A person who writes or specializes in writing biographies; another word for biographer.
From biography plus -ist suffix, meaning 'one who practices or specializes in.' This term is slightly less common than 'biographer' but emphasizes professional expertise in the biographical form.
Samuel Johnson was an early famous biographist whose 'Lives of the Poets' basically invented the idea that poets' lives were as interesting and important to know as their poetry.
The '-ist' suffix denotes practitioner; 'biographist' acquired masculine professional default through 18th–19th century literary circles where male scholars monopolized canonical biography publication and authority.
Use 'biographist' inclusively; note that historical archives of biographical scholarship under-represent women writers who innovated the form.
Women biographist-historians like Iris Origo and Victoria Glendinning redefined biographical methodology; modern biographists should acknowledge women's foundational theoretical contributions.
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