WRITER

Wilbur Smith

1933 - 2021

Photo of Wilbur Smith

Icon of person Wilbur Smith

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. 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 1,711,677 page views. His biography is available in 42 different languages on Wikipedia. Wilbur Smith is the 876th most popular writer (down from 541st 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.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.7M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 62.84

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 42

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.58

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.36

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Wilbur Smith ranks 876 out of 7,302. Before him are Nizar Qabbani, Charles Nodier, Philip Pullman, Gaius Lucilius, Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, and Bernhard Schlink. After him are Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Viktor Shklovsky, Ghassan Kanafani, Dashiell Hammett, Luis Sepúlveda, and Joseph Campbell.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1933, Wilbur Smith ranks 55. Before him are Charles K. Kao, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Stanley Milgram, Edward de Bono, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Bobby Robson. After him are Ilia II of Georgia, Cormac McCarthy, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, John Gurdon, Tomislav Ivić, and Philip Zimbardo. Among people deceased in 2021, Wilbur Smith ranks 45. Before him are Robert Mundell, Marie, Princess of Liechtenstein, Edward de Bono, Chick Corea, Carlos Reutemann, and Edmond H. Fischer. After him are Osamu Yamaji, Phil Spector, Bernard Haitink, Hissène Habré, Ei-ichi Negishi, and Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta.

Others Born in 1933

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Others Deceased in 2021

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In Zambia

Among people born in Zambia, Wilbur Smith ranks 1 out of 41. After him are Kenneth Kaunda (1924), Godfrey Chitalu (1947), Stanley Fischer (1943), Frederick Chiluba (1943), Michael Sata (1937), Levy Mwanawasa (1948), Edgar Lungu (1956), Kalusha Bwalya (1963), Peter Dickinson (1927), Hakainde Hichilema (1962), and Denise Scott Brown (1931).

Others born in Zambia

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Among WRITERS In Zambia

Among writers born in Zambia, Wilbur Smith ranks 1. After him are Peter Dickinson (1927), and Alan Rusbridger (1953).

Zambian born Writers

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