# The world's most translated authors according to UNESCO (Index Translationum)

Agatha Christie, Jules Verne and Shakespeare on the podium, and Lenin, Enid Blyton and Barbara Cartland ahead of Dickens and Tolstoy: the 49 authors with the most translations recorded in UNESCO's Index Translationum database.

- 66 votes · 49 items
- Mar 22, 2023 · savepoint_midnight
- https://even.best/en/l/5091/the-world-s-most-translated-authors-according-to-unesco-index-translationum

## Top 49

1. **Robert Ludlum** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — American thriller novelist; 1,530 translations recorded.
2. **Agatha Christie** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — British mystery novelist; 7,233 translations recorded.
3. **Jules Verne** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — French adventure and science fiction novelist; 4,751 translations recorded.
4. **Georges Simenon** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Belgian novelist, creator of Maigret; 2,315 translations recorded.
5. **René Goscinny** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — French comics writer (Asterix); 2,234 translations recorded.
6. **Charles Dickens** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — British novelist; 2,108 translations recorded.
7. **Barbara Cartland** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — British romance novelist; 3,648 translations recorded.
8. **Hans Christian Andersen** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Danish fairy-tale author; 3,520 translations recorded.
9. **Wilhelm Grimm** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — German philologist and folk-tale collector; 2,951 translations recorded.
10. **Nora Roberts** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — American romance novelist; 2,597 translations recorded.
11. **Alexandre Dumas** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — French novelist; 2,540 translations recorded.
12. **Arthur Conan Doyle** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — British writer, creator of Sherlock Holmes; 2,495 translations recorded.
13. **Karl Marx** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — German philosopher and economist; 1,643 translations recorded.
14. **Ernest Hemingway** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — American novelist; 1,569 translations recorded.
15. **Hermann Hesse** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — German novelist; 1,522 translations recorded.
16. **Roald Dahl** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — British children's author; 1,398 translations recorded.
17. **William Shakespeare** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — English playwright and poet; 4,281 translations recorded.
18. **Enid Blyton** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — British children's author; 3,921 translations recorded.
19. **Danielle Steel** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — American romance novelist; 3,628 translations recorded.
20. **Astrid Lindgren** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Swedish children's author; 2,270 translations recorded.
21. **Oscar Wilde** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Irish writer; 1,787 translations recorded.
22. **Honoré de Balzac** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — French novelist; 1,590 translations recorded.
23. **Franz Kafka** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Czech German-language writer; 1,494 translations recorded.
24. **Osho (Rajneesh)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Indian spiritual leader; 1,488 translations recorded.
25. **Edgar Allan Poe** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — American writer; 1,435 translations recorded.
26. **Vladimir Lenin** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Russian revolutionary and theorist; 3,592 translations recorded.
27. **Jacob Grimm** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — German philologist and folk-tale collector; 2,977 translations recorded.
28. **Jack London** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — American adventure writer; 2,181 translations recorded.
29. **Robert Louis Stevenson** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Scottish writer; 2,039 translations recorded.
30. **Charles Perrault** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — French fairy-tale writer; 1,401 translations recorded.
31. **Gabriel García Márquez** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Colombian novelist; 1,395 translations recorded.
32. **Stephen King** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — American horror novelist; 3,354 translations recorded.
33. **John Paul II** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Polish pope and writer; 2,257 translations recorded.
34. **R. L. Stine** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — American author of children's horror (Goosebumps); 2,221 translations recorded.
35. **Leo Tolstoy** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Russian novelist; 2,178 translations recorded.
36. **Isaac Asimov** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — American science fiction and popular science writer; 2,158 translations recorded.
37. **Rudolf Steiner** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Austrian philosopher, founder of anthroposophy; 1,868 translations recorded.
38. **Sidney Sheldon** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — American novelist; 1,732 translations recorded.
39. **Victoria Holt** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — British gothic romance novelist; 1,660 translations recorded.
40. **Dean Koontz** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — American suspense novelist; 1,491 translations recorded.
41. **Friedrich Nietzsche** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — German philosopher; 1,490 translations recorded.
42. **Plato** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Greek philosopher; 1,479 translations recorded.
43. **Anton Chekhov** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Russian short-story writer and playwright; 1,477 translations recorded.
44. **Rudyard Kipling** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — British writer; 1,424 translations recorded.
45. **Johann Wolfgang von Goethe** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — German writer; 1,399 translations recorded.
46. **Mark Twain** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — American writer; 2,428 translations recorded.
47. **Fyodor Dostoevsky** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Russian novelist; 2,342 translations recorded.
48. **Mary Higgins Clark** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — American suspense novelist; 1,485 translations recorded.
49. **J. R. R. Tolkien** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — British writer, author of The Lord of the Rings; 1,458 translations recorded.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.