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Biographies for Kids

Famous Leaders for Young Readers

These biographies were written by Patsy Stevens. If you use these biographies in a paper you are writing, cite your source, using the assigned citation method. Here is an example in the MLA format for the George Washington biography:

Stevens, Patsy. "George Washington Biography" Garden of Praise, GardenOfPraise.com. Accessed 26 December 2024

Links for common citation formats: MLA, APA

The 114 biographies on this page are divided into the following categories: American Presidents, American Patriots, World Leaders, Inventors, Humanitarians, Women Who Made A Difference, Scientists, Educators, Physicians, Religious Leaders, Athletes, Civil Rights Leaders, Composers, Authors, Artists

Presidents of the United States



George Washington

1st President
Feb 22 1732 - Dec 14 1799
Written 2001


John Adams

2nd President
Oct 30 1735 – Jul 4 1826
Written 2007


Thomas Jefferson

3rd President
Apr 13 1743 – Jul 4 1826
Written 2001


James Madison

4th President
Mar 16 1751 – Jun 28 1836
Written 2001


James Monroe

5th President
Apr 28 1758 - Jul 4 1831
Written 2001


Andrew Jackson

7th President
Mar 15 1767 – Jun 8 1845
Written 2007


Martin Van Buren

8th President
Dec 5 1782 – Jul 24 1862
Written 2013


Abraham Lincoln

16th President
Feb 12 1809 – Apr 15 1865
Written 2001


Theodore Roosevelt

26th President
Oct 27 1858 - Jan 6 1919
Written 2001


Calvin Coolidge

30th President
Jul 4 1872 - Jan 5 1933
Written 2013


Franklin D. Roosevelt

32nd President
Jan 30 1882 – Apr 12 1945
Written 2007


Harry S. Truman

33rd President
May 8 1884 - Dec 26 1972
Written 2012


Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th President
Oct 14 1890 - Mar 28 1969
Written 2012


John F. Kennedy

35th President
May 29 1917 – Nov 22 1963
Written 2007


Lyndon B. Johnson

36th President
Aug 27 1908 - Jan 22 1973
Written 2012


Jimmy Carter

39th President
Oct 1 1924 - Dec 29 2024
Written 2012


Ronald Reagan

40th President
Feb 6 1911 – Jun 5 2004
Written 2008


Barack Obama

44th President
Aug 4 1961 - Present
Written 2008

American Patriots



Benjamin Franklin

Patriot and Statesman
Jan 17 1706 – Apr 17 1790
Written 2005


Francis Scott Key

Wrote the Star Spangled Banner
Aug 1 1779 – Jan 11 1843
Written 2001


Deborah Sampson

Woman soldier in the Revolutionary Army
Dec 17 1760 – Apr 29 1827
Written 2001


Molly Pitcher

Heroine of the Battle of Monmouth
Oct 13 1754 - Jan 22 1832
Written 2011

World Leaders



Constantine

Roman Emperor
Feb 27 272 – May 22 337
Written 2001


Alexander the Great

Greek Conqueror
356 – Jun 13 323 BC
Written 2003


Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister
Nov 30 1874 – Jan 24 1965
Written 2007


Margaret Thatcher

British Prime Minister
Oct 13 1925 - Apr 8 2013
Written 2013

Inventors



Alexander Graham Bell

Inventor of the telephone
Mar 3 1847 – Aug 2 1922
Written 2003


Johann Gutenberg

Inventor of the printing press
1393/1406 - Feb 3 1468
Written 2001


Cyrus McCormick

Inventor of the mechanical reaper
Feb 15 1809 – May 13 1884
Written 2001


Thomas A. Edison

Developer of the electric light bulb
Feb 11 1847 - Oct 18 1931
Written 2001


The Wright Brothers

First airplane
Wilbur Apr 16 1867 - May 30 1912
Orville Aug 19 1871 – Jan 30 1948
Written 2001


