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Contents 1 Historical Personalities 1.1 Ancient Period 1.2 Transformation period 1.3 Medieval Period 1.4 Renaissance 1.5 Reformation and Religious Struggles 2 Locating Biographical Information

Historical Personalities

Ancient Period

Socrates, Greek philosopher
Alexander, conqueror
Cicero, Roman politician
The Gracchi brothers, Roman politicians
Cleopatra, queen of Egypt
Nero (1st Century C.E.) Roman Emperor

Transformation period

St. Augustine (354-430), theologian in North Africa
Charlemagne, (742-814) Frankish Emperor
Theodora (500-548) Byzantine Empress
Muhammad, (570-632) Arabian Prophet

Medieval Period

Richard I (Lionheart), king of England, crusader
Yussuf Salah al-Din, Sultan of Egypt
Hildegard of Bingen, abyss, poet, scientist, musician
Peter Abelard, French philosopher and scholar or Averroes, Spanish-Arabian mathematician
St. Francis, Italian saint
Eleanor, queen of England

Renaissance

Jan van Eyck, Painter
Hernán Cortés, conqueror
Copernicus, Polish astronomer or Christine de Pizan, French writer

Reformation and Religious Struggles

John Calvin, French religious reformer or Catherine de Medici, Queen of France
Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of a religious order
Jacob Fugger, German entrepeneur
Catherine de Medici, queen of France

Locating Biographical Information

Online Resources
The following resources offer brief biographical information about people from all times and places. This information is best used for deciding who to research further or for identifying other resources.

Located under Biography Research Databases.

• Biography and Genealogy Master Index : No actual biographies, but it will tell you which books have biographical information on the person. Useful for difficult to locate names.
• Discovering Collection : Brief biographies.

Located under History Research Databases

• History Study Center : Contains somewhat more in-depth information.

Reference Books in the College of DuPage Library
There is a section for biography in the Library which contains general information on all people and time periods. Some recommended titles are:

• Dictionary of World Biography : Reference CT 104 .D54
• Encyclopedia of World Biography : Reference CT 103 .E56
• Great Lives from History : Reference CT 119 .G
• Historic World Leaders : Reference D 412 .H57
• Research Guide to European Historical Biography : Reference CT 759 .R4

More biographical material can be located in the reference collection in the individual subject sections. For example: if a person was from Rome, try the books in DG. If the person was a scientist, try the books in Q. If the person was a woman, try the books in HQ.

Books in the General Collection
To locate books in the General collection that can be checked out do a subject search on the person with the last name first.
For example: Abelard, Peter
Or you could do a search on the occupation and or place. For example: Theologians -- France -- Biography If you are not finding enough information, please check with a Librarian.

This guide was last updated 21 January 2008.

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Librarian: Marianne Berger
Office: SRC 3036
Phone: (630) 942-2338
E-mail: berger@cod.edu

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