1933 - 2021
Wilbur Addison Smith (9 January 1933 – 13 November 2021) was a Northern Rhodesian-born British-South African novelist specializing in historical fiction about international involvement in Southern Africa across four centuries. An accountant by training, he gained a film contract with his first published novel, When the Lion Feeds, which encouraged him to become a full-time writer. He went on to write three long chronicles of the South African experience, which became best-sellers. Read more on Wikipedia
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Wilbur Smith has received more than 1,618,896 page views. His biography is available in 42 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 38 in 2019). Wilbur Smith is the 542nd most popular writer (up from 668th in 2019), the most popular biography from Zambia and the most popular Zambian Writer.
Wilbur Smith is most famous for his historical fiction novels set in Africa, particularly the Courtney series.
Page Views (PV)
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
Languages Editions (L)
Effective Languages (L*)
Coefficient of Variation (CV)
Among writers, Wilbur Smith ranks 542 out of 5,755. Before him are Eugene O'Neill, Erich Kästner, Marie-Antoine Carême, Ivan Bunin, Laurence Sterne, and Kazuo Ishiguro. After him are Alfred Jarry, Aulus Gellius, Gaius Julius Hyginus, A. A. Milne, Heinrich Mann, and Luo Guanzhong.
1888 - 1953
HPI: 65.84
Rank: 536
1899 - 1974
HPI: 65.83
Rank: 537
1784 - 1833
HPI: 65.82
Rank: 538
1870 - 1953
HPI: 65.81
Rank: 539
1713 - 1768
HPI: 65.80
Rank: 540
1954 - Present
HPI: 65.79
Rank: 541
1933 - 2021
HPI: 65.77
Rank: 542
1873 - 1907
HPI: 65.76
Rank: 543
123 - 180
HPI: 65.75
Rank: 544
64 BC - 17
HPI: 65.75
Rank: 545
1882 - 1956
HPI: 65.75
Rank: 546
1871 - 1950
HPI: 65.74
Rank: 547
1330 - 1400
HPI: 65.69
Rank: 548
Among people born in 1933, Wilbur Smith ranks 29. Before him are Paul Biya, Krzysztof Penderecki, Heinrich Rohrer, Costa-Gavras, Elinor Ostrom, and Arno Allan Penzias. After him are Richard Rogers, Kim Novak, Philip Zimbardo, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stanley Milgram. Among people deceased in 2021, Wilbur Smith ranks 24. Before him are Raffaella Carrà, Marie, Princess of Liechtenstein, Bernie Madoff, Betty White, Aaron T. Beck, and Nathalie Delon. After him are Richard Rogers, Sonny Chiba, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Lars Vilks, Donald Rumsfeld, and Carlos Menem.
1933 - Present
HPI: 66.99
Rank: 23
1933 - 2020
HPI: 66.98
Rank: 24
1933 - 2013
HPI: 66.73
Rank: 25
1933 - Present
HPI: 66.45
Rank: 26
1933 - 2012
HPI: 66.43
Rank: 27
1933 - 2024
HPI: 66.16
Rank: 28
1933 - 2021
HPI: 65.77
Rank: 29
1933 - 2021
HPI: 65.74
Rank: 30
1933 - Present
HPI: 65.52
Rank: 31
1933 - Present
HPI: 65.21
Rank: 32
1933 - Present
HPI: 65.20
Rank: 33
1933 - 2020
HPI: 64.79
Rank: 34
1933 - 1984
HPI: 64.70
Rank: 35
1943 - 2021
HPI: 67.26
Rank: 18
1940 - 2021
HPI: 66.90
Rank: 19
1938 - 2021
HPI: 66.63
Rank: 20
1922 - 2021
HPI: 66.24
Rank: 21
1921 - 2021
HPI: 66.06
Rank: 22
1941 - 2021
HPI: 65.98
Rank: 23
1933 - 2021
HPI: 65.77
Rank: 24
1933 - 2021
HPI: 65.74
Rank: 25
1939 - 2021
HPI: 65.61
Rank: 26
1935 - 2021
HPI: 65.25
Rank: 27
1946 - 2021
HPI: 65.16
Rank: 28
1932 - 2021
HPI: 65.14
Rank: 29
1930 - 2021
HPI: 64.89
Rank: 30
Among people born in Zambia, Wilbur Smith ranks 1 out of 35. After him are Kenneth Kaunda (1924), Stanley Fischer (1943), Godfrey Chitalu (1947), Michael Sata (1937), Denise Scott Brown (1931), Frederick Chiluba (1943), Levy Mwanawasa (1948), Edgar Lungu (1956), Kalusha Bwalya (1963), Medardo Joseph Mazombwe (1931), and Guy Scott (1944).
1933 - 2021
HPI: 65.77
Rank: 1
1924 - 2021
HPI: 58.03
Rank: 2
1943 - Present
HPI: 52.34
Rank: 3
1947 - 1993
HPI: 52.08
Rank: 4
1937 - 2014
HPI: 50.53
Rank: 5
1931 - Present
HPI: 49.03
Rank: 6
1943 - 2011
HPI: 48.73
Rank: 7
1948 - 2008
HPI: 48.01
Rank: 8
1956 - Present
HPI: 47.51
Rank: 9
1963 - Present
HPI: 46.12
Rank: 10
1931 - 2013
HPI: 46.09
Rank: 11
1944 - Present
HPI: 45.17
Rank: 12
Among writers born in Zambia, Wilbur Smith ranks 1.