Wikidata:WikiProject Biographical Identifiers

Wikidata had entries for approximately 10 million people in August 2022 (6.34M in Jan 2020, 3.3M in Nov 2016; by way of comparison, VIAF had 21M people in Jul 2018, see Wikidata:WikiProject_Authority_control#VIAF_Volumetrics). A substantial fraction of these people are linked to one of many external identifiers, and this page outlines the main identifiers used as well as core metadata for biographies.

Potentially, Wikidata can be used as a "biographical spine", bringing together identifiers from a number of major biographical resources, digital history projects, and authority databases, allowing a project which has identifiers from one source to get identifiers (and thus links to) a wide range of other sources.

The areas most well-represented by identifiers are, broadly speaking:

• authors and artists
• politicians
• post-1500 British history

However, there is no fixed limit to the scope, and resources covering any area or time period are welcome.

Core metadata for people

Wikidata is structured around items, which have labels, descriptions, aliases, sitelinks, and properties.

Labels

This is the simplest element. Each item has one label allowed per supported language; it should be the common, simple, name for the item, eg "Tony Blair" (Q9545).

Descriptions

The description is a short sentence fragment describing the subject, in order to help distinguish it from other items. A possible description for Blair might be "Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, b. 1953". Dates are not required but they can be very useful; if in doubt, "nationality activity (XXXX-YYYY)" is a good fallback for descriptions.

One description allowed per supported language. Note that the software will (reasonably) object to any two items having identical labels and descriptions in a given language.

Aliases

Alternative forms of the label, eg "Anthony Blair". Any number permitted per language.

Sitelinks

Links to Wikipedia articles, or relevant pages in other Wikimedia projects, covering the subject of this item.

Properties

The core of the metadata. Properties provide the bulk of the useful data in Wikidata. Each one can be entered multiple times with different values, and can have a range of qualifiers (eg to note its sourcing).

There are a range of property types. The majority are "item" properties, taking another Wikidata item as their value. There are no fixed schema constraints (the system will allow you to enter father (P22):Rome (Q220) if you wish) but there are regular maintenance reports to flag up mismatches like this.

In general, all identifier properties are "string" types - they allow you to enter a string of text as the value. (In most cases, the system will then convert this to a functioning URL when the page is saved/reloaded). Again, there are no fixed constraints in the system itself, but reports will identify identifiers that do not match the correct pattern.

There is only one mandatory property for items about people, but there are a large number of recommended-if-known / generally useful ones:

Required	<instance of (P31) : human (Q5)>. Note that this is a "flat" property, and human (Q5) should always be used instead of any subclass for people. Fictional or mythological people are distinguished by instance of (P31):fictional human (Q15632617) and can otherwise use the same sets of properties - be careful of this when writing queries. It is unlikely that many of these will match to external identifiers, but there are a few in (for example) the ODNB.
Useful basic metadata (all item values except P18)	<image (P18)> - filename of an image on Wikimedia Commons <sex or gender (P21)> <country of citizenship (P27)> - preferably use the value for the country in existence at the time, rather than a modern analogue <occupation (P106)> (or field of work (P101), which is sometimes more appropriate) <date of birth (P569)> (& <place of birth (P19)>) <date of death (P570)> (& <place of death (P20)>) <position held (P39)> - used for, eg, political offices <educated at (P69)> <family name (P734)> & <given name (P735)>
Relationships (all item values)	<mother (P25)> (or <P44 (P44)>) <father (P22)> (or <P43 (P43)>) <sibling (P3373)> <child (P40)> <spouse (P26)> <godparent (P1290)> <relative (P1038)> - only for more distant relationships Note that these properties are not automatically symmetric, and should usually be added to both items (but a script will probably fill in missing ones at some point)
Identifiers	See below.

Tools

There are a wide range of tools available for adding, querying, and exporting information.

