* William Shakespeare (1564-1616): English playwright, considered the greatest writer in the English language.
* Molière (1622-1673): French playwright, best known for his comedies *The Misanthrope*, *Tartuffe*, and *The Imaginary Invalid*.
* Jean Racine (1639-1699): French playwright, best known for his tragedies *Andromache*, *Phèdre*, and *Athalie*.
* Pierre Corneille (1606-1684): French playwright, best known for his tragedies *The Cid*, *Horace*, and *Cinna*.
* Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616): Spanish novelist, best known for his novel *Don Quixote*.
* Lope de Vega (1562-1635): Spanish playwright, best known for his plays *The Star of Seville* and *Fuente Ovejuna*.
* Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681): Spanish playwright, best known for his plays *Life is a Dream* and *The Great Theater of the World*.
* Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855): Danish philosopher, best known for his works *The Sickness unto Death*, *Fear and Trembling*, and *Concluding Unscientific Postscript*.
* Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900): German philosopher, best known for his works *Thus Spoke Zarathustra*, *Beyond Good and Evil*, and *The Genealogy of Morals*.