Biography facts for kids
A biography is the story of a person's life. It tells about important events, achievements, and challenges someone faced. The word "biography" comes from two Greek words: bios, which means "life," and graphein, which means "to write." So, it literally means "life writing."
When a person writes their own life story, it's called an autobiography. Biographies can be found in many forms. They are often written as books, but they can also be made into movies (called biopics) or even told as spoken stories.
Contents
The History of Biographies
Biographies have been around for a very long time. People have always been interested in learning about the lives of others, especially important figures.
Ancient Life Stories
The earliest written biographies we know about were created to record the lives of rulers and important leaders. Some of these old stories come from places like ancient Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. These early biographies were a way to keep track of history.
Another early type of biography was called hagiography. This word means "writing about holy people." These stories focused on the lives of saints and religious figures.
Biographies in Different Cultures
In ancient China, biographies were a key part of history books. They helped people understand the past through the lives of individuals. In India, people wrote biographies about Buddha and his different lives.
The ancient Greeks started writing about people who weren't just rulers. For example, Xenophon wrote a book called Memorabilia (which means "Memories") about the philosopher Socrates.
During the Roman Empire, famous writers continued this tradition. Plutarch wrote Parallel Lives, which compared the lives of important Greek and Roman politicians. Suetonius wrote biographies of the Roman emperors. Even the Gospels, which tell the story of Jesus, can be seen as a form of biography.
In West Africa, storytellers called griots pass down history through spoken stories, and these often include detailed biographies of people from the past.
Modern Biographies
Today, many biographies are published as books and sold around the world. They help us learn about famous people, historical figures, or even ordinary people who have interesting stories to tell. Biographies give us a window into different times and experiences.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Third Volume of a 1727 edition of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans printed by Jacob Tonson
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Einhard as scribe
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John Foxe's The Book of Martyrs, was one of the earliest English-language biographies.
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James Boswell wrote what many consider to be the first modern biography, The Life of Samuel Johnson, in 1791.
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Eminent Victorians set the standard for 20th century biographical writing, when it was published in 1918.
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