Adding and importing

Mix-and-Match

The mix-and-match tool allows external catalogues to be matched into Wikidata. If a Wikidata property is known, then this will make edits directly into Wikidata; if not, it can produce a list of identifiers and Wikidata items ready for manual upload. A manual is available.

QuickStatements

The QuickStatements tool allows properties and values to be uploaded to Wikidata using a simple tab-separated format, either creating new items or modifying existing ones. A demonstration script to format a spreadsheet into QuickStatements format is here.

Querying

Wikidata Query Service

The Wikidata Query Service is a full-fledged SPARQL query system for querying Wikidata content. See Wikidata:SPARQL query service/Wikidata Query Help for a helpdesk and manual, and have a look at the example queries for some demonstrations of what can be done. The @wikidatafacts account on Twitter is also often a source of inspiration.

PetScan

The PetScan tool allows for a complex query across various aspects of content. The primary focus is on Wikipedia articles (eg category trees, size filtering) but it also supports Wikidata SPARQL queries. Includes a converter for WDQ syntax (see below). A manual is available.

WikiDataQuery (WDQ)

The WDQ tool was an early query interface to Wikidata, using a simpler syntax than the full-fledge SPARQL service. It is now mostly deprecated and being replaced by the query service, but is still available.

Exporting

BEACON

The BEACON tool generates a list mapping Wikidata entries to the target identifier, in pipe-separated BEACON format. The tool can also map between two identifiers, or output the full list of labels and aliases (in all languages) for items with a given identifier.

Biographical identifiers

This list is not intended to be comprehensive, but it highlights most of the well-used identifiers. The basic threshold is 1,000 or more individuals, with some smaller identifiers included if they are substantially complete.

Library authority identifiers are listed separately in the following section.

AGORHA database identifier (P2342)

AGORHA person/institution ID (P2342)
Scope	Artists, predominantly French
In Wikidata	12480 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 17216 (usually updated daily)
Status	Incomplete.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person in the AGORHA database of the Institut national d'histoire de l'art in France. Note that the same identifier is also used for institutions.

Artsy artists (P2042)

Artsy artist ID (P2042)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	16311 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 21713 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier used by the Artsy website.

Australian Dictionary of Biography (P1907)

Australian Dictionary of Biography ID (P1907)
Scope	Significant figures in Australian history
In Wikidata	13295 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 24392 (usually updated daily)
Status	Completed as of May 2015.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Archives du Spectacle (P1977)

Les Archives du spectacle person ID (P1977)
Scope	Actors
In Wikidata	19863 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 22080 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Art UK artist ID (P1367)

Art UK artist ID (P1367)
Scope	Artists whose oil paintings are in UK public collections
In Wikidata	24204 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 44288 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
This database was formerly maintained by the BBC/Public Catalogue Foundation as "YourPaintings", part of a project to index and digitise all oil paintings in publicly owned British collections (~200,000 artworks). The scope has now extended to include some privately owned collections as well as paintings in other media. While many artists are not known beyond a name and thus unlikely to be mapped to Wikidata entries, the full set of ~36,800 names was reviewed between 2013-2015 and all artists who could be found in Wikidata, or who had enough information to create an entry, were linked.

Benezit ID (P2843)

Benezit ID (P2843)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	62812 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 95902 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Entry in the Benezit Dictionary of Artists.

Biografisch Portaal ID (P651)

Biografisch Portaal van Nederland ID (P651)
Scope
In Wikidata	27949 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 54600 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier at Biografisch Portaal van Nederland

British Museum Thesaurus (P1711)

British Museum person or institution ID (P1711)
Scope
In Wikidata	36861 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 49059 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier in the British Museum person-institution thesaurus

CESAR (P2340)

CESAR person ID (P2340)
Scope	French theatre, 17th/18th century
In Wikidata	1467 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 1796 (usually updated daily)
Status	Incomplete. 15% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

China Biographical Database ID (P497)

CBDB ID (P497)
Scope
In Wikidata	420807 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 430133 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Supports both Chinese and English content (same ID, different URL formatters)

CLARA (P1615)

