Cleveland Amory (1917-1998)  Author and animal rights promoter Amory devoted his life to promoting animal rights.  He was best known for his books about his cat Polar Bear, whom he rescued from New York streets on Christmas Eve, 1977.  Amory co-founded the Humane Society of the United States and founded the Fund for Animals. He was also the president of NEAVS (New England Anti Vivisection Society) from 1987 to 1998.
	Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, 1927- ) Reigning head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State His cat Chico, a black-and-white domestic short hair, continues to live at the pope’s home in Tübingen, Germany (pets are not allowed in the Vatican). Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, who was in Rome for the pope’s inauguration, says “The street talk that the pope loves cats is incorrect. The pope adores cats.”
	Amy Carter (1967- ) Daughter of former US President Jimmy Carter Amy has owned several cats, including a Siamese cat with a peculiar name "Misty Malarky Ying Yang" who lived with her in the White House.
	Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) Author (Phillip Marlowe private eye novels) Chandler talked to his black Persian, Taki, as though she was human and called her his secretary because she sat on his manuscripts as he tried to revise them.  He stated, "A cat never behaves as if you were the only bright spot in an otherwise clouded existence...this is another way of saying that a cat is not a sentimentalist, which does not mean that it has no affection."
	Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British politician (notably, UK prime minister during World War II) Churchill's marmalade cat Jock slept with his master, shared his dining table, and attended numerous war-time Cabinet meetings. If Jock was late for meals, Churchill would send servants to find him, waiting to eat til the cat was present. Jock was said to have been with his master when he died. Churchill also had a cat, Nelson, named after the famous British admiral.
	Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (1889–1963)  French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker Cocteau is best known for his 1929 novel Les enfants terribles, the 1929 play Les parents terribles, and the 1946 film, Beauty and the Beast.  His famous quotes include:  “I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul” and "A meow massages the heart."  He dedicated Drôle de Ménage to his cat Karoun, whom he described as "the king of cats."
	Charles Dickens (1812-1870) Author (works include Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickelby, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol) Charles' cat, Willamena, produced a litter of kittens in his study. Dickens was determined not to keep the kittens, but he fell in love with one female kitten who was known as "Master's Cat". She kept him company in his study as he wrote, and when she wanted his attention she was known to snuff out his reading candle.
	Alexander Dumas (1802-1870) Author (works include The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo) Dumas owned a cat called Mysouff. This cat was known for his extrasensory perception of time. Mysouff could predict what time his master would finish work, even when his master was working late.
	T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) Nobel Prize-winning British Poet and Playwright T.S. Eliot was a cat lover and wrote an entire book of poems about cats. His Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats was set to music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and became the long-running musical, Cats.
	Robert Goulet (1933- ) Recording artist, star of stage, screen and TV Goulet has loved cats since childhood.  When he toured the country as King Arthur in Lerner and Loewe's musical Camelot, he took along two of his cats - Vincent and Wart.  Several years ago, the cat-count in Goulet's Las Vegas home was up to seven.
	Rutherford B Hayes (1877-1881) US President The first Siamese cat brought to the United States was a gift to the President.
	Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) Author (works include For Whom the Bell Tolls, Old Man and the Sea) Hemingway shared his Key West home with more than 30 cats. The story goes that Hemingway made the acquaintance of a sea captain who owned an unusual six-toed tomcat. Upon his departure from Key West, the captain presented the cat to Hemingway. Today many of the numerous cats that inhabit the grounds still possess the unusual six toes.  Hemingway once said, "A cat has absolute emotional honesty; human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not."
	Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Author Hugo is considered one of the greatest author in the history of French literature, one notable book being Les Miserables. He wrote fondly in his diary about his cats.
	Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84) Dr. Johnson is perhaps best known for his great English dictionary, published in 1755.  Johnson had a pet cat named Hodge whom he fed oysters and other luxurious treats.
	Edward Lear [1812-1888] Artist, illustrator and writer Edward was devoted to Foss, his tabby cat. When he decided to move to San Remo, Italy, he instructed his architect to design a replica of his old home in England so Foss would not be disturbed and suffer a minimum of distress after the move. Lear’s drawings of his striped tabby cat are well known, especially those which accompany his rhyme, The Owl and the Pussycat. When Foss died, he was buried in Lear's italian garden.
	Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) Career army officer (Confederate army General during the American Civil War) Lee had several cats tha he referred to often in letters to his family: "I am very solitary and my only company is my dog and cats.  Spec [a dog] has become so jealous now that he will hardly let me look at the cats."   He chose cats to share his tent at Camp Cooper partly for mousing, and partly for company.
	Pope Leo XII (1760-1829) Head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State Pope Leo owned a grayish-red cat with black stripes called Micette, who was born in the Vatican and lived with the Pope.  Reportedly,  the pope occasionally gave audiences with the cat hidden on his lap under his robes.  Similarly, an earlier religious figure, St. Gregory the Great (540-604) possessed no worldly goods except a cat, which he held and stroked while meditating.
	Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American President Abraham Lincoln came into presidential office accompanied by Tabby, his son's cat. Tabby was the first of several White House cats.
	Muhammed (570-632) Prophet, Founder of the Muslin faith Muhammed loved cats. The story is told that one day when he was being called to pray he noticed his cat, Muezza, sleeping on the folds of his sleeve. Rather than disturb the sleeping cat, Muhammed cut off the sleeve of his robe.  They say that in the place where the prophet (peace be with him) was laid to rest, there is a cat or cats around the area.
	Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) Scientist and Philosopher Sir Isaac invented the cat-flap, likely so he wouldn't be disturbed by his cats' comings and goings.
	Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) Humanitarian One of Florence's cats was a large Persian named "Bismarck". She owned more than 60 cats in her lifetime.
	Nostradamus Seer and Prophet (1503 - 1566) This French astrologer had a cat named Grimalkin.  The definition of a grimalkin evolved to "A cat, especially an old female cat."
	Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) Italian scholar, poet, and humanist Petrarch was said to have been even more devoted to his cat than to the memory of his great love, Laura.  When the poet died, his cat was put to death and mummified.
	Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) Author Poe used cats as symbols of the sinister in several of his stories, although he himself owned and loved cats. He used his tortoiseshell cat Catarina as the inspiration for his story The Black Cat. In winter 1846, Catarina, a house cat, would curl up on the bed with Poe's wife, who was dying of tuberculosis, and provide warmth.
	Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Artist This French artist loved cats and depicted them in several paintings.  Some of these paintings are available at AllPosters.com and Art.com (search renoir cats)
	Cardinal Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis (1585-1642) French clergyman, noble man, and statesman Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII's chief minister, kept dozens of cats, even building a cattery at Versailles for his wards and leaving money to maintain the cats after his death.
	Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President Theodore had a polydactyl grey cat called "Slippers".
	Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) German theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician, Nobel Peace Prize winner Cats played an important role in Dr. Schweitzer's life. He rescued a kitten a kitten after he heard her plaintive "meow" under the floor of a building under construction.  Named Sizi, she sat on his desk as he wrote, often falling asleep on his left arm - during these times Dr. Schweitzer, who was left-handed, wrote prescriptions with his right hand. This went on for 23 years. Another cat, Piccolo, slept on papers stacked on Dr. Schweitzer's desk; if someone needed the papers, they were required to wait till the cat awoke. Schweitzer once said: "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
	Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832) Poet and Author (works include Rob Roy and Ivanhoe) Absorbed in folklore and the supernatural, Scott was devoted to cats, and a portrait of him by John Watson Gordon shows the author at work at his desk with his tabby, Hinx, lying close by. This tomcat was known to terrorize Scott's dogs.  Scott wrote: “Cats are a mysterious kind of folk. There is more passing in their minds than we are aware of.”
	Theophile Steinlen (1859-1923) Swiss Artist Steinlen's Paris home was known as "CatsCorner". In addition to paintings and drawings, he also did sculpture on a limited basis, most notably figures of cats that he had great affection for as seen in many of his paintings.  The paintings below, and more, are available at AllPosters.com and Art.com
	Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Author. Harriet had a large Maltese cat called Calvin (her husband's name was Calvin also). He arrived on Harriet's doorstep one day, moved in and took over the household. Harriet enjoyed his company and Calvin often sat on her shoulder as she wrote.
	Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) Eastern European inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer and electrical engineer Sparks generated when stroking his pet cat Macak led him to investigate electricity.  PBS provides an interesting article about the affection between Tesla and Macak.
	Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)  American humorist, novelist, writer and lecturer Twain kept eleven cats at his farm in Connecticut. He wrote, "I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course."  He also quipped, "If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way" and "The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid, will not sit upon a hot stove lid again. But he won't sit upon a cold stove lid, either.”
	Vanna White (1957- ) TV Celebrity The world-famous letter turner owns two cats (one named Rhett Butler) that she mentions frequently on "Wheel of Fortune".
Other notable people who loved cats include classical composers: Tchaikovsky wrote "Puss-In-Boots and the White Cat." Composer Maurice Ravel wrote "Cat Duet."  Frédéric Chopin's cat walked across the keyboard and Chopin liked the melody so much that he created an entire piece called The Cat Waltz around it.  Domenico Scarlatti's cat Pulcinella composed a fugue. The cat was fond of prancing about on the harpsichord and wrote Fugue in G Minor, L499; better known as The Cat's Fugue. (Scarlatti may have helped a little, but the first few bars, at least, are convincingly the work of a cat.)  Stravinsky wrote "Lullabies for the Cat."  Many of these compositions were compiled onto a cd titled Purrfectly Classical, available at Amazon.com.  Camille Saint-Saens was a noted cat lover: his Maestoso theme (Symphony No.3 in C- 'Organ') was the theme music in the movie "Babe".