Open Daily 9:30–6:00, Monday Until 8:00

Honorary Members

American Honorary Members

In 1983, the Academy established a category of membership to include Americans of great distinction in the arts whose work falls outside the traditional departments of Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music. American Honorary Members have all the rights and privileges of membership except the right to vote. Membership is currently capped at 20.

Foreign Honorary Members

The Academy created a foreign honorary membership in 1929 to strengthen cultural ties with other countries. It now elects 75 distinguished writers, composers, painters, sculptors, and architects from foreign countries to become Honorary Members. They have all the rights and privileges of membership except the right to vote.


Name
Discipline Year Elected
Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991 Photographer 1983
Ansel Adams, 1902-1984 Photographer 1983
Woody Allen Filmmaker 1987
George Balanchine, 1904-1983 Choreographer 1983
Mikhail Baryshnikov Choreographer 2021
Trisha Brown, 1936-2017 Choreographer 1997
Harry Callahan, 1912-1999 Photographer 1997
Frank Capra, 1897-1991 Filmmaker 1984
Francis Ford Coppola Filmmaker 2023
Merce Cunningham, 1919-2009 Choreographer 1984
Agnes de Mille, 1905-1993 Choreographer 1992
Bob Dylan Musician 2013
Martha Graham, 1894-1991 Choreographer 1983
Bill T. Jones Choreographer 2011
Lincoln Kirstein, 1907-1996 Impresario 1995
Spike Lee Filmmaker 2021
Robert Levin Musician and Scholar 2015
James Levine, 1943-2021 Conductor 2010
Yo-Yo Ma Musician 2008
Rouben Mamoulian, 1897-1987 Filmmaker 1984
Frances McDormand Actor 2023
Joni Mitchell Musician 2022
Irving Penn, 1917-2009 Photographer 2003
Leontyne Price Singer 2012
Max Roach, 1924-2007 Jazz musician 1991
Jerome Robbins, 1918-1998 Choreographer 1985
Martin Scorsese Filmmaker 2000
Nicolas Slonimsky, 1894-1995 Musicologist 1991
Anna Sokolow, 1915-2000 Choreographer 1993
Meryl Streep Actor 2010
Paul B. Taylor, 1930-2018 Choreographer 1989
Twyla Tharp Choreographer 1997
Michael Tilson Thomas Musician 2018
Roman Vishniac, 1897-1990 Photographer 1984
Alice Waters Activist/Food Pioneer 2014
Orson Welles, 1915-1985 Filmmaker 1983
Billy Wilder, 1906-2002 Filmmaker 1984
Robert Wilson Theater artist 2000
Frederick Wiseman Filmmaker 2001
Helen Wolff, 1906-1994 Publisher 1985
Name
Country Department
Year Elected
Alvar Henrik Aalto, 1898-1976 Art 1968
Magdalena Abakanowicz, 1930-2017 Poland Art 1996
Kobo Abe, 1924-1993 Japan Literature 1992
Chinua Achebe, 1930-2013 Nigeria Literature 1982
Thomas Ades England Music 2014
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Nigeria Literature 2017
David Adjaye England Art 2009
Bella Akhmadulina, 1937-2010 Russia Literature 1977
Rafael Alberti, 1902-1999 Spain/Italy Literature 1975
Yehuda Amichai, 1924-2000 Israel Literature 1986
El Anatsui Ghana Art 2018
Tadao Ando Japan Art 2001
Louis Andriessen, 1939-2021 Netherlands Music 2008
Louis Aragon, 1897-1982 Literature 1972
German Arciniegas, 1900-1999 Colombia Literature 1943
Margaret Atwood Canada Literature 2015
