb 10 John Franklin Enders, American microbiologist (1954 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine for culturing poliovirus, developed measles vaccine), born in West Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1985)
  • Feb 18 Charles Kuentz, WW1 veteran, changed nationality 4 times (d. 2005)
  • Feb 20 Ivan Albright, American painter (Door, Window), born in North Harvey, Illinois (d. 1983)
  • Feb 22 Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
  • Feb 27 Bernard Lyot, French astronomer (Coronagraph, Lyot-filter), born in Paris (d. 1952)
  • Feb 27 Paul Schuitema, Dutch graphic designer and photographer (System-O-Color), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1973)
  • Mar 5 Set Persson, Swedish communist politician, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1960)

Soong Mei-lingSoong Mei-ling (1897-2003)

Mar 5 Chinese political figure and First Lady of the Republic of China (1948-75), born in Shanghai

  • Mar 13 Marcel Thiry, Belgian writer and wallon militant, born in Charleroi, Belgium (d. 1977)
  • Mar 17 Jozef C. Mazur, American stained glass artist and painter (d. 1970)
  • Mar 19 Liam O'Flaherty, Irish writer, born in Inishmore, Aran Islands (d. 1984)
  • Mar 24 Charles Eyck, Dutch painter and sculptor (Limburg School), born in Meerssen, Netherlands (d. 1983)
  • Mar 24 Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychoanalyst (coined term "sexual revolution", worked with Freud), born in Dobzau, Austria-Hungary (d. 1957)
  • Mar 27 Carlo Mierendorff, German politician and anti-fascist, born in Grossenhain, Germany (d. 1943)
  • Mar 27 Douglas R. Hartree, English mathematician and physicist, born in Cambridge, England (d. 1958)
  • Apr 7 Erich Loewenhardt, German flying ace of World War I, born in Province of Silesia, Poland (d. 1918)
  • Apr 13 Werner Voss, German World War I flying ace, born in Krefeld, Germany (d. 1917)
  • Apr 14 Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, British sociologist and criminologist, born in Cambridge, England (d. 1988)
  • Apr 16 John Bagot Glubb, British commandant and writer (A soldier with the Arabs), born in Preston, Lancashire, England (d. 1986)
  • Apr 17 Antonius Coolen, Dutch author (Village by the River), born in Wijlre, Netherlands (d. 1961)

Thornton WilderThornton Wilder (1897-1975)

Apr 17 American playwright and writer (Bridge of San Luis Rey), born in Madison, Wisconsin

  • Apr 18 Ardito Desio, Italian explorer and topographer, born in Palmanova, Friuli, Italy (d. 2001)
  • Apr 19 Peter de Noronha, Indian businessman and philanthropist, born in India (d. 1970)

Lester B. PearsonLester B. Pearson (1897-1972)

Apr 23 14th Canadian Prime Minister (1963-68) (Nobel Peace Prize 1957), born in Toronto, Ontario

