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Allgemeine deutsche Biographie. Leipzig: Duncker, 1875-1912. 56 vols.
SML Reference CT1053 A44 1967 (LC)
The outstanding German biographical dictionary, containing long, signed articles, with bibliographies, on persons from early times to the end of the 19th century. Does not include living persons. As there are supplementary sections in many volumes, it is essential that the index be used to find the complete record. (Balay, AJ202)

Archives Biographiques Françaises. Ed. Susan Bradley. London; New York: Saur, c1988-1990.
SML Reference Fiche B2252
Index: SML Reference CT1003 +A83 1988 Index (LC)

Supplemented by: Archives biographiques françaises II. Ed. Tommaso Nappo. Munich: K.G. Saur, 1993-2000.
SML Reference Fiche B3203

Supplemented by: Archives biographiques françaises jusqu'a 1999. Ed. Tommaso Nappo and Isabelle Davy. Munich: K.G. Saur Verlag, 2001- .
SML Reference Fiche B4157

Archivio Biografico Italiano. Ed. Tommaso Nappo. Munich; New York: Saur, 1988- .
SML Reference Fiche B1279

Supplemented by: Archivio Biographico Italiano. Nuova serie. Ed. Tommaso Nappo. Munich; New York: Saur, 1991- .
SML Reference Fiche B2321

Supplemented by: Archivio biografico italiano sino al 1996. Ed. Tommaso Nappo. Munich: K.G. Saur, c1998- .
SML Reference Fiche B4132

Supplemented by: Archivio biografico italiano sino al 2001. Ed. Tommaso Nappo. Munich: K.G. Saur, 2002- .
SML Reference Fiche B4218

Index: Indice biografico italiano = Italian biographical index = Italienischer biographischer Index. Third revised and expanded edition. Ed. Tommaso Nappo. Munich: K.G. Saur, 2001-2002.
SML Reference CT1123 +I39 2002 (LC)

Archivo Biográfico de España, Portugal, Ibero-América = Arquivo Biográfico de Espanha, Portugal e Ibero-América. Ed. Victor Herrero Mediavilla, L. Rose Aguayo Nayle. Munich; New York: K. G. Saur, c1986.
SML Reference Fiche B1267

Supplemented by: Archivo Biográfico de España, Portugal, Ibero-América. Nueva serie. Munich; New York: Saur, 1993.
SML Reference Fiche B3919

Supplemented by: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal e Ibero-América, 1960-1995. Ed. Victor Herrero Mediavilla. Munich: K.G. Saur Verlag, 1996- .
SML Reference Fiche B3946

Supplemented by: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal e Iberoamérica hasta 2001. Ed. Victor Herrero Mediavilla. Munich: K.G. Saur Verlag, 2002- .
SML Reference Fiche B4217

Index: Indice biográfico de España, Portugal e Iberoamérica = Indice biográfico de Espanha, Portugal e Ibero-América = Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American biographical index = Spanischer, Portugiesischer und Iberoamerikanischer Biographischer Index. Third revised and expanded edition. Ed. Victor Herrero Mediavilla. K.G. Saur, 2000.
SML Reference DP58 +I533 2000 (LC)

Arnim, Max. Internationale Personalbibliographie, 1800-1975. Leipzig: Hiersemann, 1944-1987.
SML Stacks Z8001 A1 +A75 (LC)
Primarily an index to bibliographies of individuals, but as many of the bibliographies indexed have accompanying biographical data, the work serves also as an index to biographical articles. (Sheehy AJ15)

Bio-Base. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1978- .
SML Reference Fiche S320 [Shelved at Reference Desk]
SML Microform Fiche S320
The current master cumulation and its annual update contain nearly 8,500,000 biographical citations, corresponding to the total number found in Biography and geneaology master index and its Cumulations and Supplements. Includes a separate booklet describing the set and giving full citations for the abbreviated references found in the indexes. (Balay, AH8)

Guide: Bio-base. Introduction and bibliographic key. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co., 1981- .
SML Reference CT120 B56 (LC)

Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne; ou Histoire, par ordre alphabétique, de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes qui se sont fait remarquer par leurs écrits, leurs actions, leurs talents, leurs vertus ou leurs crimes... Paris: Michaud Frères, 1811-62. 85 vols. in 69.
SML Reference CT143 B56 1811 (LC)
Usually cited as Michaud.
The most important of the large dictionaries of universal biography; still very useful. (Balay AH22)

Biographisches Handbuch der Deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933. Munich: K.G. Saur, 1999. 3 vols.
SML Reference DD68 B52 1999
SML Stacks D809 G3 +B56
Reprint. Originally published: 1980-1983.
Offers some 8,700 biographical sketches of persons (living and deceased) who emigrated from Central European areas during the period of the Third Reich. Vol. 3 offers indexes by names, pseudonyms, cover names and name changes, by countries of intermediate emigration and final settlement, by occupations, plus selected references to parties, associations, and institutions mentioned in the text. (Balay, AH203)

Biography Index: A Cumulative Index to Biographical Material in Books and Magazines. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1946/49- .
SML Reference Z5301 B56 (LC)
Available online to members of the Yale community
A comprehensive index to English language biographical material found in periodicals, individual and collective biographical books, selected obituaries in the New York Times, and other sources. Currently published quarterly with annual and biennial cumulations. Includes index by profession. (Balay, AH10)

Boatner, Mark Mayo. Biographical dictionary of World War II. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, c1996.
SML Reference D736 B63X 1996

The Cambridge biographical dictionary. Ed. David Crystal. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
SML Reference CT103 C25X 1996 (LC)

A revised edition of the Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 1969. that broadens the original work's international coverage, giving more attention to women, twentieth-century figures, and personalities from more popular spheres.

Deutsches biographisches Archiv: eine Kumulation aus 254 der wichtigsten biographischen Nachschlagewerke für den deutschen Bereich bis zum Ausgang des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Ed. Bernhard Fabian. Munich; New York: K.G. Saur, c1982.
SML Reference Fiche B1117

Reproduces in a single alphabetical sequence about 400,000 entries on 225,000 individuals from 267 biographical sources published between 1700 and 1910, plus a supplement of omissions on microfiches 1422-1431. (Balay AH206)

 

Continued by: Deutsches Biographisches Archiv. neue Folge bis zur Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts: eine Kumulation aus 284 der wichtigsten biographischen Nachschlagewerke für den deutschensprachigen Bereich. Ed. Willi Gorzny. Munich; New York: K.G. Saur, 1989-1993.
SML Reference Fiche B2254

Drawn from 284 reference works published between 1800 and the mid-1960s. (Balay AH206)

 

Continued by: Deutsches biographisches Archiv 1960-1999. Munich: K.G. Saur, 1999- .
SML Reference Fiche B4133

 

Index: Deutscher biographischer index = German biographical index. Second revised edition. Ed. Axel Frey. Munich; New York: K.G. Saur, 1998. 8 vols.
SML Reference CT1053 +D48 1998 Index (LC)

Useful both as an index to the microfiche set and as an independent resource. Entries provide dates, occupations, and citations to both the printed sources and the microfiche set. (Balay AH206)

Dictionnaire de biographie française. Paris: Letouzey et Anve, 1933-1998.
SML Reference CT143 +D53 (LC)

An important dictionary of national biography; planned to be a much more extensive work than the corresponding dictionaries of English and American biography. Articles, which in the main are shorter than those in the Dictionary of national biography, are signed with the writers' names, and nearly all have bibliographies, some of which are very extensive. (Sheehy, AJ194)

Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1960-2001.
SML Reference CT1123 D59 (LC)

A scholarly dictionary of national biography with signed biographies of Italians from the 5th century to the present, exclusive of living persons. A bibliography of source material is included for each sketch. The plan is to publish about two volumes a year, the completed set to comprise some 40,000 biographies. (Sheehy, AJ267)

Herwig, Holger H. and Neil M. Heyman. Biographical Dictionary of World War I. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
SML Reference D507 +H47

