When fame is an open book, Christ, Shakespeare and Lenin lead the list of icons who have inspired the world’s authors, writes Martin Kettle in Washington
If fame is having a book written about you, then as the subject of no fewer than 17 239 books, Jesus Christ remains the most famous figure in the modern world, says a new study of the holdings of the world’s largest library.
A computerised analysis of the 18- million books in the Library of Congress in Washington shows there are nearly twice as many books about Christ as about his nearest challenger, William Shakespeare, who boasts 9 801; and four times as many as about Lenin, who occupies third place on the list, with 4 492.
Had God been deemed eligible for inclusion in the survey, He would have ousted Lenin from third place, as more than 7 700 books have been written about Him. Among women subjects, the Virgin Mary enjoys an even more comprehensive lead. She is the only female in the top 30, with 3 595 books.
That is more than six times as many as her nearest female rival, Joan of Arc, who just edges out Jane Austen for second place. Modern icons such as Madonna and Princess Diana are nowhere to be seen.
Surprisingly few of the present-day famous feature, and there is no living person in the top 30. Mikhail Gorbachev and the Queen lead the lists among present-day subjects.
The study of the library’s vast holdings was conducted by Peter Dickson, a former CIA analyst, who retired after spending more than 20 years studying west European political-military issues to write about the Shakespeare authorship controversy.
His survey, published earlier this year in the Washington Post, was accomplished thanks to the recent computerisation of the library’s records.
Dickson said yesterday that he chose the Library of Congress “because of the size of its holdings and because it collects the most widely in the world”. Though the library’s collections inevitably reflect its American base and its English-language origins, its holdings encompass books in almost every language, as well as from the earliest days of European and Chinese printing.
The ranking is based on “the number of books devoted to a person in whole or in part,” Dickson said yesterday. “I think it is as truthful and representative a list as it is possible to compile.”
Books written by a person – as distinct from those written about them – were not considered in the survey.
The list of the most famous men and women of all time is dominated by political leaders, writers and philosophers.
Apart from Shakespeare, who is in a class of his own, Johann von Goethe, Dante Alighieri and Alexander Pushkin lead the field. Among writers in English, John Milton and Charles Dickens are the most popular.
Of the 20th-century figures, Vladimir Lenin is a comfortable winner, followed by Adolf Hitler, Sigmund Freud and Mahatma Gandhi. Mikhail Gorbachev may have fallen from power but he is the highest placed living person on Dickson’s list, just edging out the Queen.
Perhaps surprisingly, Elizabeth II turns out to be the subject of more books than Elizabeth I. Old political chums Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan feature second on the lists of living women and men respectively.
France’s Louis XIV tops the list of historical monarchs, while Charles I is the most written about British king. Revolutionary leaders do better still, with Napoleon and George Washington both featuring in the top 20.
The king of the entertainment world remains Elvis Presley, with around 350 books written about him.
By comparison with philosophers, scientists and inventors do badly. Leonardo da Vinci leads the list with 787 books, followed by Charles Darwin (544), and Einstein and Galileo (both on 497).
Among the luminaries of the ancient world, Plato and Aristotle reign supreme. They are followed by Virgil (883), Alexander the Great (764), Cicero (742) and Confucius (701).
Richard Wagner is the most written about composer, followed by Mozart, Beethoven and Bach. Among painters, Pablo Picasso outstrips the competition with 932 books, putting him in 50th place overall. He is followed by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
The top 30 most famous names in history:
1 Jesus (17 239 books)
2 William Shakespeare (9 801)
3 Vladimir Lenin (4 492)
4 Abraham Lincoln (4 378)
5 Napoleon Bonaparte (4 007)
6 Karl Marx (3 817)
7 The Virgin Mary (3 595)
8 Johann von Goethe (3 431)
9 Dante Alighieri (2 878)
10 Plato (2 894)
11 George Washington (2 742)
12 Buddha (2 446)
13 Immanuel Kant (2 410)
14 Martin Luther (2 291)
15 Adolf Hitler (1 989)
16 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel (1 976)
17 Aristotle (1 696)
18 Richard Wagner (1 680)
19 Alexander Pushkin (1 614)
20 Friedrich Nietzsche (1 613)
21 Siegmund Freud (1 601)
22 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1 592)
23 Gandhi (1 583)
24 John Milton (1 533)
25 Ludwig van Beethoven (1 476)
26 Simon Bolivar (1 467)
27 Thomas Aquinas (1 424)
28 Charles Dickens (1 397)
29 JS Bach (1 361)
30 Miguel de Cervantes (1 348)
The top 10 women
1 Virgin Mary (3 595)
2 Joan of Arc (545)
3 Jane Austen (544)
4 Queen Victoria (492)
5 Mary, Queen of Scots (477)
6 Elizabeth II (442)
7 George Eliot (434)
8 Elizabeth I (407)
9 Cleopatra (329)
10 Emily Dickinson (310)
c Peter W Dickson 1999