List of fictitious people

This article lists the fictitious people, i.e., nonexistent people, which, unlike fictional people, are those somebody has claimed to actually exist. Usually this is done as a practical joke or hoax, but sometimes fictitious people are 'created' as part of a fraud. Sometimes the line between the two categories is blurred, e.g., as in the case of Abdul Alhazred. A pseudonym may also be considered by some to be a "fictitious person", although this is not the correct definition.

Hoaxes

• Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari, nonexistent Syrian civil rights activist and the supposed author of the blog A Gay Girl In Damascus, created by an American man living in Edinburgh.
• William Ashbless, a 19th-century fictitious poet and adventurer.
• Bilitis, nonexistent Ancient Greek poet. Supposed author of The Songs of Bilitis, a collection of erotic poetry "discovered" by Pierre Louÿs.
• George P. Burdell, eternal Georgia Tech student
• Eddie Burrup, fake Australian aboriginal painter
• Johnny "The Celestial Comet" Chung, supposed Chinese-American football player for the nonexistent Plainfield Teacher's College
• Allegra Coleman, nonexistent supermodel
• Tom Collins, fictitious gossip and namesake of the gin-and-lemon-based cocktail.
• Helen Demidenko, nonexistent Ukrainian author, created by Australian writer Helen Darville
• Aimi Eguchi, fictional Japanese idol. Member of idol group AKB48 created as a composite of the other members.
• Frederick R. Ewing, nonexistent author of I, Libertine
• Anthony Godby Johnson, (probably) fictitious author of Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story
• Kilroy, a nonexistent legendary World War II US Army major who inspired millions during the war and became part of American popular culture.
• Ern Malley, nonexistent Australian poet, created by Australian poets James McAuley and Harold Stewart
• Karyl Robin-Evans, nonexistent scientist whose expedition is chronicled in the book Sungods in Exile.
• H. Rochester Sneath, nonexistent English public school headmaster and prolific letter writer, created by Humphry Berkeley.
• Georg Paul Thomann, nonexistent Austrian conceptual artist, created by art group monochrom to represent Austria at the 2002 Sao Paulo Art Biennial. Georg Paul Thomann is featured in RE/Search's "Pranks 2" book.
• Piotr Zak, nonexistent Polish composer, created for a BBC programme by Susan Bradshaw and Hans Keller.
• Hugo N. Frye, a fictional figure, purportedly the founder of the Republican Party in New York State, made up by Cornell University students in 1930 as a prank designed to embarrass several state politicians.

Pseudonyms

This list includes pseudonyms supplied with a biography suggesting the existence of a person distinct from the actual person with the pseudonym in question, often with the purpose of a hoax.

See also Category:Collective pseudonyms (many of them were not claimed as "real" people).

• Penelope Ashe, supposed "demure Long Island housewife" who authored Naked Came The Stranger. Actually a pseudonym of a collective of writers, and portrayed by one of their relatives during interviews.
• Richard Bachman, a pseudonym of Stephen King, given a fake biography and author photo.
• Roderick Jaynes, editor of all the films of Joel and Ethan Coen. Actually a pseudonym for the Coens themselves. "Jaynes", supposedly a cantankerous Englishman in his 80s, has also penned a dismissive introduction to a book of the Coens' scripts, and an article in the Guardian discussing his work on The Man Who Wasn't There.
• Kozma Prutkov, nonexistent Russian writer
• Lemony Snicket, pseudonym of Daniel Handler and character in Handler/"Snicket"'s Series of Unfortunate Events
• Wrench Tuttle, an Atlanta-based "poet, traveler, activist and philosopher". Canadian musician/composer Bob Wiseman "collaborated" with lyricist Tuttle by mail, for the 1989 album In Her Dream: Bob Wiseman Sings Wrench Tuttle. Tuttle was, in reality, Wiseman.
• Gerald Wiley, authorial pseudonym used by sketch comedy performer Ronnie Barker on shows in which he was a performer. Initially, even other writers on the show were unaware that sketches submitted by "Wiley" were in fact written by Barker; Barker wanted his sketches to be judged on merit, not on the fact he was a cast member or star.