Henry Ford

Automaker
Jul 30 1863 - Apr 7 1947
Written 2007


Sequoyah

Cherokee alphabet
1770’s – 1843
Written 2007


Nikola Tesla

300 patents
Jul 10 1856 - Jan 7 1943
Written 2007


Leonardo Da Vinci

Inventor and artist
Apr 15 1452 – May 2 1519
Written 2007


Dean Kamen

Segway
Apr 5 1951 - Present
Written 2011


Jack Kilby

Integrated Circuit
Nov 8 1923 – Jun 20 2005
Written 2011


Donald O'Neal

ONIL stove
Aug 13 1933 - Jan 16 2017
Written 2011


Michael Faraday

Electric motor
Sep 22 1791 - Aug 25 1867
Written 2011

Explorers



John Muir

Explorer and naturalist
Apr 21 1838 – Dec 24 1914
Written 2007


Meriwether Lewis

Explorer of the Western United States
Aug 18 1774 – Oct 11 1809
Written 2005


Christopher Columbus

Discovered America
Oct 31 1451 – May 20 1506
Written 2001


Robert Peary

Arctic Explorer
May 6 1856 – Feb 20 1920
Written 2007


Matthew Henson

Arctic Explorer
Aug 8 1866 - Mar 9 1955
Written 2007


Sir Edmund Hillary

Mount Everest
Jul 20 1919 – Jan 11 2008
Written 2007


Kit Carson

Scout, Indian agent
Dec 24 1809 – May 23 1868
Written 2008


Daniel Boone

Frontiersman
Nov 2 1734 – Sep 26 1820
Written 2011


"Johnny Appleseed"

Arborist
Sep 26 1774 – Mar 18 1845
Written 2008


Neil Armstrong

Astronaut
Aug 5 1930 – Aug 25 2012
Written 2025

Humanitarians



Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady, Humanitarian
Oct 11 1884 - Nov 7 1962
Written 2008


