Biographical Sources
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.
China -- United States
China
Political leaders of modern China : a biographical dictionary, ed. by Edwin Pak-wah Leung. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2002, 278 pp. HOLLIS Record
China Families offers information on foreign nationals in China 1850s-1940s
The United States in Asia: a historical dictionary, by David Shavit. NY: Greenwood Press, 1990, 620 p.
HOLLIS Record
Chinese Biographies, ed. by Hanno E. Lecher
China Vitae offers over 2500 biographies of current Chinese political, military, business, and academic figures. Sophisticated searching and cross-referencing techniques available. Related database, VIP Appearances, tracks public appearances by senior Chinese officials.
Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing period (1644-1912), ed. by Arthur W. Hummel. Washington, DC: Library of Congress. Orientalia Division, 1943-44. 2 v.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive Full Text: Vol 1. -- Vol. 2.
--Terminal list of biographees arranged in chronological order, name index (including names mentioned within biographies), index of titles of books, and subject index. Full text in Chinese biographical archive.
Biographical dictionary of Chinese women, ed. by Lily Xiao Hong Lee and A.D. Stefanowska. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1998- .
HOLLIS Record
Biographical dictionary of Republican China. Howard L. Boorman, editor; Richard C. Howard, associate editor. New York, Columbia University Press, 1967-79. 5 v.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive Full Text: Vol. 1. -- Vol. 2. -- Vol. 3 -- Vol. 4.
--Intended as a supplement to Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing period and concentrating on figures of the period 1911-49. Includes both living and deceased persons; about 600 biographies in the complete set. The final volume includes an extensive bibliography which lists the writings by the subject of each article in the dictionary, together with the sources (books, periodicals, manuscripts) used in preparing the article. Vol. 5 is a personal name index. Full text in Chinese biographical archive.
China's provincial leaders, 1949-1985, by David S. G. Goodman . Atlantic Highlands, NJ : Humanities Press International, 1986-
HOLLIS Record
--Covers from 1949 to the Communist Party conference of Sept. 1985. Lists Party and state officials, and army leaders under province, giving Pinyin and Wade-Giles names, position, and earliest/latest known dates. Based on primary source research. Only vol. 1 published.
Biographic dictionary of Chinese communism, 1921-1965, by Donald W. Klein. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1971.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive Full Text
--Offers "433 biographies of men and women who contributed to the Chinese Communist movement from the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party in l92l to 1965."-lntrod. Articles have cross-references and source notes. Appendixes provide various lists (e.g., participation in important events, travel abroad, fields of work). Full text in Chinese biographical archive.
Who's who current Chinese leaders, by Meirong He. Hong Kong : Wen Wei Pub. Co. Ltd., 1989-
HOLLIS Record (2001)
--Entries in English and Chinese, most with photographs. Covers about 1,800 "current senior officials at the central level and in the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions." Publishers' note, 2003 ed. Each entry provides birth date, present position, and career summary; current addresses are not listed. List of personnel of government agencies and political parties at front. Appendix lists major government units, their addresses and directors. Earlier eds.: 2001, 1998, 1994, 1989. Full text of 1989 and 1994 eds. in Chinese biographical archive.
Department of State (US): People offers biographies of the secretaries of State and others
The United States in Asia: a historical dictionary, by David Shavit. NY: Greenwood Press, 1990, 620 p.
HOLLIS Record
Biographic register of the Department of State (1870-1974)
Google Books (1870, 1874)
Hathitrust (1916) (1945)
Internet Archive (1911)
HOLLIS Record
--Lists diplomats and consuls together with biographies if the recently deceased.
American foreign service authors: a bibliography, by Richard Fyfe Boyce and Katherine Randall Boyce. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1973, 321 p.
HOLLIS Record
--Bibliography of books by foreign service officers (or spouses of foreign service personnel) throughout US history, including numerous memoirs.
The Andover-Harvard Theological Library has a biographical research guide: Biographical and Genealogical Information
Additional sources available in: Finding Biographical Information.