WRITER

W. S. Gilbert

1836 - 1911

Photo of W. S. Gilbert

Icon of person W. S. Gilbert

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most famous of these include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre, The Mikado. The popularity of these works was supported for over a century by year-round performances of them, in Britain and abroad, by the repertory company that Gilbert, Sullivan and their producer Richard D'Oyly Carte founded, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of W. S. Gilbert has received more than 834,620 page views. His biography is available in 35 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 31 in 2019). W. S. Gilbert is the 4,633rd most popular writer (down from 4,579th in 2019), the 3,317th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 3,447th in 2019) and the 373rd most popular British Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 830k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 48.63

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 35

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.34

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.80

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

The Mikado
Opera programs, Librettos, Musical revues, comedies, etc
1885
The Bab ballads
Accessible book, English Humorous poetry, English Ballads
1869
Original plays
Accessible book
1876
Engaged
1870
Fifty "Bab" ballads
1878
The Savoy operas
Opera, Librettos, Operas
1909

Among WRITERS

Among writers, W. S. Gilbert ranks 4,633 out of 7,302. Before him are James Agee, Oğuz Atay, Adam Asnyk, Alexander McCall Smith, Ludwig Bechstein, and Nancy Huston. After him are Molla Vali Vidadi, Kostas Karyotakis, Shuntarō Tanikawa, Lin Shu, Zane Grey, and Vitaly Bianki.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1836, W. S. Gilbert ranks 65. Before him are Bret Harte, Michał Elwiro Andriolli, Émile Étienne Guimet, Emil Hartmann, Robert Swinhoe, and John W. Foster. After him are Ferdinand Monoyer, Harry Rosenbusch, Isabella Beeton, Greene Vardiman Black, Jay Gould, and Casimir de Candolle. Among people deceased in 1911, W. S. Gilbert ranks 69. Before him are Ivan Grohar, Alphonse Legros, Carolina Coronado, Kanno Sugako, Quanah Parker, and Christian Lundeberg. After him are Anton Josef Gruscha, Eugene Burton Ely, Heinrich Hofmann, Dragan Tsankov, José López Domínguez, and Carl Folcker.

Others Born in 1836

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Others Deceased in 1911

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, W. S. Gilbert ranks 3,317 out of 8,785. Before him are John Marshall (1748), Justin Welby (1956), Nicholas Ridley (1500), Charles Winslow (1888), Ian McNeice (1950), and Catherine Bell (1968). After him are Clive Russell (1945), William Hallowes Miller (1801), Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth (1757), Verney Lovett Cameron (1844), Anne Hutchinson (1591), and Henry Macintosh (1892).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, W. S. Gilbert ranks 373. Before him are Alan Bennett (1934), Isaac Watts (1674), George Chapman (1559), Lydia Becker (1827), Gilbert Adair (1944), and Ronald Knox (1888). After him are Sarah Kane (1971), Grace Aguilar (1816), Thomas Middleton (1580), Taylor Caldwell (1900), Stephen Baxter (1957), and Peter Ackroyd (1949).

British born Writers

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