20th-century non-fiction writers

Václav Havel (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvaːtslav ˈɦavɛl] ; 5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright and dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 31 December, before he became the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003. He was the first democratically elected president of either country after the fall of communism. As a writer of Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays and memoirs.
His educational opportunities having been limited by his bourgeois background, when freedoms were limited by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Havel first rose to prominence as a playwright. In works such as The Garden Party and The Memorandum, Havel used an absurdist style to criticize the Communist system. After participating in the Prague Spring and being blacklisted after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, he became more politically active and helped found several dissident initiatives, including Charter 77 and the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted. His political activities brought him under the surveillance of the StB secret police, and he spent multiple periods as a political prisoner, the longest of his imprisoned terms being nearly four years, between 1979 and 1983. In this period, Samuel Beckett wrote a play Catastrophe in Havel's Support. Havel wrote his short play Mistake in response to Beckett. Both plays were published by Index On Censorship in 1984. In 2022, Reza Shirmarz, an Iranian playwright, was asked by Index to write a play (Muzzled) in response to both playwright after a couple decades presenting the ongoing issue of censorship and self-censorship.[1]
Havel's Civic Forum party played a major role in the Velvet Revolution that toppled the Communist system in Czechoslovakia in 1989. He assumed the presidency shortly thereafter, and was re-elected in a landslide the following year and after Slovak independence in 1993. Havel was instrumental in dismantling the Warsaw Pact and enlargement of NATO membership eastward. Many of his stances and policies, such as his opposition to Slovak independence, condemnation of the treatment of Sudeten Germans and their mass expulsion from Czechoslovakia after World War II, as well as granting of general amnesty to all those imprisoned under the Communist era, were very controversial domestically. By the end of his presidency, he enjoyed greater popularity abroad than at home. Havel continued his life as a public intellectual after his presidency, launching several initiatives including the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism, the VIZE 97 Foundation, and the Forum 2000 annual conference.
Havel's political philosophy was one of anti-consumerism, humanitarianism, environmentalism, civil activism, and direct democracy. He supported the Czech Green Party from 2004 until his death. He received numerous accolades during his lifetime, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the Four Freedoms Award, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, and the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award. The 2012–2013 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour. He is considered by some to be one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century. The international airport in Prague was renamed Václav Havel Airport Prague in 2012.

Giulio Einaudi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒuːljo eiˈnaudi]; 2 January 1912 – 5 April 1999) was an Italian book publisher. The eponymous company that he founded in 1933 became "a European wellspring of fine literature, intellectual thought and political theory" and was once considered the most prestigious publishing house in Italy. He was also the author of books on literature, history, philosophy, art and science.

Erich Neumann (Hebrew: אריך נוימן; 23 January 1905 – 5 November 1960) was a German psychologist, philosopher, writer, and student of Carl Jung.

Max Bense (7 February 1910 in Strasbourg – 29 April 1990 in Stuttgart) was a German philosopher, writer, and publicist, known for his work in philosophy of science, logic, aesthetics, and semiotics. His thoughts combine natural sciences, art, and philosophy under a collective perspective and follow a definition of reality, which – under the term existential rationalism – is able to remove the separation between humanities and natural sciences.

Max Pulver is the author of four graphology books (1931, 1934, 1944 and 1949), several articles, and one novel (1927). He developed the theory of symbolism of space. His work discusses pressure, intelligence, and crime. He founded the Schweizerische Graphologische Gesellschaft (Swiss Graphological Society) in 1950 and was president until his death.

Kaare Støylen (3 October 1909 – 22 August 1989) was a Norwegian theologian and priest. He served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Agder from 1957 to 1973.

Mosse Jørgensen (3 January 1921 – 30 June 2009) was a Norwegian school principal and non-fiction writer.
She is especially remembered as a co-founder and the first principal of a reformed secondary school in Oslo in 1967, Forsøksgymnaset. She published the book Kunsten å overleve med en tenåring i huset in 1969. Her book Fra skoleopprør til opprørsskole from 1971 was translated into eight languages. She was awarded the Medal of St. Hallvard in 1993, and the Ole Brumm prize in 1998.

Per Høst (5 December 1907 – 28 December 1971) was a Norwegian zoologist, film producer and non-fiction writer.

Lieutenant General Odd Bull (28 June 1907 – 8 September 1991) was a career officer in the Royal Norwegian Air Force who rose to the position of Chief of Air Staff. He is probably best known outside Norway for his role as Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) between 1963 and 1970, a period which coincided with the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbours. He wrote a memoir of his experiences during this time, which was published as War and Peace in the Middle East: The Experiences and Views of a U.N. Observer.

Birgit Målfrid Strøm (9 August 1931 – 11 January 2007) was a Norwegian actress, puppeteer, dramatic adviser, singer and non-fiction writer. She was born in Oslo. She was the daughter of the actor Julian Strøm and the sister of the puppeteer and actress Elisabeth Strøm Henriksen.
She is known for giving voice to the puppets Titten Tei and Jon Arthur Vimsen. Her stage adaptations include fairy tales such as Det var en gang and Gjete kongens harer, and Alf Prøysen's Teskjekjerringa på teater. Among her song recordings are "Pappa'n til Tove Mette" and "Gøy på landet" (Wheezy Anna).