CLARA-ID (P1615)
Scope	Women in art history
In Wikidata	6773 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 13082 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
People in the CLARA database of women visual artists, maintained by the US National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Dialnet author ID (P1607)

Dialnet author ID (P1607)
Scope	Authors
In Wikidata	14892 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 22061 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Dictionary of Art Historians (P2332)

Dictionary of Art Historians ID (P2332)
Scope	Art historians
In Wikidata	2383 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 4239 (usually updated daily)
Status	Complete as of mid-2015.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Entries in the Dictionary of Art Historians, mainained at Duke University. Complete as of mid-2015, with the exception of a small number of entries not suitable for Wikidata (eg crossreferences).

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (P2745)

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography ID (P2745)
Scope	Significant figures in New Zealand history who died before 1990, plus some later additions
In Wikidata	3063 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 4012 (usually updated daily)
Status	Complete as of March 2016.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Historic figures of relevance to New Zealand history. The original Dictionary covered those who died before 1900; when it was moved to the Te Ara website, entries for some post-1990 figures were added. Strictly speaking, these might not be part of the Dictionary proper, but are handled here in the same way.

Dictionary of Swedish National Biography (P3217)

Dictionary of Swedish National Biography ID (P3217)
Scope	People of significance in Swedish history
In Wikidata	7621 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 21411 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Dictionary of Ulster Biography (P2029)

Dictionary of Ulster Biography ID (P2029)
Scope	Significant figures in Northern Irish history
In Wikidata	1526 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 1918 (usually updated daily)
Status	55% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Dictionary of Welsh Biography (P1648)

Dictionary of Welsh Biography ID (P1648)
Scope	People of significance in Welsh history
In Wikidata	4467 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 4831 (usually updated daily)
Status	Broadly complete as of August 2015.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
This covers over 4,000 people of significance in Welsh history. Like the ODNB, it includes "group" entries, mostly for families; however, unlike the ODNB, these are not individually indexed and there is simply one identifier for the whole group. The DWB is fully bilingual and all articles are available online in both English and Welsh. Obtaining the Welsh entries is a matter of changing the way the URL is handled.

Database of Classical Scholars (P1935)

Database of Classical Scholars ID (P1935)
Scope	Academics working in classical literature and history, from the end of the 18th century onwards.
In Wikidata	817 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 867 (usually updated daily)
Status	Complete as of November 2015.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Entry in the Database of Classical Scholars maintained by the University of South Carolina.

Database of Scientific Illustrators (P2349)

Stuttgart Database of Scientific Illustrators ID (P2349)
Scope	Illustrators in natural history, medicine, technology and various sciences, 1450-1950
In Wikidata	7716 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 10480 (usually updated daily)
Status	32% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for the University of Stuttgart's Database of Scientific Illustrators.

DBNL author ID (P723)

Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren author ID (P723)
Scope	Authors
In Wikidata	23244 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 31339 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for an author on the DBNL (Digital Library for Dutch Literature)

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (P1986)

Treccani's Biographical Dictionary of Italian People ID (P1986)
Scope	Italian historical figures
In Wikidata	29262 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 38016 (usually updated daily)
Status	39% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Entry in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani/Encyclopedia Treccani.

Early Modern Letters Online (P1802)

Early Modern Letters Online person ID (P1802)
Scope	Early modern figures with surviving correspondence
In Wikidata	8697 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 12375 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
A digital index of authors and recipients of surviving early modern letters, drawing on a wide range of collections. Includes a substantial number of minor or only loosely identified figures who are unlikely to be indexed in Wikidata and thus it is unlikely there will be a full cross-mapping.

fotografen.nl ID (P3269)

Fotografen.nl ID (P3269)
Scope	Photographers (primarily Dutch)
In Wikidata	1856 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 1864 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a photographer in the Dutch fotografen.nl database

genealogics.org ID (P1819)

genealogics.org person ID (P1819)
Scope	Genealogy
In Wikidata	178036 people as of 2022-001-13 Total including non-people items: 292145 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person in the genealogics.org genealogy website