Georges Auric, 1899-1983 Music 1979
(Pa Chin) Ba Jin, 1904-2005 China Literature 1985
John Banville Ireland Literature 2014
Julian Barnes England Literature 2016
Luis Barragan, 1901-1988 Art 1984
James Barrie, 1860-1937 Literature 1929
Giorgio Bassani, 1916-2000 Italy Literature 1974
Max Beerbohm, 1872-1956 Literature 1943
Bei Dao China Literature 1996
Luciano Berio, 1925-2003 Italy Music 1985
Lennox Berkeley, 1903-1989 England Music 1980
Isaiah Berlin, 1909-1997 England Literature 1966
John Betjeman, 1906-1984 Literature 1973
Harrison Birtwistle, 1934-2022 England Music 2007
Reginald Blomfield, 1856-1942 Art 1929
Heinrich Boll, 1917-1985 Literature 1974
Yves Bonnefoy, 1923-2016 France Literature 2001
Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986 Literature 1971
Pierre Boulez, 1925-2016 France Music 1966
Elizabeth Bowen, 1899-1973 Literature 1961
Maurice Bowra, 1898-1970 Literature 1960
Georges Braque, 1882-1963 Art 1951
Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976 Music 1957
Leo Brouwer Cuba Music 2019
Roberto Burle Marx, 1909-1994 Brazil Art 1979
Alberto Burri, 1915-1995 Italy Art 1994
Ian Buruma Netherlands Literature 2018
Roberto Calasso, -2021 Italy Literature 2015
Italo Calvino, 1923-1985 Literature 1975
Elias Canetti, 1905-1994 Germany/Italy Literature 1984
Anthony Caro, 1924-2013 England Art 1979
Anne Carson Canada Literature 2011
Marc Chagall, 1887-1985 Art 1958
Charles Chaplin, 1889-1977 Literature 1976
Carlos Chavez, 1899-1978 Music 1960
Andre Chevrillon, 1864-1957 Art 1933
Eduardo Chillida, 1924-2002 Spain Art 1994
Unsuk Chin South Korea Music 2021
Caryl Churchill England Literature 2009
Kenneth Clark, 1903-1983 Literature 1972
Francesco Clemente Italy Art 2002
Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963 Art 1957
J. M. Coetzee South Africa Literature 2006
Sidonie Gabriel Colette, 1873-1954 Literature 1953
Cyril Connolly, 1903-1974 Literature 1974
Charles Correa, 1930-2015 India Art 1998
Benedetto Croce, 1866-1952 Literature 1934
Rachel Cusk England Literature 2019
Luigi Dallapiccola, 1904-1975 Music 1964
Robertson Davies, 1913-1995 Canada Literature 1980
Cecil Day-Lewis, 1904-1972 Literature 1966
Carlos Drummond De Andrade, 1902-1987 Literature 1975
Walter De La Mare, 1873-1956 Literature 1955
Anita Desai India Literature 1992
Isak Dinesen, 1885-1962 Literature 1957
Ding Ling, 1904-1986 China Literature 1986
Balkrishna Doshi, -2023 India Architecture 2021
Margaret Drabble England Literature 2002
Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac, 1884-1974 Art 1955
Henri Dutilleux, 1916-2013 France Music 1981
Umberto Eco, 1932-2016 Italy Literature 1999
Edward Elgar, 1857-1934 Music 1929
T.S. Eliot, 1888-1965 Literature 1943
William Empson, 1906-1984 Literature 1974
Jacob Epstein, 1880-1959 Art 1955
Max Ernst, 1891-1976 Art 1974
Concha Espina, 1879-1955 Literature 1938
Herbert A.L. Fisher, 1865-1940 Literature 1937
E.M. Forster, 1879-1970 Literature 1949
Norman Foster England Art 2005
Janet Frame, 1924-2004 New Zealand Literature 1986
Lucian Freud, 1922-2011 Germany/England Art 1988
Brian Friel, 1929-2015 Ireland Literature 1996
