List of diarists

This is a list of notable diarists.

A – F

• John Adams, 2nd President of the United States, statesman, diplomat
• John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States, statesman, diplomat
• James Agate, writer and critic
• Louisa May Alcott, novelist
• William Allingham, poet
• Isaac Ambrose, Puritan
• Henri-Frederic Amiel, philosopher, poet, and critic
• Ananda Ranga Pillai, dubash of French India.
• Harriet Arbuthnot, 19th century English diarist and close associate of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
• Takeo Arishima (有島 武郎, 1878–1923), Japanese novelist, who left 20 volumes of diaries
• Lady Cynthia Asquith, writer
• Martha Ballard, midwife and healer
• W. N. P. Barbellion, naturalist, essayist and short story writer
• Marie Bashkirtseff (1858–1884), painter and sculptor
• Peter Hill Beard, photographer in Africa
• Ruth Benedict, anthropologist
• Tony Benn, British politician
• Alan Bennett, writer, playwright
• Arnold Bennett, novelist
• Hélène Berr, wrote about the Nazi occupation of Paris
• Alfred Bestall, English illustrator, best known for his work on the Rupert Bear stories
• Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine fiction writer and frequent collaborator of Jorge Luis Borges.
• Nicholas Blundell (1669–1737) (diary 1711–1728)
• Violet Bonham Carter, British politician, daughter of Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith
• Stanley Booth, chronicled his personal experiences with music personalities of the 1960s and 1970s
• James Boswell, chronicler of Samuel Johnson
• Vera Brittain, author and feminist
• Benjamin Britten, English composer
• Reader Bullard (1885–1976), British diplomat
• Fanny Burney, novelist
• William Byrd II, Colonial American diarist
• Meg Cabot, YA author
• Alastair Campbell, British journalist, broadcaster and author
• Emily Carr, artist
• Jim Carroll, author, poet, and musician
• Lewis Carroll, writer and mathematician
• Judy Cassab, Australian artist
• Henry "Chips" Channon (1897–1966) British politician and author
• John Cheever, American novelist
• Claire Lee Chennault, US World War II General. Head of the legendary Flying Tigers.
• Mary Chesnut, described life in South Carolina during the American Civil War
• Emil Cioran, Romanian writer and philosopher
• Alan Clark (1928–1999) British politician and historian
• Andrew Clark (1856–1922), British diarist and cleric
• Ralph Clark, British naval officer
• Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini's foreign minister
• Kurt Cobain, rock musician, Nirvana's lead singer
• Mary Coke (1727–1811), English diarist and correspondent
• Richard Crossman, British politician and writer
• Aleister Crowley, British occultist and poet
• Marie Curie, Polish physicist and chemist
• Adam Czerniaków, head of the Warsaw Ghetto's Judenrat
• Thomas Dallam (1570-after 1614), organ builder (diary 1598-1599, voyage to and description of Turkey)
• Karl K. Darrow, American physicist and intellectual
• Charles Lutwidge Dodgson: see Lewis Carroll
• George Bubb Dodington, British politician and nobleman
• Pete Doherty, rock musician (Babyshambles), ex-Libertines
• Anna Dostoyevskaya, wife of Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Fyodor Dostoevsky, author
• Marguerite Duras, author
• Bob Dylan, musician
• Isabelle Eberhardt
• Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian of religion and mythologist
• George Eliot, writer
• Edward Robb Ellis, writer and reporter
• Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer
• Brian Eno, English musician, record producer and polymath
• John Evelyn, writer and gardener
• Marianne Faithfull, singer and actress
• saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), mystic and secretary of Divine Mercy
• Eliza Fay (1756–1816), four visits to India
• Celia Fiennes (1652–1741), diarist traveller
• Zlata Filipović, diarist in Sarajevo during the Yugoslav war
• F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer
• Marjorie Fleming (1803–1811), child diarist
• Anne Frank, hid from the Nazis during World War II
• Miles Franklin, Australian author
• Elizabeth Wynne Fremantle, wife of Thomas Fremantle (Royal Navy officer) and main author of The Wynne Diaries (1789–1857)
• Donald Friend, Australian artist
• Robert Fripp, musician
• Max Frisch, playwright and novelist
• Buckminster Fuller, designer and engineer

