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{{trope}}
A '''biography''' is a (supposedly) [[Nonfiction|factual]] accounting of the life of a real person. If written by the person it is about, it's called an autobiography. Biographies date back to the invention of the written word, making this [[Older Than Dirt]]. The word is derived from the classical Greek root words ''auto'' (self or "without external prompting"), ''bio'' (life) and ''graphy'' (to write about).
The [[Biopic]] is one of these in movie form.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* The ''[[Parallel Lives]]'' of [[Plutarch]] is generally considered to be the [[Ur Example]] of the biography as we understand it, as it focuses not on grand historical events but on the smaller ones that cast light on the subjects' personalities.
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* Martha Jane Cannary-Burke, aka Calamity Jane, wrote an autobiography of her life which has been confirmed to be ''mostly'' true.
* Parson Weems' biography of [[George Washington]] is infamous for having just plain made up certain incidents to make Washington look even more morally upright.
* ''The Life of [[
* By the same token, [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s ''Autobiography'' is generally considered to be one of the best autobiographies ever written in
* Vladimir Nabokov's ''Speak, Memory''. Nabokov wanted to name it ''Speak, Mnemosyne'' (Mnemosyne being the Greek Titaness who symbolized memory), but his publisher suggested otherwise, fearing that readers wouldn't buy a book whose title they could not pronounce.
* [[
* Gertrude Stein subverted the genre by writing ''The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas'' and ''Everybody's Autobiography.''
* [[The Game (
* ''My Feuds and Actions'', the autobiography of 16th century German knight and mercenary [[
* Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), famous Italian goldsmith, sculptor and painter, wrote an autobiography (simply title ''Vita'', "Life", by him), in which he, among other things, describes three murders he committed.
== [[Live
* The ''[[John Adams (TV series)|John Adams]]'' miniseries on HBO is a biography of [[John Adams|the title character]].
* A&E has a popular and long-running series called ''Biography'', which has even spawned its own channel (The Biography Network).
== [[Music]] ==
* Subverted by [[Savatage]]'s ''[[Streets:
==
* Significant biographical musicals include:
** ''[[The Sound of Music]]'', about the Trapp Family
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* Significant biographical stage plays (non-musical) include:
** ''Amadeus'', about the relationship between composers [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] and Antonio Salieri
** ''[[
** ''Caesar and Cleopatra'', by George Bernard Shaw
** ''Saint Joan'', by George Bernard Shaw, about [[Jeanne D
** ''[[The Lion in Winter]]'', about England's King Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their scheming sons Richard the Lionheart, Prince John and Prince Geoffrey
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** English monarchy:
*** ''[[King John|The Life and Death of King John]]''
*** ''[[
*** ''[[Henry IV]]'' (parts 1 and 2)
*** ''[[Henry V]]''
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*** ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]''
== [[
* Most of the entries on real people on this wiki can be considered mini-biographies.
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[[Category:Nonfiction]]
[[Category:Show Genres]]
[[Category:
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