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WRITER

Henry David Thoreau

1817 - 1862

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Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument in favor of citizen disobedience against an unjust state. Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Henry David Thoreau has received more than 9,115,989 page views. His biography is available in 83 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 77 in 2019). Henry David Thoreau is the 120th most popular writer (down from 119th in 2019), the 93rd most popular biography from United States (down from 90th in 2019) and the 9th most popular American Writer.

Henry David Thoreau is most famous for his book Walden, in which he describes the two years he spent living in a cabin near Walden Pond.

Memorability Metrics

  • 9.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 75.77

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 83

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.32

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.48

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Henry David Thoreau ranks 120 out of 5,755Before him are François Villon, Plautus, Václav Havel, Sully Prudhomme, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and Yukio Mishima. After him are Paul Verlaine, Alexandre Dumas fils, Matsuo Bashō, Jean Cocteau, Apuleius, and H. P. Lovecraft.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1817, Henry David Thoreau ranks 1After him are Theodor Mommsen, William III of the Netherlands, Ivan Aivazovsky, Bahá'u'lláh, Louise of Hesse-Kassel, Charles-François Daubigny, Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen, Syed Ahmad Khan, Princess Clémentine of Orléans, and Niels Gade. Among people deceased in 1862, Henry David Thoreau ranks 2Before him is Martin Van Buren. After him are Samuel Colt, John Tyler, Jean-Baptiste Biot, Bahadur Shah Zafar, James Clark Ross, Božena Němcová, Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, Fromental Halévy, Mikhail Ostrogradsky, and Karl Nesselrode.

Others Born in 1817

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Others Deceased in 1862

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Henry David Thoreau ranks 93 out of 18,182Before him are Tina Turner (1939), Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929), Charles Bronson (1921), Frank Sinatra (1915), Harrison Ford (1942), and Joan Baez (1941). After him are Ted Bundy (1946), Stan Lee (1922), William James (1842), H. P. Lovecraft (1890), Chuck Norris (1940), and Meryl Streep (1949).

Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Henry David Thoreau ranks 9Before him are Mark Twain (1835), F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896), Jack London (1876), Robert Frost (1874), Toni Morrison (1931), and Stephen King (1947). After him are H. P. Lovecraft (1890), Dr. Seuss (1904), William Faulkner (1897), Frank Herbert (1920), J. D. Salinger (1919), and Dale Carnegie (1888).