Biographical Sources
For an annotated bibliography of biographical dictionaries open Guide to Reference choose Browse, then General Reference Works, then Biography, then Asia
World Biographical Information System includes full text of thousands of biographical dictionaries accessible by name of biographee. Partly online full text, partly microfiche or print. More information.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) indexes thousands of English-language biographical dictionaries and other compendia. Not full text; one must do HOLLIS searches for retrieved sources.
Biography catalogue of the Library of the Royal Commonwealth Society, by Donald H. Simpson. London : Royal Commonwealth Society, 1961, 511 p.
Widener | WID-LC | CT104 .S56 1961x
Index of biographical materials about persons in the Empire and the Commonwealth, and those in the United Kingdom and elsewhere connected with British imperial affairs. Books and periodical articles both included. Main section alphabetical by biographee. The "Collective Biography and Country Indexes" section lists works of collective biography by country or region and lists the persons in many of them. Persons in these lists do not appear in the main alphabetical sequence of persons unless indicated.
A biographical dictionary of the British Colonial Service, 1939-1966, by A.H.M. Kirk-Greene. London; New York : H. Zell, 1991, 403 p.
Widener | WID-LC | DA16.8 .K57 1991 F (F means that this book is oversize and shelved at the end of the main DA sequence, Widener Level 1 East)
--Includes the nearly 15,000 names in the Colonial Office List with birth year, education, and posts held.
Dictionnaire de bio-bibliographie générale, ancienne et moderne de l'Indochine Français, by A. Brebion, ed. by A. Cabaton. Paris, Société d'Éditions Géographiques, Maritimes et Coloniales, 1935, 446 p. ( Académie des Sciences Coloniales. Annales, t. 8 )
Widener | LSoc 1621.87.10 vol.8
--About 1600 biographies of indigenous persons and Europeans, with lists of their publications (including periodical articles) and secondary works. Covers 16th century to early 20th century. Includes several chronological lists, e.g., Kings and Protectors of Cambodia, Missionaries, etc. Subject index to occupations and activities.
Hommes et destins: dictionnaire biographique d'outre-mer. Paris: Académie des sciences d'outre-mer, 1975-1995. 10 v.
Widener | WID-LC | CT1014 .H65
--Covers French colonial figures, including explorers, administrators, missionaries, doctors, anthropologists, engineers, etc. Vols. 1-5 cover the colonies in general; v. 6, Asia; v. 8, Colonial governors, administrators, and magistrates. Each volume has a cumulative index of biographees. Included full text in the World Biographical Information System
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the standard British source for biographies of major figures. Can do searches of occupations and limit by date: Advanced Search Options: People Search.
Additional sources in Finding Biographical Information