← Fame through time1900-1999
The 20th century
Whose names filled the books of the 20th century - 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 20th century, whenever they lived.
- 1
Giotto5.4 - 2
Dante Alighieri5.0 - 3
Caravaggio3.8 - 4
Leonardo da Vinci3.8 - 5
Antonio da Correggio3.7 - 6
Benedetto Croce3.3 - 7
Donato Bramante2.9 - 8
Donatello2.8 - 9
Giuseppe Mazzini2.2 - 10
Alessandro Manzoni2.2 - 11
Ugo Foscolo2.1 - 12
Pietro Perugino2.0 - 13
Tintoretto1.9 - 14
Francis of Assisi1.8 - 15
Giacomo Leopardi1.8 - 16
Benito Mussolini1.8 - 17
Torquato Tasso1.7 - 18
Masaccio1.7 - 19
Giordano Bruno1.6 - 20
Lorenzo de' Medici1.6 - 21
Galileo Galilei1.6 - 22
Charles Borromeo1.6 - 23
Giosuè Carducci1.5 - 24
Marco Polo1.4 - 25
Giuseppe Verdi1.4
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 20th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Xi Jinping3 decades - 2
Mao Zedong13 decades - 3
14th Dalai Lamanot measured- - 4
Deng Xiaoping11 decades - 5
Hu Jintao6 decades - 6
Sun Yat-sen12 decades - 7
Jiang Zemin9 decades - 8
Puyi8 decades - 9
Zhou Enlai11 decades - 10
Jack Ma5 decades - 11
Li Keqiang4 decades - 12
Chen-ning Yang8 decades - 13
Liu Xiaobo4 decades - 14
Zhao Ziyang7 decades - 15
Donnie Yennot measured- - 16
Hua Guofeng7 decades - 17
Wen Jiabao5 decades - 18
Lu Xun13 decades - 19
Jiang Qing9 decades - 20
Chow Yun-fat2 decades - 21
Li Qiang7 decades - 22
Liu Shaoqi10 decades - 23
Wong Kar-wai3 decades - 24
Lin Biao11 decades - 25
Ip Mannot measured- - 26
Zhu Rongji3 decades - 27
Guangxu Emperor7 decades - 28
Chiang Ching-kuo9 decades - 29
Tu Youyounot measured- - 30
Soong Ching-ling10 decades - 31
Leslie Cheung4 decades - 32
Ai Weiwei2 decades - 33
Mo Yan4 decades - 34
Li Peng9 decades - 35
John Woonot measured- - 36
Wang Yi4 decades - 37
Zhang Yimou4 decades - 38
Carrie Lamnot measured- - 39
Peng Liyuannot measured- - 40
Gao Xingjian4 decades - 41
13th Dalai Lamanot measured- - 42
Stephen Chownot measured- - 43
Hu Yaobangnot measured- - 44
Zhu De11 decades - 45
Liu Cixinnot measured- - 46
Andy Launot measured- - 47
Tony Leungnot measured- - 48
Sammo Hungnot measured- - 49
Wang Jingweinot measured- - 50
Yang Shangkunnot measured- - 51
Li Xianniannot measured- - 52
Jimmy Lainot measured- - 53
Ye Jianyingnot measured- - 54
Bolo Yeungnot measured- - 55
Chen Duxiunot measured- - 56
Peng Dehuainot measured- - 57
Sergei Stepashinnot measured- - 58
Benedict Anderson3 decades - 59
Jacky Cheungnot measured- - 60
Hu Shihnot measured- - 61
Bo Xilainot measured- - 62
Xi Zhongxunnot measured- - 63
Wang Qishannot measured- - 64
Zhang Xueliangnot measured- - 65
Wang Huningnot measured- - 66
CY Leungnot measured- - 67
Han Zhengnot measured- - 68
Li Ningnot measured- - 69
Qiu Jinnot measured- - 70
Ren Zhengfeinot measured- - 71
Run Run Shawnot measured- - 72
Tung Chee Hwanot measured- - 73
Donald Tsangnot measured- - 74
Jin Yongnot measured- - 75
Alexandra Manley, Countess of Frederiksborgnot measured- - 76
Zhao Lejinot measured- - 77
Zhang Zuolinnot measured- - 78
Stanley Honot measured- - 79
Israel Epsteinnot measured- - 80
Qian Xuesennot measured- - 81
Tsui Harknot measured- - 82
Yoshiko Kawashimanot measured- - 83
Cheng Pei-peinot measured- - 84
Zhang Chunqiaonot measured- - 85
Empress Wanrongnot measured- - 86
Zhang Gaolinot measured- - 87
Chen Kaigenot measured- - 88
Lin Yutang7 decades - 89
Li Tsung-jennot measured- - 90
Mao Anyingnot measured- - 91
Liang Chi-chaonot measured- - 92
Jiang Wennot measured- - 93
Chen Yunnot measured- - 94
Li Zhanshunot measured- - 95
Zhou Yongkangnot measured- - 96
Xu Zhimonot measured- - 97
Hou Hsiao-Hsiennot measured- - 98
Zhang Youxianot measured- - 99
Lao Shenot measured- - 100
Cai Qinot measured-
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.