  • Apr 23 Lucius du Bignon Clay, American WWII general and military governor of West Germany, born in Marietta, Georgia (d. 1978)
  • Apr 24 Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist (the relation of language to thinking and cognition), born in Winthrop, Massachusetts (d. 1941)
  • Apr 24 Manuel Ávila Camacho, 45th President of Mexico (1940-46), born in Teziutlán, Puebla, Mexico (d. 1955)
  • Apr 25 Mary [Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary], Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, born in York Cottage, Sandringham (d. 1965)
  • Apr 28 Kálmán Tihanyi, Hungarian physicist and engineer (invented cathode ray tube for television), born in Üzbég, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1947)
  • Apr 28 Ye Jianying, Chinese communist general and politician (Head of State of the People's Republic of China 1978-83), born in Jiaying, Guangdong, Qing Empire (d. 1986)
  • Apr 29 Bernard Verhoeven, Dutch poet (Pleidooi near een non), born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 1965)
  • May 3 V. K. Krishna Menon, Indian nationalist, Minister of Defense (1957-62), born in Tellicherry, British India (d. 1974)
  • May 6 Paul Alverdes, German writer (Pfeiferstube), born in Strasbourg, France (d. 1979)
  • May 10 Einar Gerhardsen, Prime minister of Norway (d. 1987)
  • May 10 Ewart Maurice Levy, 2nd Baronet
  • May 11 Izak W van der Merwe [Boerneef], South African writer (Tweetalige Woordeboek)
  • May 11 Robert E. Gross, American businessman (d. 1961)
  • May 14 Ed Ricketts, American marine biologist (d. 1948)
  • May 17 Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist (Nobel 1969 - the study of the three-dimensional geometric structure of molecules), born in Kristiana, Norway (d. 1981)
  • May 19 Frank Luke, American World War I pilot (d. 1918)
  • May 20 Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (d. 1983)
  • May 22 Robert Neumann, Austrian-British author (Waters of Babylon), born in Vienna (d. 1975)
  • May 27 John Cockcroft, English physicist (development of Radar, Nobel Prize 1951 for 1st particle accelerator, Director of Atomic Energy Research Establishment), born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England (d. 1967)
  • Jun 8 John G. Bennett, British scientist and author, born in London (d. 1974)
  • Jun 10 Tatiana Nikolaevna, 2nd daughter of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, born in Peterhof Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1918)
  • Jun 11 Bruno Frei [Benedikt Freistadt], Austrian Marxist journalist, born in Bratislava (d. 1988)

Anthony EdenAnthony Eden (1897-1977)

Jun 12 British Prime Minister (Conservative: 1955-57) and Foreign Secretary, born in Rushyford, England

  • Jun 16 Georg Wittig, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1987)
  • Jun 22 Norbert Elias, English/Dutch philosopher (Process of Civilization)
  • Jun 23 Winifred Wagner-William, German organizer (Wagner Festival)
  • Jun 24 Daniel K. Ludwig, American shipping magnate (d. 1992)
  • Jun 29 Fulgence Charpentier, French Canadian journalist, born in Sainte-Anne-de-Prescott, Ontario, Canada (d. 2001)
  • Jul 6 Richard Krautheimer, art Historian
  • Jul 10 Jack "Legs" Diamond, American gangster and bootlegger, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1931)
  • Jul 10 Karl Plagge, German officer and Nazi Party member who during World War II used his position as a staff officer in the German Army to employ and protect some 1,240 Jews, born in Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1957)
  • Jul 10 Lloyd Goodrich, American Arts Museum director, born in Nutley, New Jersey (d. 1987)
  • Jul 11 Bull Connor, American law enforcement official (d. 1973)
  • Jul 17 Elbert Parr Tuttle, lawyer/judge
  • Jul 18 Stephen Gill Spottswood, American African Methodist Episcopal Zion bishop, and civil rights leader (NAACP Chairman, 1961-74), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1974)
  • Jul 20 Tadeusz Reichstein, Swiss chemist (Nobel 1950)

Amelia EarhartAmelia Earhart (1897-1939)

Jul 24 American aviator (1st woman to fly solo across the Atlantic), born in Atchison, Kansas

  • Jul 24 Elmar Berkovich, Hungarian-Dutch industrial designer (Eindhoven Theatre) (d. 1967)
  • Jul 24 Karl von Mechow, German writer (Auf Dem Wege, Vorsommer), born in Bonn, Germany (d. 1960)
  • Jul 26 Paul Gallico, American novelist (The Snow Goose), born in NYC, New York (d. 1976)
  • Jul 29 Neil Ritchie, British general (Eighth Army commander WWII) (d. 1983), born in British Guiana (d. 1983)
  • Jul 30 Jacques de Kadt, Dutch politician and writer (Fascism is War!), born in Oss, Netherlands (d. 1988)
  • Aug 2 Karl Otto Koch, German SS-officer, born in Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1945)
  • Aug 2 Max Weber, Swiss Federal Councilor, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1974)
  • Aug 5 Aksel Larsen, Danish politician, founder of the Socialist People's Party, born in Brændekilde, Denmark (d. 1972)
  • Aug 7 Franz J Weinrich [Heinrich Lerse], German writer (Himmlisches)
  • Aug 9 Ralph Wyckoff, American scientist and pioneer of X-ray crystallography, born in Geneva, New York (d. 1994)
  • Aug 10 John Galbreath, American businessman (d. 1988)
  • Aug 10 Piet[er O] Bakker, Dutch novelist (Ciske the Rat)

