215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1950-1959

The 1950s

Whose names filled the books of the 1950s - anyone at all, however long dead - counted as mentions per million words printed, so a period that simply published more does not inflate anyone.

Talked about then

Whose names appeared most in Italian books during the 1950s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Caravaggio1571-1610 · 17th century · Italy · Artists5.5
  2. 2Giotto1267-1337 · 14th century · Italy · Artists4.6
  3. 3Leonardo da Vinci1452-1519 · 15th century · Italy · Artists4.2
  4. 4Benedetto Croce1866-1952 · 20th century · Italy · Academics4.0
  5. 5Dante Alighieri1265-1321 · 14th century · Writers3.6
  6. 6Antonio da Correggio1489-1534 · 16th century · Italy · Artists3.3
  7. 7Donato Bramante1444-1514 · 15th century · Italy · Architects2.5
  8. 8Donatello1386-1466 · 15th century · Artists2.5
  9. 9Ugo Foscolo1778-1827 · 19th century · Writers2.3
  10. 10Tintoretto1519-1594 · 16th century · Italy · Artists2.3
  11. 11Masaccio1401-1428 · 15th century · Italy · Artists2.2
  12. 12Marco Polo1254-1324 · 13th century · Italy · Historical Figures2.1
  13. 13Alessandro Manzoni1785-1873 · 19th century · Italy · Writers2.1
  14. 14Giuseppe Mazzini1805-1872 · 19th century · Italy · Activists1.8
  15. 15Torquato Tasso1544-1595 · 16th century · Italy · Writers1.8
  16. 16Giordano Bruno1548-1600 · 16th century · Italy · Academics1.7
  17. 17Lorenzo de' Medici1449-1492 · 15th century · Politicians1.7
  18. 18Pietro Perugino1448-1523 · 15th century · Italy · Artists1.7
  19. 19Vittorio Alfieri1749-1803 · 18th century · Italy · Historical Figures1.5
  20. 20Benito Mussolini1883-1945 · 20th century · Italy · Politicians1.5
  21. 21Giacomo Leopardi1798-1837 · 19th century · Italy · Writers1.5
  22. 22Giovanni Pascoli1855-1912 · 19th century · Italy · Writers1.5
  23. 23Giosuè Carducci1835-1907 · 19th century · Italy · Writers1.4
  24. 24Paul the Deacon720-799 · 8th century · Writers1.4
  25. 25Francis of Assisi1182-1226 · 13th century · Italy · Writers1.3
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1950s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1John F. Kennedy1917-1963 · United States · Politicians11 decades
  2. 2Jimmy Carter1924-2024 · United States · Politicians7 decades
  3. 3Pope John Paul II1920-2005 · Poland · Religious Figures5 decades
  4. 4George H. W. Bush1924-2018 · United States · Politicians2 decades
  5. 5Nelson Mandela1918-2013 · South Africa · Politicians6 decades
  6. 6Judy Garland1922-1969 · United States · Actors9 decades
  7. 7Marlon Brando1924-2004 · United States · Actors7 decades
  8. 8Frank Sinatra1915-1998 · United States · Musicians8 decades
  9. 9Indira Gandhi1917-1984 · India · Politicians7 decades
  10. 10Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh1921-2021 · United Kingdom0 decades
  11. 11Mohammad Reza Pahlavi1919-1980 · Historical Figures4 decades
  12. 12Henry Kissinger1923-2023 · United States · Politicians7 decades
  13. 13Christopher Lee1922-2015 · United Kingdom · Actors6 decades
  14. 14Roald Dahl1916-1990 · Norway · Writers6 decades
  15. 15Isaac Asimov1920-1992 · United States · Writers7 decades
  16. 16Ingrid Bergman1915-1982 · Sweden · Actors8 decades
  17. 17James Dean1931-1955 · United States · Actors9 decades
  18. 18Richard Feynman1918-1988 · United States · Scientists4 decades
  19. 19Nicolae Ceaușescu1918-1989 · Politiciansnot measured-
  20. 20Orson Welles1915-1985 · United States · Directors9 decades
  21. 21Lee Kuan Yew1923-2015 · Singapore · Politicians7 decades
  22. 22Kirk Douglas1916-2020 · United States · Actors8 decades
  23. 23Eva Perón1919-1952 · Argentina · Actors8 decades
  24. 24Édith Piaf1915-1963 · France · Musicians6 decades
  25. 25Charles Bronson1921-2003 · United States · Actors5 decades
Show 75 more

How to read these rankings

  • Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. 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.
  • Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.