Max Frisch, 1911-1991 Literature 1974
Northrop Frye, 1912-1991 Canada Literature 1981
Carlos Fuentes, 1919-2012 Mexico Literature 1985
Athol Fugard South Africa Literature 1988
Damon Galgut South Africa Literature 2013
Mavis Gallant, 1922-2014 Canada/France Literature 1989
Romulo Gallegos, 1884-1969 Literature 1943
John Galsworthy, 1867-1933 Literature 1929
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1928-2014 Colombia Literature 1974
Alberto Giacometti, 1901-1966 Italy/France Art 1963
Andre Gide, 1869-1951 Literature 1950
Alberto Ginastera, 1916-1983 Music 1968
Alexander Goehr England Music 1989
Ernst H. Gombrich, 1909-2001 Austria Literature 1985
Nadine Gordimer, 1923-2014 South Africa Literature 1978
Sofia Gubaidulina Russia Music 2005
Thom Gunn, 1929-2004 England Literature 2001
Andreas Gursky Germany Art 2007
Renato Guttuso, 1912-1987 Italy Art 1987
Zaha Hadid, 1950-2016 Iraq Art 2000
Gerhard Hauptmann, 1862-1946 Literature 1932
Vaclav Havel, 1936-2011 Czechoslovakia Literature 1991
Seamus Heaney, 1939-2013 Ireland Literature 1993
Jean Helion, 1904-1987 France Art 1978
Hans Werner Henze, 1926-2012 Germany/Italy Music 1982
Barbara Hepworth, 1903-1975 Art 1973
Zbigniew Herbert, 1924-1998 Poland Literature 1990
David Hockney England Art 1981
Arthur Honegger, 1902-1955 Music 1955
A.D. Hope, 1907-2000 Australia Literature 1989
Hu Shih, 1891-1962 Literature 1943
Richard Hughes, 1900-1976 Literature 1963
Aldous Leonard Huxley, 1894-1963 Literature 1960
Kazuo Ishiguro England Literature 2022
Arata Isozaki, 1933-2022 Japan Art 1998
Toyo Ito Japan Art 2014
Storm Jameson, 1894-1986 Literature 1978
Elfriede Jelinek Austria Literature 2011
Augustus E. John, 1898-1961 Art 1943
Marcel Jouhandeau, 1888-1979 Literature 1975
Anish Kapoor England Art 2012
Yasunari Kawabata, 1899-1972 Literature 1969
William Kentridge South Africa Art 2011
Frank Kermode, 1919-2010 England Literature 1999
Anselm Kiefer Germany Art 1990
Oliver Knussen, 1952-2018 England Music 1994
Zoltan Kodaly, 1882-1967 Music 1963
Arthur Koestler, 1905-1983 Literature 1976
Oskar Kokoschka, 1886-1980 Art 1963
Jo Kondo Japan Music 2012
Rem Koolhaas The Netherlands Art 2000
Leon Kossoff, 1926-2019 England Art 2014
Milan Kundera, 1929-2023 France/Czechia Literature 1986
Yasuo Kuniyoshi, 1893-1953 Art 1949
Andrey Kurkov Ukraine Literature 2023
Gyorgy Kurtag Hungary Music 2001
Yayoi Kusama Japan Art 2012
Charles Edouard Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 Art 1953
Alexis Leger, 1887-1975 Literature 1960
Doris Lessing, 1919-2013 England Literature 1974
Claude Levi-Strauss, 1908-2009 France Literature 1977
Gyorgy Ligeti, 1923-2006 Austria/Hungary Music 1984
Magnus Lindberg Finland Music 2014
Antonio Lopez-Garcia Spain Art 2004
Witold Lutoslawski, 1913-1994 Poland Music 1975
Elisabeth Lutyens, 1906-1983 Music 1979
Hugh P. Macmillan, 1873-1952 Literature 1938
Naguib Mahfouz, 1911-2006 Egypt Literature 1992
Fumihiko Maki Japan Art 2010
G. Francesco Malipiero, 1882-1973 Music 1949
Andre Malraux, 1901-1976 Literature 1955
Giacomo Manzu, 1908-1991 Italy Art 1964
Gerhard Marcks, 1889-1981 Art 1980
