WRITER

Wilkie Collins

1824 - 1889

Photo of Wilkie Collins

Icon of person Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for The Woman in White (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for The Moonstone (1868), which established many of the ground rules of the modern detective novel and is also perhaps the earliest clear example of the police procedural genre. Born to the London painter William Collins and his wife, Harriet Geddes, he moved with them to Italy when he was twelve, living there and in France for two years, learning both Italian and French. He worked initially as a tea merchant. After Antonina, his first novel, was published in 1850, Collins met Charles Dickens, who became his friend and mentor. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Wilkie Collins is the 906th most popular writer (down from 865th in 2019), the 842nd most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 655th in 2019) and the 89th most popular British Writer.

Wilkie Collins is most famous for his novel "The Woman in White" which was published in 1860. It is a mystery novel about a woman who is kidnapped and held prisoner by a man who is obsessed with her.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Wilkie Collins by language

Loading...

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Wilkie Collins ranks 906 out of 7,302. Before him are Neale Donald Walsch, Dobrica Ćosić, Theodor Fontane, Ernest Thompson Seton, Pu Songling, and Eleanor Marx. After him are Władysław Tarnowski, Leconte de Lisle, Samuel Richardson, Adunis, Pierre-Jean de Béranger, and H. Rider Haggard.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1824, Wilkie Collins ranks 15. Before him are Eugène Boudin, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Paul Broca, Dayananda Saraswati, Pierre Janssen, and Carl Reinecke. After him are Marie Duplessis, William Huggins, Karl-Maria Kertbeny, Nana Sahib, Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, and Ludwig Büchner. Among people deceased in 1889, Wilkie Collins ranks 16. Before him are Father Damien, Alexandre Cabanel, Mihai Eminescu, Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Wilhelm Tempel, and Princess Eugénie of Sweden. After him are Charles III, Prince of Monaco, Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Maria Mitchell, Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, Marie of Prussia, and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Others Born in 1824

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1889

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Wilkie Collins ranks 842 out of 8,785. Before him are Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850), Mary Quant (1930), Brian Cox (1946), James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell (1534), Ernest Thompson Seton (1860), and Eleanor Marx (1855). After him are John Newlands (1837), Cynegils (575), Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet (1892), Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (1864), Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (1415), and Samuel Richardson (1689).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Wilkie Collins ranks 89. Before him are Julian Barnes (1946), Douglas Adams (1952), James May (1963), Ian McEwan (1948), Ernest Thompson Seton (1860), and Eleanor Marx (1855). After him are Samuel Richardson (1689), H. Rider Haggard (1856), Christopher Tolkien (1924), Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (1878), Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809), and David Irving (1938).

British born Writers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous