Who are some of our most famous Episcopalians?
Here is a sample list of noted Episcopalians and Anglicans. The * after a person’s name indicates this person is celebrated in our Calendar of Saints.
Theologians
- Lancelot Andrews: Bishop and spiritual writer The Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrews is one of his more famous writings
- John Wesley*: priest and founder of the Methodist Church
- Thomas Cramner*: Archbishop of Canterbury and author of the first Book of Common Prayer, Martyr
- William Laud*: Archbishop of Canterbury under Charles I, Martyr
- Edward Pusey: Priest, Tractorian and founder of the first Anglican Sisterhood since the Reformation
- Samuel Seabury*: First American Bishop
- John Donne*: Priest, Theologian, author, poet and hymnist
- John Keble*: Priest, Tractioian, social activist
- Absalom Jones*: first black ordained Episcopal Priest
- David Pendleton Oakerhater*: First Native American Deacon and Missionary
United States Presidents and Patriots
- George Washington: First U.S. President 1789-1797
- James Madison: Fourth U.S. President 1809-1817
- James Monroe: Fifth U.S. President 1817-1825
- William Harry Harrison: Ninth U. s. President 1841
- John Tyler: Tenth U.S. President 1841-1845
- Zachery Taylor: Twelfth President 1849-1850
- Franklin Pierce: Fourteenth President 1853-1857
- Chester A. Arthur: Twenty-first President 1881-1885
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: Thirty-second 1933-1945
- Gerald Ford: Thirty-eighth President
- George H.W. Bush: Forty-first President
- Francis Scott Key: patriot and author of the words to the Star Spangled Banner
- Patrick Henry: patriot “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”
- Betsy Ross: patriot, maker of the first flag
- Martha Washington: patriot
- Thirty-one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence
Authors
- Jane Austin: author (Emma, Pride and Prejudice. etc.)
- James Blish: science fiction author(A Case of Conscience, etc.)
- Marion Zimmer Bradley: fantasy writer ( The Mists of Avalon, etc.)
- Anne Bronte: novelist and poet
- Charlotte Bronte: novelist
- Emily Bronte: novelist
- Lewis Carroll: author (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, etc.)
- Philip K. Dick: science fiction author (Blade Runner, etc.)
- Charles Dickins: author (Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, etc.)
- T.S.Eliot: poet and playwriter (Murder in the Cathrdral, The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock)
- Henry James: author (The Princess Casamassima, etc.)
- John Keats: poet
- P.D. James: dectective novelist
- Madeleine L’Engle: author (A Wrinkle in Time, etc.)
- C. S. Lewis*: author and Christian apologist The Chronicals of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, Suprised by Joy and A Grief Observed are among his many works
- Dorothy Sayers: author and scholar (the Lord Peter Wimsey dectective novels, Creed or Chaos, The Wimsical Christian,and a translation of Dante’s The Divine Comedy)
- William Shakespere: Playwriter and Poet
- Percy Blythe Shelley: poet
- Mary Shelly:author (Frankenstein)
- Bram Stoker: author (Dracula)
- Evelyne Underhill*: author and mystic (Worship)
- Tennessee Williams: playwrite(The Glass Managerie, etc.)
- William Wordsworth: author and poet
Social Reformers
- Florence Nightengale: Nurse and reformer
- Amelia Jenks Bloomer*: reformer and champion of women’s rights
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton*: reformer and champion of women’s rights
- Sojourner Truth: reformer*, activist for abolition and women’s rights
- Harriet Ross Tubman*: reformer and leader of the underground railroad
- Julia Chester Emery*: social activist and founder of the United Thank Offering (Episcopal relief fund)
- Constance and her Companions “The Marytrs of Memphis”*: killed fighting an outbreak of yellow fever in Memphis, Tennessee
Early Church Teachers and Theologians (Pre-Anglican)
- Thomas Aquinas*: theologian, author of Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles, used the philosophy of Aristotle
- Augustine of Canterbury*: First Archbishop of Canterbury and missionary
- Augustine of Hippo*: author of The City of God and Confessions as well as many other works
- Thomas a Becket*: Archbishop of Canterbury, martyerd
- Bede the Venerable*: scholar of the history of Christianity in England before Augustine of Canterbury was sent
- Columba*: Founder of the Monastary of Iona to train missionaries to evangalize the Picts of Northern Scotland
- Francis of Assisi*: spiritualist and founder of the Orders of Franciscian Monks and the Poor Clare Nuns
- Julian of Norwich*: anchoress and mystic, author of The Revelations of Divine Love or The Book of Showings, based on revelations she received during a grave illness and later; the first English woman of letters and the first English theologian to write in English
- Patrick of Ireland*: bringer of the Christian faith to Ireland
Early Christian Disciples and Apostles
- Andrew*: disciple and apostle
- Barnabus*: disciple and apostle
- Bartholomew*: disciple and apostle
- Cornelius the Centurian*: early Gentile convert
- Holy Innocents*: the boys executed by King Harod in his search to kill our Savior
- James, the Greater*: disciple and apostle, son of Zebedee and brother of John
- James, the Lesser*: disciple and apostle, son of Alphaeus
- John the Baptist*: prophet and baptiser of our Lord
- John, the brother of James*: disciple and apostle, author of the Gosple of John
- Joseph of Aramathia*: disciple and provider of the tomb for Jesus
- Joseph*: the husband of Mary
- Jude*: apostle and disciple
- Luke*: disciple and follower of Paul, author of the Gosple of Luke and Acts
- Mark (John Mark)*:disciple and apostle, author of the Gosple of Mark
- Mary Magdalene*: female disciple
- Mary and Martha of Bethany*: female disciples and sisters of Lazarus
- Mary*: the Virgin, Mother of our Lord
- Matthew*: disciple and apostle, author of the Gosple of Mark
- Matthias*: disciple, replaced Judas as one of the Twelve
- Paul (Saul of Tarsus)*: apostle, origionally a persecutor of Christians, experienced a vision of Christ on the road to Damascus
- Peter (Simon Peter): disciple and apostle, the Rock on which Christ built his Church
- Phillip*: disciple and apostle
- Simon*: disciple and apostle
- Stephen*: disciple and first deacon and first maryter of the Church
- Thomas*: disciple and apostle, also known as Doubting Thomas
Actors, Artists, Muscians, and Entertainers
- Fred Astaire
- Bono
- Natalie Cole
- Judy Collins
- Cecil B. DeMille
- Duke Ellington
- Judy Garland
- Sir William Gilbert
- Lillian Gish
- Olivia de Havilland
- Mary Martin
- Van Morrison
- Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- Sir Arthur Sullivan
- Sam Waterstone
- Robin Williams
Scientists, Explorers, and Inventors
- Charles Babbage: mathmatician and theorist behind computer technology
- Sir Francis Bacon
- Robert Boyle: scientist, father of modern chemistry
- Captain John Cook
- Sir Charles Darwin
- Hannible Goodwin: perfected the use of photoemersion allowing motion pictures to be made
- Robert Hooke: scientist developed the theory of elasticity and proposed wave theory for light
- Edward Jenner: scientist, vaccination for smallpox
- Guglielmo Marconi: inventor of the radio
- Margaret Mead: anthropologist
Comic Book Characters
- Batman
- Invisible Woman
- Human Torch
- Phoenix
- The Beast
- Archangel
- Psylocke
- Captain Britain
- Dan Dare
- Chamber
- Scarecrow of Romney March
- The Hound
- Cyclops
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