Enid BlytonEnid Blyton (1897-1968)

Aug 11 English children's writer, fifth most popular author in the world (Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Adventure), born in London, England

  • Aug 11 Louise Bogan, American poet and critic (Sleeping Fury), born in Maine (d. 1970)
  • Aug 12 Otto (von) Struve, German/US dir (Yerkes/MacDonald observatory)
  • Aug 16 Robert Ringling, circus master, born in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin (d. 1950)
  • Aug 20 Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian poet and author (Det Store Spelet), born in Vinje, Telemark, Norway (d. 1970)
  • Aug 26 Yoon Boseon, Korean politician, President of South Korea (1960-62), born in Asan, Joseon (d. 1990)
  • Aug 31 Marianne Bruns, German writer, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1994)
  • Sep 3 Sally Benson, American writer (Meet Me In St. Louis), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1972)
  • Sep 5 Arthur C. Nielsen, American businessman and market researcher (TV's Nielsen's Ratings), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1980)
  • Sep 10 Georges Bataille, French writer (d. 1962)
  • Sep 10 Nancy Lancaster, American decorator (Colefax and Fowler), born in Mirador, Virginia (d. 1994)

Irene Joliot-CurieIrene Joliot-Curie (1897-1956)

Sep 12 French chemist and physicist (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1935) and daughter of Marie Curie, born in Paris, France

  • Sep 23 Paul Delvaux, Belgian surrealist painter, born in Wanze, Belgium (d. 1994)

William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner (1897-1962)

Sep 25 American author (Sound & Fury-Nobel 1949), born in New Albany, Mississippi

  • Sep 26 Arthur Rhys-Davids, English flying ace (WW I), born in Forest Hill, London (d. 1917)

Paul VIPaul VI (1897-1978)

Sep 26 262nd Roman Catholic pope (1963-78), born in Concesio, Italy

  • Sep 26 Victor Otto Stomps, German writer and publisher, born in Krefeld, Germany (d. 1970)
  • Sep 28 Muchtar Auezov, Kazakh writer, born in Semipalatinsk Oblast, Russia (d. 1961)
  • Sep 29 Herbert Agar, American journalist and historian (d. 1980)
  • Oct 3 Josephine "Mama Jo" Riley Matthews, African-American midwife (SC)
  • Oct 3 Louis Aragon, French poet and writer (Les Lettres françaises, Pour un réalisme socialiste), born in Paris, France (d. 1982)

Elijah MuhammadElijah Muhammad (1897-1975)

Oct 7 American religious leader, and Black separatist (Nation of Islam, 1934-75), born in Sandersville, Georgia

  • Oct 11 Nathan Farragut Twining, U.S. Air Force general, born in Monroe, Wisconsin (d. 1982)
  • Oct 16 Louis de Cazenave, France's oldest living man
  • Oct 18 Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist (d. 1980)
  • Oct 19 Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Pakistani scientist and scholar (d. 1994)
  • Oct 20 Yevsei Liberman, Ukrainian Soviet economist (Plan, profit, bonuses), born in Slavuta, Russia (d. 1983)
  • Oct 20 Yi Un of Korea, last crown prince of Korea, born at Deoksu Palace, Seoul (d. 1970)
  • Oct 28 Hans Speidel, German general and NATO-supreme commander (1957-64), born in Metzingen, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire (d. 1984)

Joseph GoebbelsJoseph Goebbels (1897-1945)

Oct 29 German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany (1933-45), born in Rheydt, Germany

  • Nov 1 Naomi Mitchison, Scottish author (African Heroes, Return to Fairy Hill), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1999)
  • Nov 2 Jacob Bjerknes, Norwegian-American meteorologist (USAF in London), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1975)
  • Nov 3 Frederick Stratten Russell, English marine biologist (plankton life history and linked their depth in the seas to light availability helping explain long-term changes in the ecosystem), born in Bridport, Dorset, England (d. 1984)
  • Nov 7 Ruth Pitter, British poet and 1st woman to receive the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1955, born in Ilford, London (d. 1992)

