← Fame through time1941
1941
Whose working lives fell in 1941. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in 1941, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Leonid Brezhnev7 decades - 2
Hannah Arendt8 decades - 3
Samuel Beckett7 decades - 4
Adolf Eichmann8 decades - 5
Dmitri Shostakovich8 decades - 6
Josephine Baker11 decades - 7
Aristotle Onassis6 decades - 8
Puyi8 decades - 9
Faisal of Saudi Arabia2 decades - 10
Kurt Gödel5 decades - 11
Dietrich Bonhoeffer8 decades - 12
Billy Wilder8 decades - 13
John Huston12 decades - 14
Sayyid Qutb4 decades - 15
Sergei Korolev6 decades - 16
Luchino Visconti12 decades - 17
Roberto Rossellini8 decades - 18
Grace Hopper4 decades - 19
Ed Geinnot measured- - 20
Klaus Mann10 decades - 21
John Carradinenot measured- - 22
Ilse Kochnot measured- - 23
Soichiro Honda0 decades - 24
George Sandersnot measured- - 25
Albert Hofmann8 decades - 26
Mary Astor10 decades - 27
Henri Charrièrenot measured- - 28
Léopold Sédar Senghor8 decades - 29
Ettore Majorananot measured- - 30
Hans Aspergernot measured- - 31
Hans Bethe7 decades - 32
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbottennot measured- - 33
Bugsy Siegelnot measured- - 34
Hermann Fegeleinnot measured- - 35
Eddie Albertnot measured- - 36
Hassan al-Banna2 decades - 37
Léon Degrellenot measured- - 38
Louise Brooksnot measured- - 39
Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya8 decades - 40
Emmanuel Levinas7 decades - 41
Princess Marina of Greece and Denmarknot measured- - 42
Joan Blondellnot measured- - 43
Dino Buzzati8 decades - 44
Janet Gaynor8 decades - 45
Prithviraj Kapoornot measured- - 46
Amrita Sher-Gil0 decades - 47
Curtis LeMaynot measured- - 48
Alexey Stakhanovnot measured- - 49
Lon Chaney Jr.not measured- - 50
Giuseppe Farina0 decades - 51
Marie José of Belgiumnot measured- - 52
Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtensteinnot measured- - 53
William Joycenot measured- - 54
R. K. Narayan7 decades - 55
Empress Wanrongnot measured- - 56
Carol Reednot measured- - 57
Philo Farnsworthnot measured- - 58
Lou Costellonot measured- - 59
Joaquín Balaguernot measured- - 60
Oleg Antonovnot measured- - 61
Victor Vasarely5 decades - 62
Marcelo Caetanonot measured- - 63
Josef Kramernot measured- - 64
Anne Morrow Lindberghnot measured- - 65
Werner Möldersnot measured- - 66
Shin'ichirō Tomonaga0 decades - 67
James Hadley Chasenot measured- - 68
John Dickson Carrnot measured- - 69
André Weilnot measured- - 70
Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmarknot measured- - 71
Albert B. Sabinnot measured- - 72
James E. Webbnot measured- - 73
John Betjemannot measured- - 74
Hermione Baddeleynot measured- - 75
Günther Priennot measured- - 76
Philip Johnson10 decades - 77
Clyde Tombaugh1 decades - 78
Phạm Văn Đồngnot measured- - 79
Jack Churchillnot measured-
- 80
Anthony Mannnot measured- - 81
Primo Carneranot measured- - 82
T. H. Whitenot measured- - 83
Joan Hicksonnot measured- - 84
Junio Valerio Borghesenot measured- - 85
Marcel Carnénot measured- - 86
Ivan Chernyakhovskynot measured- - 87
Friz Frelengnot measured- - 88
Virginia Hallnot measured- - 89
A. J. P. Taylornot measured- - 90
Dmitry Likhachovnot measured- - 91
Maria Goeppert Mayer0 decades - 92
Madeleine Carrollnot measured- - 93
Sergei Gerasimovnot measured- - 94
Enrico Matteinot measured- - 95
Missak Manouchiannot measured- - 96
Satchel Paigenot measured- - 97
Jim Thompsonnot measured- - 98
Jacques Beckernot measured- - 99
Eleanor Alice Burfordnot measured- - 100
Bea Benaderetnot measured-
How to read these rankings
- People sit in their own time. Everyone is placed in the century their working life belongs to, and never in one that came after their death.
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record, read across every language rather than one. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus. Those decades are closed, so each curve is measured once and kept.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, or a name belongs to more than one notable person, we would rather show nothing than guess.