Hansard 1803-2005 (P2015)

Hansard (1803–2005) ID (P2015)
Scope	Members of Parliament and peers in the United Kingdom, 1803-2005
In Wikidata	14461 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 28059 (usually updated daily)
Status	Broadly complete as of September 2016, barring errors.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
The Hansard database offers a mostly-comprehensive collection of speeches in the British House of Commons and House of Lords between 1803 and 2005. Individual speakers are indexed, and the identifiers for people are included in Wikidata. When linked with the History of Parliament data, above, this gives a (nearly) comprehensive coverage of MPs from the mid-eighteenth century to date. It also includes most members of the House of Lords during this period, as the Lords Hansard was also digitised. However, it has some significant gaps. Many MPs have two (or even three) entries, where two references were not identified as the same person - this is particularly an issue for more obscure figures, or those who later inherited a title. In addition, a small number of (mostly 19th-century) MPs have garbled names, apparently due to glitches during the data-entry process. A few Members (particularly if they never spoke) are not indexed.

History of Parliament (P1614)

History of Parliament ID (P1614)
Scope	English and British MPs from the fourteenth to nineteenth centuries
In Wikidata	17919 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 35464 (usually updated daily)
Status	52% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
The History of Parliament biographies are (unusually) divided into volumes, each usually covering a period of around 30 years, so that a single Member may have up to three entries depending on the length and timing of their career. In 2016, published volumes cover all MPs who sat in the Parliament of England 1386-1421, 1509-1629, and 1660-1707; the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800; and the Parliament of the United Kingdom 1801-1832. Later volumes are in preparation. As of September 2016, the last three volumes of the History of Parliament are fully matched to Wikidata, giving complete coverage of all MPs in Great Britain & the UK from 1754 through to 1832. Earlier volumes are between 25% and 65% matched, with matching work currently going backwards to complete the 18th century Parliaments.

Hong Kong Movie Database (P3346)

HKMDB person ID (P3346)
Scope	Actors and other film-industry people
In Wikidata	3090 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 3936 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
New property.

Internet Movie Database (P345)

IMDb ID (P345)
Scope	Actors and other film-industry people
In Wikidata	398578 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 1282479 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Note that the same identifier is used for films, characters, companies, and events as well as people.

International Standard Name Identifier (P213)

ISNI (P213)
Scope	People and organisations
In Wikidata	1219025 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 1762341 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
The ISNI is primarily derived from bibliographic authority records but theoretically is very broad in scope and could cover almost anyone.

Internet Broadway Database person ID (P1220)

Internet Broadway Database person ID (P1220)
Scope	Performers, playwrights, and other theatrical people
In Wikidata	19212 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 36998 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

IPNI author ID (P586)

IPNI author ID (P586)
Scope	Scientists
In Wikidata	53738 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 108196 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Scientific authors in the International Plant Names Index

ISFDB author ID (P1233)

Internet Speculative Fiction Database author ID (P1233)
Scope	Authors
In Wikidata	25661 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 45889 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Italian Chamber of Deputies ID (P1341)

Italian Chamber of Deputies dati ID (P1341)
Scope	Italian politicians
In Wikidata	13122 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 21704 (usually updated daily)
Status	84.7% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Directory of members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies

Léonore ID (P640)

Léonore ID (P640)
Scope
In Wikidata	21168 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 38935 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

MÉL ID (P8998)

Magyar életrajzi lexikon ID (P8998)
Scope	Biographical lexikon ID
In Wikidata	12692 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 14425 (usually updated daily)
Status	Incomplete.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Hungarian biographical lexikon (Magyar életrajzi lexikon) authority control identifier

MNN ID (new) (P11621)

Hungarian National Namespace person ID (new) (P11621)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	396 people as of 2023-04-19 Total including non-people items: 8700 (usually updated daily)
Status	Incomplete.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Hungarian National Namespace (Magyar Nemzeti Névtér) authority control identifier