Dorothy DayDorothy Day (1897-1980)

Nov 8 American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert, born in Brooklyn, New York

  • Nov 9 Ronald G W Norrish, British chemist (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1967), born in Cambridge, England (d. 1978)
  • Nov 11 Gordon Allport, American psychologist (personalities), born in Montezuma, Indiana (d. 1967)
  • Nov 14 John Steuart Curry, American painter and lithographer (Baptism in Kansas), born in Dunavant, Kansas (d. 1946)
  • Nov 15 Aneurin Bevan, British politician (d. 1960)
  • Nov 15 Sacheverell Sitwell, English author (People's Palace), born in Scarborough, England (d. 1988)
  • Nov 16 Choudhary Rehmat Ali, Pakistani nationalist (one of the earliest proponents of the creation of the state of Pakistan and recognized as the creator of the name “Pakistan” for a separate Muslim, homeland in South Asia and is known as the founder of the Pakistan National Movement), born in Garhshankar, Punjab, British India (d. 1951)
  • Nov 18 Patrick Blackett, British physicist (Nobel 1948 - nuclear reaction), born in London (d. 1974)
  • Nov 19 Quentin Roosevelt, youngest son of United States President Theodore Roosevelt, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1918)
  • Nov 20 Lores Bonney, Australian aviator, 1st female solo flight Australia to UK, born in Pretoria, South Africa (d. 1994)
  • Nov 21 Mollie Steimer, American political prisoner and anarchist agitator, born in Dunaevtsy, Russia (d. 1980)
  • Nov 22 Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer, born in Chemnitz, Kingdom of Saxony (d. 1989)
  • Nov 23 Karl Gebhardt, Nazi doctor (executed for war crimes for conducting experiments on concentration camp inmates), born in Haag in Oberbayern, Germany (d. 1948)
  • Nov 23 Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Indian writer (The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian), born in Kishoregunj, East Bengal, British India (d. 1999)
  • Nov 27 Vito Genovese, Italian-American crime syndicate boss, born in Risigliano, Tufino, Italy (d. 1969)
  • Nov 28 Uno Chiyo, Japanese writer (Confessions of Love), born in Iwakuni (d. 1996)
  • Nov 29 Emiel van Hemeldonck, Belgian writer (Mary, My Child), (d. 1981)
  • Dec 2 Hovhannes Bagramyan, Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union of Armenian origin, born in Yelizavetpol, Elisabethpol Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1982)
  • Dec 2 Rewi Alley, New Zealand writer (Americans in China), born in Springfield, Canterbury, New Zealand (d. 1987)
  • Dec 3 Kate O'Brien, Irish writer (Without My Cloak), born in Limerick City, Ireland (d. 1974)
  • Dec 4 Mari Andriessen, Dutch sculptor (Dock Worker), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1979)
  • Dec 6 Oscar Walter Cisek, Romanian writer and diplomat, born in Bucharest (d. 1966)
  • Dec 10 Karl H. Waggerl, Austria writer (Power of Love), born in Bad Gastein, Austria (d. 1973)
  • Dec 14 Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (Dictator of the Austrian Federal State), born in Riva del Garda, Tyrol, Austria-Hungary (d. 1977)
  • Dec 14 Margaret Chase Smith, American politician (U.S. Senator from Maine), born in Skowhegan, Maine (d. 1995)
  • Dec 16 Paul Neuhuys, Belgian playwright and poet (Le Canari et le Cerise), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1984)
  • Dec 18 Fernand Collin, Belgian economist and banker, born in Antwerp (d. 1990)
  • Dec 19 Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, French politician and Nazi collaborator (anti-Semite minister in WWII Vichy government), born in Cahors, France (d. 1980)
  • Dec 27 Ivan Konev, Russian general (Marshal of the Soviet Union - led Red Army on WWII Eastern Front, commanded Warsaw Pact forces), born in Lodeyno, Vologda Governorate, Russia (d. 1973)
  • Dec 30 Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author (d. 1976)