Ignatius Donnelly (November 3, 1831 - January 1, 1901)

Donnelly was an American congressman, populist, and writer, noted primarily for his theories on the history of Atlantis and Shakespearean authorship.

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He moved to Minnesota in 1857. He became active in politics and was Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota from 1860-1863, a Congressman from Minnesota from 1863-1868, and a state Senator from 1874-1878. Donnelly was an early supporter of women's suffrage.

After leaving the Minnesota State Senate in 1878, Donnelly returned to the practice of law and writing. He made several other campaigns for public office during the 1880s. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1884, but in 1887 ran successfully for the Minnesota State Legislature. In 1892 he was nominated for Vice-President of the United States by the People's Party. That year, he also ran unsuccessfully for governor of Minnesota.

His books include:

• Atlantis: The Antediluvian World (1882), in which he attempted to establish that all known ancient civilizations were descended from its high-Neolithic culture.
• Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Gravel (1883), in which he proposed that a comet hit the earth in prehistoric times and destroyed a high civilization.
• The Shakespeare Myth (1887) Essay on the Sonnets of Shakespeare
• The Great Cryptogram: Francis Bacon's Cipher in Shakespeare's Plays (1888), in which he maintained he had discovered codes in the works of Shakespeare which indicated that their true author was Francis Bacon.
• Caeser's Column (1890), a science fiction novel set in 1988 about a worker revolt against a global oligarchy. (Published under the pseudonym of Edmund Boisgilbert.)
• Doctor Huguet: A Novel (1891) (Published under the pseudonym of Edmund Boisgilbert.)
• The Golden Bottle or the Story of Ephraim Benezet of Kansas (1892)
• The American People's Money (1895)
• The Cipher in the Plays, and on the Tombstone (1899)

Non Fiction

• The Antediluvian World
• Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel

Fiction

• Caesar's Column