Munk's Roll (P2941)

Munk's Roll ID (P2941)
Scope	Members of the Royal College of Physicians, 1518-2004
In Wikidata	5527 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 7591 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Munzinger IBA (P1284)

Munzinger person ID (P1284)
Scope
In Wikidata	27367 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 53264 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Musée d'Orsay Artist ID (P2268)

Musée d'Orsay artist ID (P2268)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	26201 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 33426 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
ID for an artist in the database of the Orsay Museum

Museum of Modern Art Artist ID (P2174)

Museum of Modern Art artist ID (P2174)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	12302 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 27014 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier assigned to an artist by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York

MusicBrainz artist ID (P434)

MusicBrainz artist ID (P434)
Scope	Musicians
In Wikidata	160383 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 431270 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier assigned to an artist by the MusicBrainz open music encyclopedia

National Gallery of Art (Washington) Artist ID (P2252)

National Gallery of Art artist ID (P2252)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	8296 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 10739 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier assigned to an artist by the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC

National Portrait Gallery index (P1816)

National Portrait Gallery (London) person ID (P1816)
Scope	Painters and sitters in the holdings of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In Wikidata	44752 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 51069 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed. 56.1% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
An index to the collections of the National Portrait Gallery. The pages often, but not always, include some biographical data and digital images of the pictures with which they are connected. Note that there is no distinction made in this database between painters and sitters (subjects); indeed, some people appear as both. Having the identifier is not automatically a sign that the NPG will hold a portrait of this person, and a substantial fraction of those with portraits do not (yet) have a copy online.

Nationalmuseum Sweden Artist ID (P2538)

Nationalmuseum Sweden ID (P2538)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	9697 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 13067 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier assigned to an artist by the Nationalmuseum in Sweden

NNDB people ID (P1263)

NNDB people ID (P1263)
Scope
In Wikidata	36403 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 36921 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person in the Notable Names Database

ORCID (P496)

ORCID iD (P496)
Scope	Primarily academic researchers, but also other "content contributors"
In Wikidata	1748217 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 2344251 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Contact Andy Mabbett, Wikimedian in Residence at ORCID, for queries

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (P1415)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ID (P1415)
Scope	UK, broadly defined, from all periods but no living figures
In Wikidata	60686 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 72173 (usually updated daily)
Status	Almost entirely complete as of September 2016.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
The ODNB was the first of the major digital projects to be linked through Wikidata, and remains one of the core elements of the 'spine'. The figure of ">95%" reflects that we completed matching against an index, which later turned out to have some gaps. The missing identifiers are currently being worked through. The identifier is, technically, the OBIN ("Oxford Biography Identifier Number"), which is currently only assigned for people appearing in the ODNB but may be applied to other Oxford works in future. As such, the links resolve to an OBIN landing page, which may also link to other reference works as well as the ODNB. A substantial number of ODNB entries are "additional" entries, included as part of a main "parent" entry. The additional entries are usually less prominent, and might not justify an entry in their own right - it is often used for spouses, children, parents, etc. In one or two cases it is an unrelated person with a similar name who may often be confused with the subject. These entries appear on the same page but have distinct identifiers. Caution should be taken with these to ensure the correct identifier is used. It is also worth noting that not all ODNB entries are for people. There are a few hundred identifiers which represent groups of people, often historic families but sometimes broader thematic groups. (Each individual member of these is indexed as with the additional entries.) In addition, there are a small number of mythical or quasi-mythical individuals, personifications, and in one or two cases a minimal entry for a person indexed in the old Dictionary of National Biography who has now been found to never have existed.

Open Library author identifer (P648)

Open Library ID (P648)
Scope	Authors listed in Open Library
In Wikidata	185986 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 391011 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Note that the same identifier is used for people, editions, and works

Open Plaques identifer (P1430)

Open Plaques subject ID (P1430)
Scope	People/groups represented on historic plaques
In Wikidata	5333 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 6739 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Note that the same identifier is used for people and organisations.

