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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of over 60,000 men and women who shaped the history of the British Isles and of Britons worldwide, from the ‘earliest times’ to the 21st century.   

The ODNB is the world’s largest collaborative research project in the humanities, providing concise, up-to-date biographies written by 13,000 specialists from 52 countries. In addition to its more than 60,000 biographies, the Dictionary includes more than 500 thematic essays (setting individuals in historical context), and 11,500 portrait likenesses, researched in association with the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Website:  http://www.oxforddnb.com/

• Research Aims

The ODNB was first published in 2004, in 60 print volumes and online. Since 2004 a continuation project has extended and developed the ODNB’s online edition.

Updates are published monthly. Our January update is composed of biographies of people who have died in the very recent past (all people in the ODNB are deceased). Our other monthly updates are gathered around themes of related lives and also extend the Dictionary’s coverage across earlier periods in the light of recent scholarship and publications. Updates also revise existing biographies in response to new research. Since 2004 we have added around 5000 biographies and thematic essays.

Dictionary editors also run a programme of public engagement with other national institutions (museums, galleries, the National Trust, English Heritage, and national biographies worldwide), as well as with British public libraries and university research projects in the UK and the United States. The Dictionary's popular podcast series is available on itunes and via our website.

The Oxford DNB is a research and publishing project of the Oxford History Faculty and Oxford University Press. The work of commissioning, editing, writing, updating, and promoting the Dictionary is undertaken by a small team of Oxford historians: Mark Curthoys, Alex May, and Anders Ingram.

The ODNB’s general editor (from October 2014) is Sir David Cannadine who, in his capacity as editor, is also a Visiting Professor in the Oxford History Faculty.

The ODNB have recorded over 250 life stories from the  Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford DNB) –  Boudicca  to  Bobby Moore ,  Mrs Simpson  to  Mills & Boon .

You can download an individual life or subscribe to their fortnightly biography podcast,  released on iTunes as ‘Oxford Biographies’ . Each episode lasts between 10 and 30 minutes.

Elizabeth Parsons, the Cock Lane Ghost (1749–1807), imposter

Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960), suffragette

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848-54), artists

Odo of Bayeux (d. 1097), commissioner of the Bayeux Tapestry

Jack Sheppard (1702-1724), thief and prison-breaker

Alice Liddell (1852-1934), the real-life in Alice in Wonderland

Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012), historian and political writer

Margaret Roper (1505-1544), scholar and daughter of Thomas More

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An illustrated collection of over 50,000 biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the year 2001.

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Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online.

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900 , the original 63 volumes, published between 1885 and 1900. These biographies use the suffix DNB00.
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement , first supplement of 3 volumes, published 1901; outlined in a prefatory note . These articles use the suffix DNB01. With Queen Victoria's death, 22 January 1901, this era came to a close.
• Dictionary of National Biography, Index and Epitome , published 1903 as one volume, provided condensed versions of all previous DNB biographies.
• Dictionary of National Biography, Errata , published 1904 in a single volume. These corrections are being incorporated into applicable DNB00 and DNB01 articles.
• Dictionary of National Biography re-issued nearly every article from the 66 volumes contained in the original and first supplement. This reissue, contained in 22 volumes, occurred between 1908 and 1909, and incorporated the 1904 Errata.
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement , published 1912 in three volumes, includes articles from those who died between 1901 and 1911. These articles use the suffix DNB12.
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement , published 1927 in one volume, includes articles from those who died between 1912 and 1921.

The 1912 Index was the last version of the DNB from the original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. Subsequent versions were published by Oxford University Press.

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of men and women who have shaped British history and culture, worldwide, from the Romans to the 21st century. The Dictionary offers concise, up-to-date biographies written by named, specialist authors

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(Oxford University Press)

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography covers over 57,000 biographies of persons who have shaped all aspects of the history of Great Britain; portraits are included for one-fifth of the subjects. Living persons are not included. The individual entries also contain references to additional literature. The time period covered reaches back to the 4th century B.C..

The database also contains the complete text of the Dictionary of National Bibliography, published since 1885, including all supplements (if available, they can be opened using the link DNB archive at the corresponding entry to the person).

The Themes section supplements the biographical entries with the categories: 

• Reference lists: tabular overviews of regents, officers, award winners, etc. 
• Reference groups: overview articles on specific groups (e.g. Metaphysical Poets, Gunpowder Plotters) 
• Feature essays: articles on special topics in British history (such as Roman Britain, the Great Fire of London)

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

An illustrated collection of more than 59,000 specially written biographies of the men and women from around the world who shaped all aspects of Britain's past

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biography noun

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What does the noun biography mean?

