The difference in biography vs autobiography is simple: a biography is the story of a person's life written by someone else, while an autobiography is the story of a life written by the person who lived it.
A memoir sits close to autobiography but covers only part of a life or one theme. Below you will find plain definitions, the meaning of related words such as biographical and biographer, comparison tables, and one invented event written three ways so you can see the difference on the page.
Quick notes
Biography
Life story written by another personAutobiography
Life story written by the subjectMemoir
Part of a life, around a theme or periodPoint of view
Biography: third person. Autobiography and memoir: first personWord roots
Greek bios (life) + graphein (to write); auto means selfBiographer
The person who writes a biographyBiographical information
Facts about a person's life
What is a biography?
Biography definition: a biography is a written account of a real person's life, prepared by someone other than that person. The writer, called a biographer, researches the subject through records, letters, interviews and other books, and then tells the story in third person.
The meaning of biography comes from two Greek words: bios, meaning life, and graphein, meaning to write. So a biography is literally life writing. A biography can be a few sentences on a plaque or a book of eight hundred pages. It can be authorised, meaning the subject or family agreed to it and helped, or unauthorised, meaning the writer worked without their approval.
Because the biographer stands outside the life, a good biography weighs evidence, compares sources and can include views the subject would not have shared. That distance is its main strength. So when someone asks what is the definition for biography, the short answer is the true story of a real life, told by another writer. For samples, see biography examples.
What is an autobiography?
Autobiography definition: an autobiography is the story of a person's life written by that same person. The word adds auto, meaning self, to biography: self life writing. It is told in first person, using I and we.
An autobiography usually tries to cover the whole life so far, from childhood to the time of writing, in roughly chronological order. Its strength is inside knowledge: only the author knows what they felt in a given moment. Its weakness is that memory is selective and the author decides what to leave out.
Some people work with a ghostwriter who helps shape the text. The book is still called an autobiography because it is told in the subject's voice and they approve it.
What is a memoir?
A memoir is also written by the person who lived it, but it focuses on one part of life, one relationship or one theme rather than the whole story. A memoir might cover only the years someone spent caring for a sick parent, or a single journey, or growing up in one neighbourhood.
Memoirs often read more like novels than records. They use scenes, dialogue and reflection, and they care more about emotional truth than complete dates. Autobiographies feel like a full account; memoirs feel like a long, honest conversation about one chapter.
Biography vs autobiography: the key differences
Here is the biography vs autobiography comparison in one place, followed by memoir so the three can be compared row by row.
| Feature | Biography | Autobiography | Memoir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who writes it | Someone else | The subject | The subject |
| Point of view | Third person | First person | First person |
| Scope | Whole life or major part | Whole life up to writing | One period or theme |
| Main sources | Research, interviews, records | Memory, diaries, family | Memory and reflection |
| Tone | Balanced, analytical | Personal, explanatory | Personal, reflective, often literary |
| Can the subject be dead | Yes, often | No, written while alive | No, written while alive |
| Objectivity | Higher, can include critics | Lower, author controls story | Lowest, openly subjective |
| Typical structure | Chronological chapters | Chronological chapters | Scenes around a theme |
A quick test: if the book says he or she about the main person, it is a biography. If it says I and covers the whole life, it is an autobiography. If it says I and stays on one stretch of life, it is a memoir.
One event, written three ways
To feel the difference, read the same invented moment told as biography, autobiography and memoir. The subject is Ramesh, a made-up mill worker who started a night school.
As a biography
In the winter after the mill cut its second shift, Ramesh Gaikwad began teaching six coworkers to read in the back room of a tea shop. Records from the workers' union show that within a year the class had grown to forty. Colleagues later described him as impatient but tireless.
As an autobiography
When the second shift was cut, I had free evenings for the first time in eleven years. I asked six friends from the mill if they wanted to learn to read, and the tea shop owner let us use his back room. That class became the most important work of my life, and in the chapters that follow I will tell how it grew.
As a memoir
The back room smelled of boiled milk and kerosene. Shankar held the slate as if it might bite him. I wrote his name in large letters and watched him trace it, slowly, three times, before he looked up and laughed. I had never seen a grown man so surprised by his own name.
The biography uses outside evidence and a colleague's view. The autobiography explains and looks ahead. The memoir stays inside one scene and one feeling.
Examples of each type, described generally
You will meet all three forms in libraries and syllabuses. Without naming particular books, here are the kinds you are likely to see.
- Biographies: a historian's book on a nineteenth century scientist built from lab notebooks; a journalist's life of a cricket captain based on interviews with teammates; a short biography of a freedom fighter in a school textbook; a family's privately printed life of a grandparent.
- Autobiographies: the life story of a national leader written after retirement; a sportsperson's account of a career from village ground to international stadium; a business founder's story written for employees and readers; an autobiography of a social reformer written partly in prison.
- Memoirs: a soldier's account of a single war posting; a chef's memoir of the first year running a restaurant; a doctor's memoir of night shifts in a rural hospital; a writer's memoir of growing up in a crowded city lane.
Many of the best autobiographies and great autobiographies on reading lists share one trait: the author is honest about failure. Readers trust a life story more when it admits mistakes.
Characteristics of a good biography and autobiography
A good biography
- Uses several independent sources and checks facts.
- Gives context: the time, place and society the person lived in.
- Shows the subject's flaws as well as achievements.
- Has a clear theme rather than a list of events.
- Lists sources so readers can verify.
A good autobiography
- Is honest about doubts, failures and regrets.
- Explains why decisions were made, not just what happened.
- Gives credit to the people who helped.
- Uses vivid personal details only the author could know.
- Admits where memory may be uncertain.
If you are writing one yourself, our biography writing guide covers research, outlines and format. For short work bios, see professional bio.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between biography and autobiography?
A biography is written by someone else about a person's life, in third person. An autobiography is written by the person about their own life, in first person. The author is the key difference.
How does a memoir differ from an autobiography?
Both are written by the subject in first person. An autobiography covers the whole life so far in order, while a memoir focuses on one period, relationship or theme and reads more like a story.
What does biographical mean?
Biographical means related to the facts or story of a person's life. A biographical film is about a real person, and biographical information means details such as birth, education, work and achievements.
Can a biography be written about a living person?
Yes. Many biographies are written about living people, sometimes with their help and sometimes without it. An autobiography, by contrast, can only be written by the living person themselves.
Is a diary an autobiography?
Not exactly. A diary is a private daily record written as events happen, while an autobiography looks back on a life and shapes it into a story. Published diaries are often grouped with autobiographical writing.
What do you call the person who writes a biography?
The writer is called a biographer. The person the biography is about is called the subject.