PACE member ID (P1331)

MEP directory ID (P1186)
Scope	European politicians
In Wikidata	4159 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 7411 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Directory of members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Parlement & Politiek ID (P1749)

Parlement.com ID (P1749)
Scope	Dutch politics
In Wikidata	6200 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 7836 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
People in Dutch politics. (Note that identifier is also used for non-people topics)

Perlentaucher ID (P866)

Perlentaucher ID (P866)
Scope	Authors
In Wikidata	11354 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 12085 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authors in Perlentaucher, a German magazine

Photographers' Identities Catalog ID (P2750)

Photographers’ Identities Catalog ID (P2750)
Scope	Photographers (both artistic and commercial)
In Wikidata	21713 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 30945 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier assigned to an artist by the Photographers' Identities Catalog

Project Gutenberg author ID (P1938)

Project Gutenberg author ID (P1938)
Scope	Authors
In Wikidata	14984 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 21639 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Riksdagen person-id (P1214)

Riksdagen person-ID (P1214)
Scope	Swedish politicians
In Wikidata	1878 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 5899 (usually updated daily)
Status	91.9% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Directory of members of the Riksdag of Sweden since 1991

RKDArtists (P650)

RKDartists ID (P650)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	101988 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 179130 (usually updated daily)
Status	Incomplete.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person in the database of the Dutch Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie

Six Degrees of Francis Bacon (P2401)

Six Degrees of Francis Bacon ID (P2401)
Scope
In Wikidata	13418 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 18092 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
A 'social network of early modern England', predominantly drawn from entries in the Oxford DNB then manually extended and curated. Very valuable for the way in which it maps relationships between individuals, not always well-structured in other digital resources.

Sycomore ID (P1045)

Sycomore ID (P1045)
Scope	French politicians
In Wikidata	17463 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 30374 (usually updated daily)
Status	91.4% complete as of 2022-01-13
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Database of members of the French National Assembly

Tate Museum Artist ID (P2741)

Tate artist ID (P2741)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	4157 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 4354 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier assigned to an artist by the Tate Museum

Union List of Artist Names (P245)

Union List of Artist Names ID (P245)
Scope	Artists
In Wikidata	95403 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 193072 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person in the Getty Union List of Artist Names

US Congress Bio ID (P1157)

US Congress Bio ID (P1157)
Scope	American politicians
In Wikidata	12879 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 18734 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person on the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Venn Cambridge Alumni Database (P1599)

Cambridge Alumni Database ID (P1599)
Scope	Alumni of the University of Cambridge up to the end of the nineteenth century
In Wikidata	10768 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 15045 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats

Web Gallery of Art ID (P1882)

Web Gallery of Art ID (P1882)
Scope	Art history
In Wikidata	3905 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 4981 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier assigned to an artist by the Web Gallery of Art

WikiTree ID (P2949)

WikiTree person ID (P2949)
Scope	Genealogy
In Wikidata	237367 people as of 2022-01-13 Total including non-people items: 413191 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Identifier for a person in the WikiTree genealogy website

Library authority identifiers

BAV ID (P1017)

Vatican Library ID (former scheme) (P1017)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	52015 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 66347 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Vatican Library

BIBSYS (P1015)

NORAF ID (P1015)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	119271 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 217358 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Norwegian BIBSYS database

BNE ID (P950)

National Library of Spain ID (P950)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	152687 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 304314 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Biblioteca Nacional de España

BNF ID (P268)

Bibliothèque nationale de France ID (P268)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	420124 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 1077694 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

CANTIC-ID authority ID (P1273)

CANTIC ID (former scheme) (P1273)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	43429 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 54104 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library of Catalonia (BNC)

CiNii author ID (P271)

NACSIS-CAT author ID (P271)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	27881 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 185751 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by CiNii (Japan)

CONOR ID (P1280)

