Person

Daniel Defoe

c. 1660–1731 · 18th century

Daniel Defoe was an English writer, journalist and merchant. A Dissenter and pamphleteer, he was pilloried for satire in 1703 and later worked as a government agent in Scotland during the negotiations for the Union of 1707. His novels Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722), written in a realistic first-person style, made him one of the founders of the English novel.

Daniel Defoe
Image: UnknownUnknown , style of Sir Godfrey Kneller · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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Kingdom of Great BritainImpact

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Daniel Defoe. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/daniel-defoe
MLA
“Daniel Defoe.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/daniel-defoe. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Daniel Defoe.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/daniel-defoe.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Daniel Defoe’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/daniel-defoe (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