G – M

• Wanda Gag, artist and children's book author
• André Gide, author
• Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet
• Petr Ginz (1928-1944) Czech author, artist and editor-in-chief of the magazine Vedem, Victim of the Holocaust
• Mary Gladstone, British political diarist
• Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's Propaganda Minister
• Francine du Plessix Gray, author
• Bob Greene, journalist
• Charles Greville (1794–1865), English civil servant and cricketer
• Eugénie de Guérin
• Che Guevara Revolutionary, kept diaries of his travels and of the wars he fought in
• Alec Guinness, British actor
• Charlotte Forten Grimké, abolitionist and women's rights activist
• Peter Hagendorf, mercenary soldier in the Thirty Years' War
• Richard Hammond, Top Gear Presenter
• Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre
• Keith Haring, artist
• Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States
• Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp (1759-1818), Documented the life of the Swedish royal court and elite in 1775-1817
• Philip Henslowe, Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur
• Etty Hillesum, young Jewish victim of Nazi Germany
• Edmund C. Hinde (1830–1909), Documented experiences in the California Gold Rush in the 1850s.
• Henry Hitchcock, served under General William Tecumseh Sherman
• Louisa Gurney Hoare (1784–1836), writer on education
• Richard Hoare, second baronet (1758–1838), English antiquary on his travels in Europe and the British Isles
• Lady Margaret Hoby, 1599–1605
• Karen Horney, psychoanalyst
• Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet
• Julia, Lady Inglis, diarist of the 1857 Siege of Lucknow
• Arthur Crew Inman, author of a 17-million word diary
• Alice James, sister of Henry James and William James: lived in England during the 1880s and 1890s
• Derek Jarman, painter and filmmaker
• Carolina Maria de Jesus, Brazilian writer, activist
• John Beauchamp Jones, a writer and high-level clerk in the Confederate War Department in Richmond
• Liz Jones, writer and journalist
• Ernst Jünger, writer, Wehrmacht officer
• Franz Kafka, writer
• Frida Kahlo, painter
• Alfred Kazin, literary critic
• Friedrich Kellner, Justice Inspector and author of My Opposition
• Frances Anne Kemble, actress
• Harry Graf Kessler, art and politics, world war I, (lived 1868-1937, diary 1880-1937)
• Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher
• Francis Kilvert, described rural Victorian life
• Lincoln Edward Kirstein American writer, impresario, and co-founder of the New York City Ballet
• Aya Kitō, chronicled her 10-year battle with spinocerebellar degeneration and author of 1 Litre of Tears
• Paul Klee, painter
• Käthe Kollwitz, artist, 1867–1945
• William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canadian prime minister
• Victor Klemperer, professor of literature, described life as a Jew under the Nazis
• Selma Lagerlöf, first female winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
• Luca Landucci, Florentine apothecary
• Mark Latham, Australian politician
• Valery Larbaud, French author
• Paul Léatuaud, French writer (1872-1956) and author of "Le Journal Littéraire"
• James Lees-Milne, biographer and historian, secretary of the Country House Committee of the National Trust 1936–1950
• Madeleine L'Engle, author
• Elisabeth Leseur
• Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of the aviator, kept diaries her whole life and describes in detail what the family experienced as a result of the kidnapping of their child
• Anne Lister, 1791-1840, kept diaries her whole life and describes her life and lesbian identity in detail, partly in code
• Courtney Love, actress and rock musician
• Henry Machyn, 16th century London diarist
• Harold Macmillan, British Prime Minister
• Charles Malik, philosopher and diplomat
• Thomas Mann, German novelist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
• Judith Malina, actress, cofounder of the Living Theatre
• John Manningham, lawyer, 1602–1603
• Katherine Mansfield, author
• Florida Scott-Maxwell, actress, analytical psychologist
• Megan McCafferty, YA author
• Matsuo Bashō, haiku and renga poet also known for his travel diaries
• Michinaga, 11th century de facto Japanese ruler
• Alanis Morissette, Canadian singer-songwriter
• Helena Morley (1880–1970), described life as a teenage girl in the Brazilian town of Diamantina during the 1890s
• Roger Morrice, Puritan minister and political journalist
• Lena Mukhina, teenage schoolgirl during the Siege of Leningrad
• Arthur Munby, Victorian poet, barrister, and solicitor
• Iris Murdoch, author