CONOR.SI ID (P1280)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	73450 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 282247 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Slovenian COBISS (Cooperative Online Bibliographic System & Services)

EGAXA ID (P1309)

EGAXA ID (P1309)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	4122 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 7713 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

FAST-ID (P2163)

FAST ID (P2163)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	342310 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 543191 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by WorldCat's 'FAST Linked Data' authority file

GND (P227)

GND ID (P227)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	691539 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 2780367 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the German National Library

LAC ID (P1670)

Canadiana Authorities ID (former scheme) (P1670)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	5064 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 6596 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by Library and Archives Canada

Library of Congress authority ID (P244)

Library of Congress authority ID (P244)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	896420 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 1651600 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Library of Congress

LNB ID (P1368)

National Library of Latvia ID (P1368)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	26117 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 71537 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library of Latvia

National Diet Library ID (P349)

NDL Authority ID (P349)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	87417 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 162546 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Diet Library of Japan

National Library of Australia authority ID (P409)

Libraries Australia ID (P409)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	40679 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 92880 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Older National Library of Australia authority control identifier (see also P1315)

National Library of Greece ID (P1280)

National Library of Greece ID (P3348)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	73450 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 50343 (usually updated daily)
Status
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library of Greece

National Library of Israel ID (P949)

National Library of Israel ID (old) (P949)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	66083 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 80007 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library of Israel

National Thesaurus for Author Names (Netherlands) (P1006)

Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID (P1006)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	509710 people as of 2021-01-13 Total including non-people items: 558636 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek

NKCR AUT ID (P691)

NL CR AUT ID (P691)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	239308 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 1945186 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library of the Czech Republic

NLP ID (P1695)

NLP ID (old) (P1695)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	31487 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 62298 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library of Poland

NSK ID (P1375)

NSK ID (P1375)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	6835 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 35941 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National and University Library in Zagreb

NSZL ID (P951)

NSZL (VIAF) ID (P951)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	6070 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 13886 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Széchényi Library (Hungary)

NUKAT (P1207)

NUKAT ID (P1207)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	154433 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 697581 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Center of Warsaw University Library

People Australia ID (P1315)

NLA Trove people ID (P1315)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	81341 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 138235 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
New National Library of Australia authority control identifier (see also P409). Used by Trove.

PIM (P3973)

PIM authority ID (P3973)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	17268 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 54603 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Petőfi Literary Museum (Petőfi Irodalmi Múzaum) authority control identifier.

PTBNP ID (P1005)

Portuguese National Library author ID (P1005)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	28451 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 68605 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the Portuguese National Library

SBN authority ID (P396)

SBN author ID (P396)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	32826 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 158303 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library Service (SBN) of Italy

SELIBR authority ID (P906)

SELIBR ID (P906)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	67527 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 91823 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the National Library of Sweden

SUDOC identifier (P269)

IdRef ID (P269)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	418765 people as of 2020-04-23 Total including non-people items: 1063792 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
Authority control identifier used by the French SUDOC collaborative catalogue

VIAF (P214)

VIAF ID (P214)
Scope	Library authority records
In Wikidata	854251 people as of 2016-11-15 Total including non-people items: 7985094 (usually updated daily)
Status	Unlikely to ever be completed.
Tools	BEACON • Constraint violations • Discussion page
Queries	List all people • Commonly shared identifiers • Countries represented • Gender stats
This is a union identifier for a wide range of authority records, many of which are listed seperately here. Note that the same identifier is used for people as well as for organisations and places.

Participants

[+] Add yourself to the list

The participants listed below can be notified using the following template in discussions:
{{Ping project|Biographical Identifiers}}

• Andrew Gray
• Andy Mabbett
• Bamyers99
• Ijon
• Vladimir Alexiev
• Epìdosis
• emu
• Alexmar983
• Simon Cobb
• Pmt
• Mathieu Kappler
• MasterRus21thCentury
• Jheald
• JordanTimothyJames
• Maxime
• Jonathan Groß