Marino Marini, 1901-1980 Art 1968
Jacques Maritain, 1882-1973 Literature 1955
John Masefield, 1878-1967 Literature 1930
Andre Masson, 1896-1987 France Art 1977
Henri Matisse, 1869-1954 Art 1950
Roberto Echaurr Matta, 1912-2002 Chile Art 1981
Camille Mauclair, 1872-1950 Literature 1934
W. Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965 Literature 1950
Francois Mauriac, 1885-1970 Literature 1958
Peter Maxwell Davies, -2016 England Music 2015
Ian McEwan England Literature 2006
Gian Carlo Menotti, 1911-2007 Italy/England Music 1953
Olivier Messiaen, 1908-1992 Music 1964
Darius Milhaud, 1892-1974 Music 1943
Joan Miro, 1893-1983 Art 1960
Gabriela Mistral, 1889-1957 Literature 1943
Rafael Moneo Spain Architecture 2013
Eugenio Montale, 1896-1981 Literature 1977
Henry Moore, 1898-1986 Art 1961
Alberto Moravia, 1907-1990 Italy Literature 1964
Alice Munro Canada Literature 1992
Haruki Murakami Japan Literature 2014
Glenn Murcutt Australia Art 2008
Iris Murdoch, 1919-1999 Ireland/England Literature 1975
Zoran Music, 1909-2005 Italy Art 2002
V. S. Naipaul, 1932-2018 India/England Literature 1981
Conlon Nancarrow, 1912-1997 Mexico Music 1992
R.K. Narayan, 1906-2001 India Literature 1981
Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889-1964 Literature 1950
Pablo Neruda, 1904-1973 Literature 1968
Pier Luigi Nervi, 1891-1979 Art 1957
Harold Nicolson, 1886-1968 Literature 1958
Oscar Niemeyer, 1913-2012 Brazil Art 1964
Sidney Nolan, 1917-1992 Australia Art 1985
Edna O'Brien Ireland/England Literature 1987
Sheila O'Donnell Ireland Architecture 2019
Kenzaburo Oe, 1935-2023 Japan Literature 1997
Michael Ondaatje Canada Literature 2000
Jose Clemente Orozco, 1883-1943 Art 1943
William Orpen, 1878-1931 Art 1929
Ignace Jan Paderewski, 1860-1941 Poland Music 1931
Orhan Pamuk Turkey Literature 2005
Nicanor Parra, 1914-2018 Chile Literature 2003
Arvo Part Estonia Music 1996
Boris Pasternak, 1890-1960 Literature 1960
Octavio Paz, 1914-1998 Mexico Literature 1972
Krzysztof Penderecki, 1933-2020 Poland Music 1998
Goffredo Petrassi, 1905-2003 Italy Music 1977
Harold Pinter, 1930-2008 England Literature 1984
Sigmar Polke, 1941-2010 Germany Art 2009
Francis Ponge, 1899-1988 Literature 1980
Francis Poulenc, 1899-1963 Music 1958
Anthony Powell, 1905-2000 England Literature 1977
Victor Pritchett, 1900-1997 England Literature 1971
Herbert Read, 1893-1968 Literature 1966
Jean Rhys, 1894-1979 Literature 1979
Ivor Armstrong Richards, 1893-1979 Literature 1963
Gerhard Richter Germany Art 1998
Bridget Riley England Art 2022
Diego Rivera, 1886-1957 Art 1943
Jules Romains, 1885-1972 Literature 1943
Aldo Rossi, 1931-1997 Italy Art 1996
Salman Rushdie England Literature 2008
Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970 Literature 1951
Kaija Saariaho, -2023 Finland Music 2017
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900-1944 Literature 1943
Andrei Sakharov, 1921-1989 Soviet Union Literature 1988
Doris Salcedo Colombia Art 2018
Sebastião Salgado Brazil Art 2019
George Santayana, 1863-1952 Literature 1943
Henri Sauguet, 1901-1989 Music 1951
R. Murray Schafer, -2021 Canada Music 2015
