biographer

[bahy-og-ruh-fer, bee-]

noun

1. a writer of someone's biography.

Word History and Origins

Origin of biographer¹

First recorded in 1705–15; biograph(y) + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Yet in their exhaustive, three-part account of Cooper’s life—the first two are by Mr. Clark, a biographer, and the third by Mr. Calvocoressi, a modern-art curator—they aim to resurrect another Cooper as well.

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William H. Herndon, Lincoln’s future law partner and biographer, said “it was highly sophomoric in character and abounded in striking and lofty metaphor . . . the thing people expect from a young man.”

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Reporters, biographers and avid fans all want his opinion.

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Of course, facts are important, but they don’t necessarily reveal anything; it is the biographer’s folly to ascribe deeper meaning to them, to extrapolate truth from a disparate series of events.

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Award-winning biographer Wilson approaches the life of Scottish writer Muriel Spark as a series of puzzles and conundrums to be teased out.

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Related Words

• author 
• columnist 
• correspondent 
• critic 
• dramatist 
• editor 
• essayist 
• journalist 
• novelist 
• poet 
• reporter 
• screenwriter