Arts & entertainment

• Alan Smithee, name used by film directors who wish to disown a project
• Andreas Karavis, nonexistent Greek poet
• B. Traven, adventure novelist
• Borat Sagdiyev, a fictitious Kazakhstani journalist created by Sacha Baron Cohen, see also Ali G and Brüno Gehard
• Conchita (previously Conchita Wurst), stage persona of Austrian recording artist Thomas Neuwirth
• C.W. Blubberhouse, whose letters in UK national newspapers were exposed as a hoax by the Sunday Times
• Dame Edna Everage, a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries
• David J. Broadfoot, the Member of Parliament from Kicking Horse Pass, representing the New Apathetic Party, a character played by Canadian comedian Dave Broadfoot.
• David Manning, a nonexistent film critic created by Sony Corporation.
• Donald Kaufman, fictional brother of Adaptation writer Charlie Kaufman, gained "writing credits" and was nominated for an Oscar
• George Spelvin, traditional pseudonyms used in programs in American theater
• Gerald Bostock, writer of the lyrics for the Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick.
• Hajime Yadate, credited as the creator of most of the anime works of Japanese animation studio Sunrise.
• JT LeRoy, fictional American author and literary celebrity.
• Kilgore Trout, Fake author of "Venus on the Half-Shell". Created by Kurt Vonnegut. Book written by Philip Jose Farmer
• Lily Savage, a character played by British comedian Paul O'Grady
• Margaret B. Jones, fictitious half-white, half-Native American foster child and Bloods gang member in South Central Los Angeles
• Mrs. Trellis of North Wales, a regular correspondent to BBC radio comedy I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue
• Nat Tate, fake 1950s American artist
• Ossian, Irish bard created by James Macpherson in the 18th century
• P. D. Q. Bach, a fictional composer invented by musical satirist "Professor" Peter Schickele.
• Ponsonby Britt, executive producer of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. In the credits of George of the Jungle, a later offering from the same production company, Britt had been promoted to "Ponsonby Britt OBE" (recipient of the Order of the British Empire).
• Rrose Sélavy, a fictional artist created by Marcel Duchamp
• S. Morgenstern, fictional author from the equally fictional country of Florin
• Sven, an occasional stand-in for Samantha on BBC radio comedy I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
• Tony Clifton, imaginary lounge singer created (and usually played) by comedian Andy Kaufman
• Van den Budenmayer, nonexistent Dutch composer believed to be real by some filmgoers even after they were told the truth.
• Walter Plinge, name used by British stage actors who wish to stay anonymous
• Wanda Koolmatrie, nonexistent Australian aboriginal author

Academia

• Arthur Besse, pseudonym used since 1978 by French differential geometers
• Blanche Descartes, fictitious mathematician with over 30 published papers
• Claude Émile Jean-Baptiste Litre, volumetric namesake.
• Dr. Irving Joshua Matrix, numerologist, invented by Martin Gardner
• G. W. Peck, pseudonym used by several mathematicians since 1979
• Honorable J. Fortescue, fake US physician
• Jára Cimrman, fictional Czech genius and polymath
• John Rainwater, enrolled by mathematics graduate students at the University of Washington in 1952 as a prank; has since been used as a pseudonym by several other mathematicians for published work
• Josiah Carberry, professor of psychoceramics at Brown University
• Nicolas Bourbaki, a 20th-century French mathematician with credited publications
• Peter Orno, associated with Ohio State University and credited with several papers in mathematics during the 20th century

Politics

• Andre Kasongo Ilunga, a member of the UNAFEC party and Minister of National Economy and Trade of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007.
• Jakob Maria Mierscheid, a member of the German Bundestag. Despite not existing, Mierscheid has an official Parliamentary biography (complete with portrait) and has given his name to a bridge spanning the River Spree and to the Mierscheid Law, which has been used to predict voting patterns in the former West Germany.

Covert Operations

• Major William Martin, R.M., a dead courier found floating off the coast of Spain possessing documents outlining future Allied strategy. The documents were misinformation planted by the Security Service on the body of Glyndwr Michael, an alcoholic tramp who had died after ingesting rat poison and who was dressed in the appropriate uniform.^[1]

Sports

• Masal Bugduv, nonexistent 16-year-old Moldovan football player linked with a move to numerous top clubs in Europe.
• Lennay Kekua, nonexistent deceased girlfriend of former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o.
• Sidd Finch, nonexistent baseball prodigy created by George Plimpton for an April Fool's Day prank.
• Taro Tsujimoto, nonexistent Japanese hockey player selected by Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach in the 1974 NHL Draft.

Unclassified

Please help in putting them into appropriate sections.

• Araki Yasusada, fake Hiroshima survivor and author
• Andrew MacDonald, a pseudonym for William Luther Pierce, white supremacist and author of The Turner Diaries
• Betty Crocker, fake spokesperson for The Washburn Crosby Company of Minneapolis and its successor company, General Mills
• Carl Brandon, a fictional fan of color, for whom the Carl Brandon Society was named
• Clay Bertrand, an alleged alias associated with two people connected to various investigations regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
• Edna Welthorpe, nonexistent morality campaigner
• H. Rochester Sneath, nonexistent headmaster of the nonexistent Selhurst School
• Henry Root, fictitious correspondent, and Henry Raddick (possibly the same person)
• Kaycee Nicole, fictional leukemia sufferer and Internet personality
• Kodee Kennings, nonexistent 8-year-old girl whose letters were published in the Daily Egyptian, a student newspaper for Southern Illinois University Carbondale
• Mavis Beacon, fictitious typing tutor created for the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing application software.
• R. M. Qualtrough, a key figure in the murder trial of William Herbert Wallace
• Silence Dogood, a false persona used by Benjamin Franklin to get his work published.
• Titusz Dugovics, the hero of Belgrade

References