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A '''biography''' is the story of a real [[human being|person's]] [[life]]. The word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''bios'' (=which means [[life]]) and ''graphein'' (=which means [[write]]). When the biography is written by the person it is about, it is called an '''[[autobiography''']].
A written biography is a part of [[literature]]. Biographies can also be made as [[movie]]s. These movies are (often called '''[[Biopic film|biopics''']]) or told as stories.
The firstoldest knownwritten biographies that [[Historian|historians]] have were written to record [[ruler|rulers']] lives. TheySome were written in [[Assyria]], ancient [[Babylonia]], ancient [[Egypt]] and ancient [[Mesopotamia]]. Biographies were an early form of [[history]]. Another early form of biography was called ''hagiography,'' meaning writing about [[holy]] people.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/thelegendsofthesa00deleuoft|title=The legends of the saints : an introduction to hagiography|last=Delehaye|first=Hippolyte|publisher=Longmans, Green|others=Robarts - University of Toronto|year=1907|isbn=9780841436572|location=[[London]]|pages=2}}</ref>
In ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greece,China]], peoplea wrotebiography biographieswas too.one Butof notthe onlybasic biographiesforms of thea rulershistory butbook. alsoIn [[India]], biographies of [[The Buddha|Buddha]] and his [[reincarnation|reincarnated]] lives were written. In [[ancient Greece]], people whowrote thebiographies writersof thoughtpeople that were greatnot rulers too. [[Xenophon]] wrote a biography of [[Socrates]] and gave this book the name ''Memorabilia'' (Memories). During the [[Roman Empire]], [[Plutarch]] wrote ''Parallel Lives''. In this book Plutarch wrote about a couple ofancient Greek politicians and Roman politicians., Later among the Romans,and [[Suetonius]] wrote biographies of the [[Roman Emperors|Roman emperors, ''Lives of Caesars'']]. The [[Gospel]]s were also biographies of [[Jesus Christ]].
In [[West Africa]], [[Griot|griots]] tell histories which often include biographies.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Webster|first=N'Kaela|date=2017-03-27|title=This Man Embodies A Thousand Years Of West African Oral History|url=https://www.audible.com/blog/arts-culture/this-man-embodies-a-thousand-years-of-west-african-oral-history|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-18|website=Audible}}</ref>
In Eastern countries people wrote biographies. In ancient [[China]] a biography was one of basic form of history book. In [[India]] biographies of [[Buddha]] were written and also biographies of his [[reincarnation|reincarnated]] lives.
Many written biographies today are released by [[publishers]] as [[Product (business)|products]] for sale.
Another early form of biography was called hagiography meaning writing about holy people. Hagio= life of a saint; graphs= writing. >Delegaye, Hippolytus, The Legends of the Saints: An Introduction to Hagiography (London: Longmans, Green and Calcutta, 1907) p. 2<
Samuel Johnson, a British writer and critic, sparked a revolution in the practice of writing biographies that idealized individuals. He called for biographies that >Nadel, Bruce. Biography: Fiction, Fact & Form (New York: St Martin’s Press, 1984), p. 18.<
==Related pages==
* [[Autobiography]]
* [[Curriculum vitae]]
== References ==
<references />{{lit-stub}}
[[Category:Literary terms]]
▲[[Category: GenresNon-fiction]]
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