American novelist, memoirist, and essayist (died 2025)

Edmund White

Edmund Valentine White III was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer and essayist. A pioneering figure in LGBTQ and especially gay literature after the Stonewall riots, he wrote with rare candor about gay identity, relationships, and sex. His work emerged as part of an increasingly solidified and visible LGBTQ community, helping to reshape public narratives at a time when coming out was still a dangerous, even radical act. His writing, noted for intimate depth and literary elegance, includes the semi-autobiographical trilogy A Boy's Own Story (1982), The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988), and The Farewell Symphony (1997).

Born

1940

January 13

Died

2025

Era

1940s

Country

—

About

Edmund, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1940 Born
2025 Died

Also on January 13

What else happened on this day, through history

-27 Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people. He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years.
532 The Nika riots break out, during the racing season at the Hippodrome in Constantinople, as a result of discontent with the rule of the Emperor Justinian I.
1435 Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement by the Spanish of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands who had converted, or were converting to, Christianity, is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV.
1547 Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is sentenced to death for treason, on the grounds of having quartered his arms to make them similar to those of the King, Henry VIII of England.

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The world in 1940

When Edmund arrived

april 14 World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway, preceding a larger force which will arrive two days later.
april 23 The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
april 7 Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
april 8 The Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party elects Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal as General Secretary, marking the beginning of his 44-year-long tenure as de facto leader of Mongolia.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on January 13

Art Ross 1886–1964 Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (born 1886) Marc Staal 1987– Canadian ice hockey player Marco Pantani 1970–2004 Italian cyclist (born 1970) Michael Peña 1976– American actor Orlando Bloom 1977– English actor Paul Feyerabend 1924–1994 Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (born 1924) Penelope Ann Miller 1964– American actress Robert Stack 1919–2003 American actor (died 2003) Ronny Turiaf 1983– French basketball player

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1940

Abbas Kiarostami 1940–2016 Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer (born 1940) Abdurrahman Wahid 1940–2009 Indonesian journalist and politician, fourth President of Indonesia (born 1940) Bruce Chatwin 1940–1989 English-French author (born 1940) Bruce Lee 1940–1973 American actor and martial artist (born 1940) David Jason 1940– English actor, director, and producer Fabrizio De André 1940–1999 Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1999) Fran Tarkenton 1940– American football player and sportscaster Frank Zappa 1940–1993 American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer (died 1993) George A. Romero 1940–2017 American director and producer (died 2017)

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More to explore

Edmund's birthday January 13 Edmund's zodiac Capricorn When Edmund arrived 1940