Nelson Mandela

Activist, President
Jul 18 1918 - Dec 5 2013
Written 2012


Albert Schweitzer

Doctor, Humanitarian
Jan 14 1875 – Sep 4 1965
Written 2008


Mahatma Gandhi

Indian civil rights leader
Oct 2 1869 - Jan 30 1948
Written 2008


Harriet Tubman

Liberator of Slaves
1822 - Mar 10 1913
Written 2006


Norman Borlaug

Father of the Green Revolution
Mar 25 1914 – Sep 12 2009
Written 2009


Clara Barton

Founder of American Red Cross
Dec 25 1821 - Apr 12 1912
Written 2006


William Wilberforce

Member of Parliament Abolitionist
Aug 24 1759 - Jul 29 1833
Written 2010


Florence Nightingale

Founder of the Nursing profession
May 12 1820 – Aug 13 1910
Written 2001


Greg Mortenson

Author Humanitarian
Dec 27 1957 - Present
Written 2010

Women Who Made A Difference



Amelia Earhart

Aviation Pioneer
Jul 24 1897 - Jul 2 1937
Written 2006


Henrietta Lacks

Immortal Cells
Aug 1 1920 – Oct 4 1951
Written 2013


Sadako Sasaki

Hiroshima Victim
Jan 7 1943 - Oct 25 1955
Written 2011


Malala Yousafzai

Education Activist in Pakistan
Jul 12 1997 - Present
Written 2013


Joan of Arc

Religious and military leader
Around 1412 - May 30 1431
Written 2001


Annie Oakley

Sharpshooter
Aug 13 1860 - Nov 3 1926
Written 2006


Susan B. Anthony

Suffragette
Feb 15 1820 - Mar 13 1906
Written 2007


Elizabeth Keckly

Seamstress
Feb 1818 – May 1907
Written 2007


Helen Keller

Blind and Deaf
Jun 27 1880 – Jun 1 1968
Written 2001


Anne Frank

Diarist
Jun 12 1929 - Feb 1945
Written 2007


Madam C.J. Walker

Entrepreneur
Dec 23 1867 - May 25 1919
Written 2010

Scientists



George Washington Carver

Botanist and educator
Around 1861 - January 5 1943
Written 2001


Albert Einstein

Physicist, Nobel Prize winner
Mar 14 1879 – Apr 18 1955
Written 2006


Marie Curie

Physicist, Nobel Prize winner
Nov 7 1867 - Jul 4 1934
Written 2006


Louis Pasteur

Chemist, biologist
Dec 27 1822 – Sep 28 1895
Written 2007


Sir Isaac Newton

Explained gravity and properties of light
Dec 25 1642 - Mar 20 1727
Written 2001


Galileo

Astronomer, physicist
Feb 15 1564 – Jan 8 1642
Written 2008


Lise Meitner

Physicist
Nov 7 1878 – Oct 27 1968
Written 2008


Benjamin Banneker

Astronomer Mathematician
Nov 9 1731 – Oct 9 1806
Written 2010

Educators



Booker T. Washington

Leader and educator
Apr 5 1856 – Nov 14 1915
Written 2006


Noah Webster

Dictionary writer
Oct 16 1758 – May 23 1843
Written 2001


Aristotle

Greek philosopher
384 – 322 BC
Written 2007


Mary McLeod Bethune

Educator
Jul 10 1875 - May 18 1955
Written 2010

Physicians



Hippocrates

Father of medicine
460 – 377 BC
Written 2001


Walter Reed

Discovered cause of yellow fever
Sep 13 1851 - Nov 22 1902
Written 2001

Religious Leaders



George Müller

Minister - builder of orphan homes
Sep 27 1805 – Mar 10 1898
Written 2011


Increase Mather

Religious leader Salem witch trials
Jun 12 1639 – Aug 23 1723
Written 2007

Athletes



Michael Phelps

Olympic swimmer
Jun 30 1985 - Present
Written 2008


Wilma Rudolph

Olympic gold medal winner
Jun 23 1940 – Nov 12 1994
Written 2001


Tiger Woods

Championship golfer
Dec 30 1975 - Present
Written 2001


Lou Gehrig

Baseball player
Jun 19 1903 – Jun 2 1941
Written 2001

Civil Rights Leaders



Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights leader
Jan 15 1929 – Apr 4 1968
Written 2006


Rosa Parks

Bus desegregation
Feb 4 1913 - Oct 24 2005
Written 2006


Sojourner Truth

Former slave and abolitionist
Around 1797 – Nov 26 1883
Written 2007


Frederick Douglass

Abolitionist
Feb 1818 – Feb 20 1895
Written 2007


Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Civil rights leader
Oct 9 1823 - Jun 5 1893
Written 2007


James Forten

Inventor, abolitionist
Sep 2 1766 – Mar 4 1842
Written 2008


César Chávez

Civil rights leader
Mar 31 1927 - Apr 23 1993
Written 2008

Composers



Ludwig van Beethoven

Composer
Dec 16 1770 - Mar 26 1827
Written 2001


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Composer
Jan 27 1756 - Dec 5 1791
Written 2011

Authors



Laura Ingalls Wilder

Author Children's Books
Feb 7 1867 – Feb 10 1957
Written 2009


Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

Author Humorist
Nov 30 1835 – Apr 21 1910
Written 2009


Ernest Hemingway

Author Novelist
Jul 21 1898 – Jul 2 1961
Written 2010


Phillis Wheatley

Slave - Poet
1753/55 – December 1784
Written 2011

Artists



John James Audubon

Artist and Naturalist
Apr 26 1785 – Jan 27 1851
Written 2006


Gutzon Borglum

Sculptor, Mount Rushmore
Mar 25 1867 – Mar 6 1941
Written 2008


Ansel Adams

Photographer
Feb 20 1902 – Apr 22 1984
Written 2008


Vincent van Gogh

Artist
Mar 30 1853 - Jul 29 1890


Michelangelo

Sculptor and Painter
Mar 6 1475 - Feb 18 1564


Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist
Jul 15 1606 - Oct 4 1669


Grandma Moses

Folk Artist
Sep 2 1860 - Dec 13 1961


Mary Cassatt

Artist
May 22 1844 – Jun 14 1926


Renoir

Artist
Feb 25 1841 - Dec 3 1919


Cezanne

Artist
Jan 19 1839 – Oct 22 1906


Norman Rockwell

Artist/Illustrator
Feb 3 1894 – Nov 8 1978


Dale Chihuly

Glass Sculptor
Sep 20 1941 - Present


Biography birthdays by Month




Biographies of 48 Famous Artists



75 printable Biography Cards



Biography Activities

These biographies are presented to inspire the student to follow their examples of courage, determination, honesty and willingness to work.

Each story features 8 free printables: multi-choice test, word search, crossword puzzle, word scramble, study sheet, student worksheet, alphabetical order page, and picture to color.

There are 7 online activites for each biography. Online computer-graded tests, online games, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, word searches, scrambled word puzzles, and pictures to paint.

The biographies and accompanying worksheets can be helpful for developing reading comprehension. They may be used in conjunction with a computer program or independently.

How to Use Biographies for Kids for Tutoring

Ideas for Using Garden of Praise Lessons

Some have used these biographies in writing end-of-year student assessment tests and in lessons for which they charge a fee. If you want to use them for commercial purposes please contact me.

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