Hommes et Destins: Dictionnaire Biographique d'Outre-Mer. Paris: Académie des Sciences d'Outre-Mer, 1975-1989. 10 vols.
SML Stacks CT1014 H65 (LC)

Keegan, John. Who Was Who in World War II. New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1978.
SML Reference D736 +K43 1978

Mason, David. Who's Who in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown, 1978.
SML Reference D736 M37

Modern Irish lives: a dictionary of twentieth-century biography. Ed. Louis McRedmond. Dublin: Gill Macmillan, 1996.
SML Reference CT862 M63X 1996 (LC)

Neue deutsche Biographie. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1953-2000.
SML Reference DD85 N48
SML Stacks DD85 N4

A newly compiled work, not intended to supersede the Allgemeine deutsch Biographie, although many of the same names appear in it along with persons who have died since the older work was published and some additional names from earlier periods. Articles are signed, and bibliographies, including materials by and about biographies, are given at the end of each article. References to portraits are sometimes noted. An index in each volume, covering the part of the alphabet contained therein, includes references to all entries in the Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, thus calling attention to articles omitted from the newer work. (Sheehy, AJ207)

Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'á nos jours, avec les renseignements bibliographiques et l'indication des sources à consulter. Paris: Firmin Didot freres, fils et cie, 1855-78. 46 vols.
SML Reference CT103 N68 (LC)
SML Stacks Bo5D 853Nb
SML Microform Film B13022

Contains more names of minor figures, but quality, length, and accuracy of bibliographies is inferior to Michaud.

Renaissance and Reformation, 1500-1620: a biographical dictionary. Ed. Jo Eldridge Carney. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, c2001.
SML Reference CT759 R46X 2001 (LC)

Tunney, Christopher. A Biographical Dictionary of World War II. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1972.
SML Reference D736 T85

Who's Who in Europe. Bruxelles: Editions de Feniks, 1964-1987. 7 vols.
SML Stacks D1070 W46

Who's Who in European Politics. London; New York: Bowker-Saur, 1990- .
SML Stacks D1070 +W49 [Latest volume in Reference]

Who's Who in France. Paris: J. Lafitte, 1953- .
SML Stacks DC705 A1 +W46 [1953/54, 1977/78- ; Latest volume in Reference]
SML Stacks DC705 A1 W46 [1957/58-1975/76]

First edition (1953-54) had title Who's who in France: Paris, and was restricted to persons living in Paris. Later editions cover all of France, as well as French persons overseas and French-speaking peoples in African countries, etc. Sketches are of the usual who's who type. In spite of the English title, sketches and explanatory text are in French. In addition to the biographical sketches, there is a section listing government officials. Information about large business firms, etc. An earlier, similar publication, Qui etes-vous? (Paris, Delagrave), appeared in three editions: 1908, 1909, 1924. (Sheehy, AJ201)

Who's Who in Germany. Munich: Intercontinental Book and Pub. Co., 1956- .
SML Stacks DD85 W5 [Latest volume in Reference]

Publisher varies; subtitle varies.

Another in the English-language series of who's whos of European countries. Includes biographical sketches amd a directory of organizations, associations, and institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany. (Sheehy, AJ212)

Who's Who in Italy. Milan: Intercontinental Book and Publishing Co., 1958- .
SML Stacks DG578 W46 [Latest volume in Reference]

The biographical section is followed by an appendix which offers various lists of government officials and diplomatic representatives, together with classified lists (with addresses) of cultural institutions, religious and industrial organizations, etc. (Sheehy AJ274)

Who's Who in Spain. Montreal: Intercontinental Book and Pub. Co., 1963- .
SML Stacks DP271 A2 W49 [Latest volume in Reference]

A note on the annotations:

Balay = Guide to reference books. Edited by Robert Balay. 11th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1996.
Shelved at Reference Desk

Sheehy = Guide to reference books. Edited by Eugene P. Sheehy. 10th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1986.
Shelved at Reference Desk

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Updated April 22, 2008