N – Z

• Stevie Nicks, singer/songwriter, member of Fleetwood Mac
• Harold Nicolson (1886–1968), British diplomat, politician and author
• Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky)
• Anaïs Nin, lover of Henry Miller, pornographer and poet: also known for her erotica
• Joyce Carol Oates, author
• John Olsen, Australian artist
• Joe Orton, playwright
• Cynthia Ozick, author
• Michael Palin, member of the Monty Python team, actor and travel writer
• Frances Partridge (née Marshall) (1900–2004), writer
• George S. Patton, US World War II General. Part of it was published by his wife after his death as War As I Knew It.
• Charles Willson Peale, Colonial American painter
• Emily Pepys (1833–1877). English child diarist (diary 1844–1845)
• Samuel Pepys, civil servant
• Elizabeth Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, 1716–1776
• Sylvia Plath, poet
• James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States
• John William Polidori, poet, writer and physician
• Beatrix Potter, English author and illustrator of children's books
• Hana Pravda, actress and Holocaust survivor
• Dawn Powell, writer
• Barbara Pym, 20th century novelist
• Thomas Raikes
• Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States
• Märta Helena Reenstierna (1753–1841)
• Henry Crabb Robinson (1775–1887)
• Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th President of the United States
• Ned Rorem, composer
• Henry Rollins, singer for Black Flag
• Barbara Rosenthal, New York avant-garde New Media artist/writer/performer
• Everett Ruess, artist and poet who disappeared in the Utah Desert
• Dudley Ryder (1691–1756). Lord Chief Justice (diary 1715–1716)
• George Sand, writer
• May Sarton, poet and novelist
• Rudy Sarzo, rock bassist, most notably of Ozzy Osbourne fame
• Siegfried Sassoon, poet and author
• Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer whose diary covered his unsuccessful expedition in Antarctica in 1912.
• Sir Walter Scott, novelist
• Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., American historian and political adviser
• George Bernard Shaw, Nobel Prize-winning playwright
• Robert Shields, American teacher who, by the time of his death had written diaries totaling over 37 million words.
• Michael Shiner, freed slave and Navy Yard worker who described life in 19th century Washington D.C
• Sei Shōnagon, lady-in-waiting at the Japanese imperial court in the middle Heian period
• Emily Shore
• Malla Silfverstolpe, Swedish salon hostess
• Elizabeth Simcoe, Upper Canada in the 1790s
• Nikki Sixx, bassist/songwriter for Mötley Crüe
• John Skinner, English vicar, amateur antiquarian and suicide
• Philip Slier, Hidden Letters
• Stephen Spender, poet
• Frances Stevenson, mistress and second wife of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George
• Joseph Stilwell, US World War II General. Published by his widow after his death as The Stilwell Papers.
• George Templeton Strong (1820–1875), New York lawyer
• Rosemary Sutcliff (1920–92) British historical novelist, and writer of children's and young adult books
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer
• Henry Teonge (1620–1690), naval chaplain (diaries 1675–76 and 1678–79)
• Daniel Terdiman, award-winning journalist and diarist, published in both print and non-print media
• John Thomlinson (1692–1761), clergyman, (diary 1717–1722)
• Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), author and philosopher
• Hester Thrale (1740–1821), author, friend and confidante of Samuel Johnson
• Sophia Tolstoy, wife of Russian author Leo Tolstoy: they read each other's diaries
• Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva, poet and writer
• Anne Truitt, artist
• Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States
• Meta Truscott, (1917–2014) Australian diarist and Ashgrove historian (diaries 1934-2014)
• Thomas Turner (diarist and shopkeeper), 1729–1793
• Marie Vassiltchikov, Russian princess, involved in plot to kill Adolf Hitler
• Victoria of the United Kingdom, 19th century monarch
• Alice Walker, author
• Cosima Wagner, daughter of Franz Liszt, second wife of Richard Wagner
• Richard Wagner, composer
• Ralph Ward, Yorkshire cattle-dealer (diary 1754–1756)
• Sabrina Ward Harrison
• Andy Warhol, artist
• Evelyn Waugh, English novelist
• Simone Weil, philosopher
• Denton Welch, author
• John Wesley, 18th Century English mystic/theologian
• Gilbert White, naturalist
• Opal Whiteley, author, naturalist and subject of several books, including one by Benjamin Hoff
• Elie Wiesel, author
• Kenneth Williams, comic actor
• Charlotte Williams-Wynn, aristocrat
• Lieutenant-General Adam Williamson (1676–1747), deputy lieutenant of the Tower of London, (diary 1722–1747)
• Edmund Wilson, writer and critic
• James Woodforde, 18th century English clergyman
• Wilford Woodruff, fourth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Virginia Woolf, author and feminist
• Dorothy Wordsworth, poet, sister of William Wordsworth
• Zina D. H. Young, third President of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Fake diaries

• Hitler Diaries
• Mussolini diaries
• Diary of a Farmer's Wife 1796–1797 (spurious, published 1964)
• Go Ask Alice

Diaries of disputed authenticity

• The Black Diaries, diaries purportedly written by Roger Casement detailing his alleged homosexual activities. Believed by some to be a forgery perpetrated by the British government.

Fictional diaries

• The Diary of Mrs. Pepys (by F.D. Ponsonby, London 1934)
• The Journal of Mrs Pepys: Portrait of a Marriage (by Sara George, 1998)
• Bridget Jones's Diary
• Diary of a Nobody
• Diary of a Somebody by Christopher Matthew
• The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks
• The Moneypenny Diaries
• The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
• The Turner Diaries
• The Princess Diaries
• Sloppy Firsts
• Diary of a Chav by Grace Dent
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Any Human Heart: The Intimate Journals of Logan Mountstuart by William Boyd
• A Journal of Impossible Things A journal kept by the Doctor from the episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" of the television series "Doctor Who."

See also

• List of Australian diarists of World War I
• List of dream diaries

External links

• The Diary Junction – data and links for over 500 literary and historical diarists.
• The Diary Review – occasional posts on diaries in the news.
• And so made significant . . . vast online anthology of diary extracts.