WRITER

Alan Paton

1903 - 1988

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Icon of person Alan Paton

Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Alan Paton has received more than 544,930 page views. His biography is available in 35 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 33 in 2019). Alan Paton is the 4,910th most popular writer (down from 4,142nd in 2019), the 109th most popular biography from South Africa (down from 81st in 2019) and the 12th most popular South African Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 540k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 47.81

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 35

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.91

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.47

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Too late the phalarope
Fiction, Race relations, Blacks
1950
Hofmeyr
Politics and government
1964
Instrument of thy peace
Large type books, Meditation, Meditations
1968
Ah, but your land is beautiful
Fiction, Race relations, South Africa in fiction
1981
Cry, the Beloved Country
Apartheid in literature, Race relations, History and criticism
This book is the most famous and important novel in South Africa's history, and an immediate worldwide bestseller when it was published in 1948. Alan Paton's impassioned novel about a black man's country under white man's law is a work of searing beauty. The eminent literary critic Lewis Gannett wrote, " We have had many novels from statesmen and reformers, almost all bad; many novels from poets, almost all thin. In Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country the statesman, the poet and the novelist meet in a unique harmony." Cry, the Beloved Country is the deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son, Absalom, set against the background of a land and a people riven by racial injustice. Remarkable for its lyricism, unforgettable for character and incident, Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic work of love and hope, courage and endurance, born of the dignity of man. - Jacket flap.
1940
Towards the mountain
Authors, South African, Biography, South African Authors
1980

Page views of Alan Patons by language

Over the past year Alan Paton has had the most page views in the with 45,880 views, followed by French (3,229), and German (1,748). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Tamil (56.45%), Serbo-Croatian (31.90%), and Breton (30.71%)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Alan Paton ranks 4,910 out of 7,302. Before him are Ann Druyan, Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Suzanne Lilar, Ferenc Karinthy, Marilynne Robinson, and Horatio Alger. After him are C. L. Moore, Diane Ackerman, Eugène Guillevic, József Katona, Jan Arnald, and Edmund Wilson.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1903, Alan Paton ranks 253. Before him are Jean Tardieu, Willi Forst, Voldemar Väli, Nilo Murtinho Braga, Manuel Anatol, and Nathanael West. After him are Doca, Elizabeth Becker-Pinkston, Edgar Bergen, Billie Dove, Lothar Bolz, and Elisha Cook Jr.. Among people deceased in 1988, Alan Paton ranks 178. Before him are Shōhei Ōoka, Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson, Kwon Ki-ok, William McMahon, Memphis Slim, and Solomon. After him are Liang Shuming, Mildred Gillars, Victorio Unamuno, Marta Abba, Alfred Kelbassa, and Jan Brzák-Felix.

Others Born in 1903

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Others Deceased in 1988

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In South Africa

Among people born in South Africa, Alan Paton ranks 109 out of 454. Before him are Max Gluckman (1911), David Bailie (1937), Ted Grant (1913), Steve Nash (1974), Hugh Masekela (1939), and Julius Malema (1981). After him are Phil Ramone (1934), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (1949), Bevil Rudd (1894), John McDowell (1942), Sharlto Copley (1973), and Denis Goldberg (1933).

Others born in South Africa

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Among WRITERS In South Africa

Among writers born in South Africa, Alan Paton ranks 12. Before him are Ronald Harwood (1934), Laurence Oliphant (1829), Laurens van der Post (1906), Breyten Breytenbach (1939), Deon Meyer (1958), and Ingrid Jonker (1933). After him are Andrew Murray (1828), Elsa Joubert (1922), Antjie Krog (1952), Athol Fugard (1932), Karel Schoeman (1939), and Damon Galgut (1963).

South African born Writers

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