There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun biography . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun biography ?

How is the noun biography pronounced?

British english, u.s. english, where does the noun biography come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun biography is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for biography is from 1661, in the writing of John Fell, bishop of Oxford.

biography is a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: Latin biographia .

Nearby entries

• biognosy, n. 1880
• biograph, n. 1825–
• biograph, v. 1776–
• biographee, n. 1812–
• biographer, n. 1644–
• biographic, adj. 1752–
• biographical, adj. 1668–
• biographically, adv. ?1719–
• biographist, n. a1661–
• biographize, v. 1793–
• biography, n. 1661–
• biography, v. 1794–
• biographying, n. 1858–
• biohacker, n. 1988–
• biohacking, n. 1992–
• biohazard, n. 1965–
• biohazardous, adj. 1973–
• bioherm, n. 1928–
• biohermal, adj. 1937–
• bioidentical, adj. 1995–
• bioimaging, n. 1983–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for biography, n..

biography, n. was revised in November 2010.

biography, n. was last modified in July 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into biography, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1887)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

• View biography, n. in OED Second Edition

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Oxford dictionary of national biography : in association with the British Academy : from the earliest times to the year 2000

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Hidden Lives, Untold Stories: Nurses Beyond Nightingale

How many influential nurses from history can you name?

If you can’t get much further than Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, join us to find out about the nurses added to the  Oxford Dictionary of National Biography  for the WHO International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, a joint project between the RCN and the UK Association for the History Nursing (UKAHN).

Two hundred years after Florence Nightingale’s birth, most people recognise only a small number of nurses in history. Yet nurses have made huge contributions to healthcare history, from nursing in wartime, to mental health, and workhouses; while their roles include publishing, nursing professors, chief nursing officers, and local community district nursing.

Today, the vital role of nurses in the COVID-19 Pandemic is widely acknowledged, yet individuals are rarely recognised. Join us to hear from a group of nurses and historians who wrote the 27 new entries for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published this year. From Annie Altschul, pioneer of mental health nursing, to Lisbeth Hockey, one of the first Professors of Nursing in the UK, find out how these nurses inspired and influenced the authors.

Please register to attend, and a link will be circulated in advance with instructions on how to join the meeting.

Join the Royal College of Nursing online to hear the stories of some of the 27 nurses added to the Dictionary of National Biography for the 2020 Year of the Nurse and the midwife.

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Welcome to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

• Over 65,000 biographies, 75 million words, 12,000 portraits of significant, influential or notorious figures who shaped British history – perform advanced search
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Information for Librarians

What’s New: June 2024

This month’s update adds sixteen new articles, ranging over four centuries, with a special focus on regions and localities: including dynasties of Scottish whisky distillers and south Yorkshire ironmasters; a Ross-shire clan chief; a Hertfordshire collector of recipes;  a Barnard Castle reformer; a Lancashire landscape painter; a Dewsbury weaver and trade unionist; a Stoke-on-Trent porcelain manufacturer; an Ulverston collector of surnames; a Glastonbury educationist and playwright; a central London landlord and an outer London architect; and a businesswoman who owned a leading group of local newspapers.

Read the introduction  

Buckton, Alice Mary (1867–1944), educationist and playwright

An innovative educationist and successful playwright, Alice Buckton settled in Glastonbury, Somerset, attracted by its sacred sites and spiritual traditions, which she did much to promote and preserve. She wrote the screenplay and appeared in a film made in 1922 depicting episodes from Glastonbury’s history.

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• Harry Patch, First World War veteran
• Flora MacDonald, Jacobite heroine
• Geoffrey Malins, filmmaker and adventurer
• Edith Cavell, nurse and war heroine

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Life of the day, june 13, 2024, what's new: june 2024.

Welcome to the 111th update of the Oxford DNB, which adds sixteen new articles, containing sixteen new lives, with a special focus on regions and localities in Britain. 

MAY 9, 2024

What's new: may 2024.

Welcome to the 110th update of the Oxford DNB, which adds thirteen new articles, containing fourteen new lives, with a special focus on women artists. 

APRIL 9, 2024

2024 update of the oxford dictionary of national biography.

The April 2024 of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ( Oxford DNB ) adds new biographies of 276 men and women who died in the year 2020.

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date: 19 June 2024

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