On this day
May 2 in literary history
Literary history for May 2: 21 writers born, 22 writers who died and 1 literary events from 1293 to 2015. Born on this day: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Yasushi Akimoto, Régis Labeaume.
Writers born on May 2
| Born | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | German film director and screenwriter (born 1973) |
| 1958 | Yasushi Akimoto | Japanese producer and lyricist (born 1958) |
| 1956 | Régis Labeaume | Canadian businessman, writer and politician (born 1956) |
| 1949 | Alan Titchmarsh | British gardener, broadcaster, and writer (born 1949) |
| 1937 | Lorenzo Music | American actor, producer, and writer (1937–2001) |
| 1931 | Pulak Bandyopadhyay | Indian lyricist (1931–1999) |
| 1930 | Yoram Kaniuk | Israeli writer, painter, journalist, and theatre critic (1930–2013) |
| 1921 | B. B. Lal | Indian archaeologist and author (1921–2022) |
| 1921 | Satyajit Ray | Indian filmmaker and writer (1921–1992) |
| 1912 | Axel Springer | German publisher (1912–1985) |
| 1905 | Charlotte Armstrong | American writer (1905–1969) |
| 1903 | Benjamin Spock | American pediatrician, political activist, and writer (1903–1998) |
| 1895 | Lorenz Hart | American lyricist (1895–1943) |
| 1890 | E. E. Smith | Food engineer and science-fiction author (1890–1965) |
| 1886 | Gottfried Benn | German writer and physician (1886–1956) |
| 1873 | Jurgis Baltrušaitis | Lithuanian poet (1897–1944) |
| 1872 | Ichiyō Higuchi | Japanese writer (1872–1896) |
| 1865 | Clyde Fitch | American playwright (1865–1909) |
| 1859 | Jerome K. Jerome | English writer and humorist (1859–1927) |
| 1813 | Caroline Leigh Gascoigne | English poet and novelist (1813–1883) |
| 1773 | Henrik Steffens | Norwegian philosopher, theologian, scientist and poet |
Writers who died on May 2
| Died | Writer | Known as |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Michael Blake (author) | American writer (1945–2015) |
| 2015 | Ruth Rendell | English writer (1930–2015) |
| 2014 | Žarko Petan | Žarko Petan, Slovenian director, playwright, and screenwriter (born 1929) |
| 2013 | Dvora Omer | Israeli writer |
| 2012 | Tufan Miñnullin | Tatar writer and politician (1935–2012) |
| 2009 | Marilyn French | American feminist author (1929–2009) |
| 2007 | Brad McGann | New Zealand film director and screenwriter |
| 1994 | Dorothy Marie Donnelly | Dorothy Marie Donnelly, American poet and author (born 1903) |
| 1991 | Ronald McKie | Australian novelist (1909–1991) |
| 1990 | David Rappaport | Actor, musician, writer, director, teacher (1951–1990) |
| 1989 | Veniamin Kaverin | Soviet and Russian writer, dramatist and screenwriter |
| 1974 | James O. Richardson | United States Navy Admiral and author |
| 1963 | Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell | British politician and writer (1884-1963) |
| 1941 | Penelope Delta | Greek children's writer (1874–1941) |
| 1925 | Antun Branko Šimić | Bosnian and Croatian poet |
| 1912 | Homer Davenport | American political cartoonist and writer (1867–1912) |
| 1885 | Terézia Zakoucs | Terézia Zakoucs, Hungarian-Slovene author (born 1817) |
| 1857 | Alfred de Musset | French writer (1810–1857) |
| 1856 | James Gates Percival | American poet |
| 1711 | Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester | English statesman and writer (1642–1711) |
| 1667 | George Wither | English poet, pamphleteer, satirist and writer (1588-1667) |
| 1293 | Meir of Rothenburg | German rabbi and poet (c.1215–1293) |
Literary events on May 2
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1611 | The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker. |
Featured
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (1973) — Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck is a German-Austrian film director. He is best known for writing and directing the 2006 dramatic thriller Das Leben der Anderen , which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Yasushi Akimoto (1958) — Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, making him the best-selling lyricist in Japan.
Régis Labeaume (1956) — Régis Labeaume is a Canadian businessman, writer and politician. He served as mayor of Quebec City from 2007 to 2021. He was first elected on December 2, 2007, after the death of former mayor Andrée Boucher. He was reelected in 2009, 2013, and 2017.
Sources & data
- Compiled from Wikipedia’s “On this day” selections (CC BY-SA 4.0), filtered for writers and literary events.