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, 1884-1976 Art 1974
Alfred Schnittke, 1934-1998 Russia/Germany Music 1995
Albert Schweitzer, 1875-1965 Literature 1955
Peter Sculthorpe, 1929-2014 Australia Music 2002
George Seferis, 1900-1971 Literature 1971
Kazuyo Sejima Japan Art 2015
Leopold Sedar Senghor, 1907-2001 Senegal/France Literature 1973
Ravi Shankar, 1920-2012 India Music 1974
George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950 Literature 1943
Dmitri Shostakovich, 1907-1975 Music 1960
Jean Julius C. Sibelius, 1865-1957 Music 1937
Ignazio Silone, 1900-1978 Literature 1950
Georges Simenon, 1903-1989 Literature 1971
Osbert Sitwell, 1892-1951 Literature 1951
Edith Sitwell, 1887-1964 Literature 1949
Alvaro Siza Portugal Art 2010
Zadie Smith England Literature 2017
Jan Christian Smuts, 1870-1950 Literature 1943
Lord C.P. Snow, 1905-1980 Literature 1961
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, 1918-2008 Russia Literature 1969
Pierre Soulages, 1919-2022 France Art 1979
Wole Soyinka Nigeria Literature 1986
Muriel Spark, 1918-2006 England/Italy Literature 1978
Stephen Spender, 1909-1995 England Literature 1969
Christina Stead, 1902-1983 Literature 1982
James Stirling, 1926-1992 England Art 1990
Karlheinz Stockhausen, 1928-2007 Germany Music 1979
Tom Stoppard England Literature 2000
Thomas Struth Germany Art 2016
Graham Sutherland, 1903-1980 Art 1972
Wislawa Szymborska, 1923-2012 Poland Literature 1999
Toru Takemitsu, 1930-1996 Japan Music 1984
Josef Tal, 1910-2008 Poland/Israel Music 1981
Rufino Tamayo, 1899-1991 Art 1961
Kenzo Tange, 1913-2005 Japan Art 1966
Junichiro Tanizaki, 1886-1965 Literature 1964
Michael Tippett, 1905-1997 England Music 1973
Colm Toibin Ireland Literature 2014
H.M. Tomlinson, 1873-1958 Literature 1943
Arnold J. Toynbee, 1889-1975 Literature 1950
George Macaulay Trevelyan, 1876-1962 Literature 1937
William Trevor, 1928-2016 England Literature 2005
Luc Tuymans Belgium Art 2013
Sigrid Undset, 1882-1949 Literature 1943
Mario Vargas Llosa Peru Literature 1986
Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958 Music 1949
Cecilia Vicuña Chile Art 2023
Heitor Villa-Lobos, 1884-1959 Music 1943
Jacques Villon, 1875-1963 Art 1961
Andrei A. Voznesensky, 1933-2010 Russia Literature 1972
Ngugi wa Thiong'o Kenya Literature 2003
Derek Walcott, 1930-2017 Trinidad Literature 1979
William Walton, 1902-1983 Music 1978
Sylvia Townsend Warner, 1893-1978 Literature 1972
William Watson, 1858-1935 Literature 1930
Veronica Wedgewood, 1910-1997 England Literature 1966
H.G. Wells, 1866-1946 Literature 1943
Franz Werfel, 1890-1945 Literature 1943
Rebecca West, 1892-1983 Literature 1972
Angus Wilson, 1913-1991 England Literature 1980
Christa Wolf, 1929-2011 Germany Literature 1990
Iannis Xenakis, 1922-2001 Greece/France Music 1975
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, 1933-2017 Russia Literature 1987
Adam Zagajewski, -2021 Poland Literature 2019
Zhang Jie, 1937-2022 China Literature 1992
Jose Luis Zorrilla de San Martin, 1891-1975 Literature 1943

© 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters