Pulitzer Prize Winners for Biography or Autobiography

The Pulitzer Prizes, established and endowed by Joseph Pulitzer (1847–1911), honour excellence in American literature, journalism, drama and music. The prizes, administered by Columbia University, bestow on winners both literary prestige and a cash prize.

For years not listed, no award was made.

1917

Julia Ward Howe, Laura E. Richards and Maude Howe Elliott, assisted by Florence Howe Hall

1918

Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed, William Cabell Bruce

1919

The Education of Henry Adams, Henry Adams

1920

The Life of John Marshall, Albert J. Beveridge

1921

The Americanization of Edward Bok, Edward Bok

1922

A Daughter of the Middle Border, Hamlin
Garland

1923

The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, Burton J. Hendrick

1924

From Immigrant to Inventor, Michael Idvorsky Pupin

1925

Barrett Wendell and His Letters, M. A. DeWolfe Howe

1926

The Life of Sir William Osler, Harvey Cushing

1927

Whitman, Emory Holloway

1928

The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas, Charles Edward Russell

1929

The Training of an American: The Earlier Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, Burton J.
Hendrick

1930

The Raven, Marquis James

1931

Charles W. Eliot, Henry James

1932

Theodore Roosevelt, Henry F. Pringle

1933

Grover Cleveland, Allan Nevins

1934

John Hay, Tyler Dennett

1935

R. E. Lee, Douglas S. Freeman

1936

The Thought and Character of William James, Ralph Barton Perry

1937

Hamilton Fish, Allan Nevins

1938

Pedlar's Progress, Odell Shepard; Andrew Jackson, Marquis James

1939

Benjamin Franklin, Carl Van Doren

1940

Woodrow Wilson: Life and Letters, Vols. VII and VIII, Ray Stannard Baker

1941

Jonathan Edwards, Ola E. Winslow

1942

Crusader in Crinoline, Forrest Wilson

1943

Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Samuel Eliot
Morison

1944

The American Leonardo: The Life of Samuel F. B. Morse, Carleton Mabee

1945

George Bancroft: Brahmin Rebel, Russel Blaine Nye

1946

Son of the Wilderness, Linnie Marsh Wolfe

1947

The Autobiography of William Allen White

1948

Forgotten First Citizen: John Bigelow, Margaret Clapp

1949

Roosevelt and Hopkins, Robert E. Sherwood

1950

John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy, Samuel Flagg Bemis

1951

John C. Calhoun: American Portrait, Margaret Louise Coit

1952

Charles Evans Hughes, Merlo J. Pusey

1953

Edmund Pendleton, 1721–1803, David J. Mays

1954

The Spirit of St. Louis, Charles A. Lindbergh

1955

The Taft Story, William S. White

1956

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Talbot F. Hamlin

1957

Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy

1958

George Washington, Douglas Southall Freeman (Vols. 1–6) and John Alexander Carroll and Mary Wells Ashworth (Vol. 7)

1959

Woodrow Wilson, American Prophet, Arthur Walworth

1960

John Paul Jones, Samuel Eliot Morison

1961

Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War, David Donald

1963

Henry James: Vol. II, The Conquest of London, 1870–1881; Vol. III, The Middle Years, 1881–1895, Leon Edel

1964

John Keats, Walter Jackson Bate

1965

Henry Adams (3 Vols.), Ernest Samuels

1966

A Thousand Days, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

1967

Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain, Justin Kaplan

1968

Memoirs, 1925–1950, George F. Kennan

1969

The Man From New York, B. L. Reid

1970

Huey Long, T. Harry Williams

1971

Robert Frost: The Years of Triumph, 1915–1938, Lawrence Thompson

1972

Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's Private Papers, Joseph P. Lash

1973

Luce and His Empire, W. A. Swanberg

1974

O'Neill, Son and Artist, Louis Sheaffer

1975

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Robert A. Caro

1976

Edith Wharton: A Biography, Richard W. B. Lewis

1977

A Prince of Our Disorder, John E. Mack

1978

Samuel Johnson, Walter Jackson Bate

1979

Days of Sorrow and Pain: Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews, Leonard Baker

1980

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund
Morris

1981

Peter the Great, Robert K. Massie

1982

Grant: A Biography, William S. McFeely

1983

Growing Up, Russell Baker

1984

Booker T. Washington, Louis R. Harlan

1985

The Life and Times of Cotton Mather, Kenneth Silverman

1986

Louise Bogan: A Portrait, Elizabeth Frank

1987

Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, David J. Garrow

1988

Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe, David Herbert Donald

1989

Oscar Wilde, Richard Ellmann

1990

Machiavelli in Hell, Sebastian de Grazia

1991

Jackson Pollock: An American Saga, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith

1992

Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet, Lewis B. Puller, Jr.

1993

Truman, David McCullough

1994

W. E. B. DuBois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919, David Levering Lewis

1995

Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life, Joan D. Hedrick

1996

God: A Biography, Jack Miles

1997

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir, Frank McCourt

1998

Personal History, Katharine Graham

1999

Lindbergh, A. Scott Berg

2000

Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), Stacy Schiff

2001

W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and The American Century, 1919-1963, David Levering Lewis

2002

John Adams, David McCullough

2003

Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Robert A Caro

2004

Krushchev: The Man and His Era, William Taubman

2005

de Kooning: An American Master, Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan

2006

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

2007

The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, Debby Applegate

2008

Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father, John Matteson

2009

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Jon Meacham

2010

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, T.J. Stiles

2011

Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow

2012

George F. Kennan: An American Life, John Lewis Gaddis

2013

The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, Tom Reiss

2014

Margaret Fuller: A New American Life, Megan Marshall

2015

The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe, David I. Kertzer

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