# Avocation

An avocation is an activity that someone engages in as a hobby outside their main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside their workplaces were their true passions in life. Occasionally, as with Lord Baden-Powell and others, people who pursue an avocation are more remembered by history for their avocation than for their professional career.
Many times, a person's regular vocation may lead to an avocation. Many forms of humanitarian campaigning, such as work for organizations like Amnesty International and Greenpeace, may be done by people involved in the law or human rights issues as part of their work.
Many people involved with youth work pursue this as an avocation.
* Avocation in literature
* People whose avocations were not their vocations
* A
* B
* C
* D
* E
* F
* G
* H
* I
* J
* K
* L
* M
* N
* O
* P
* Q
* R
* S
* T
* U
* V
* W
* X
* Y
* Z
* Fictional people
* See also
* References
* External links

## People whose avocations were not their vocations
### A

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Adams, Frederick | Luthier | Physician |
| Allen, Woody | Jazz musician | Filmmaker |
| Alston, Joseph Cameron | Badminton player | Federal agent |
| Ambros, August Wilhelm | Musical archaeologist | Austrian civil service |

### B

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Baden-Powell, Robert | Scouting | Military officer |
| Balzary, Michael | Non-profit management | Musician |
| Barr, William | Bagpiper | Attorney |
| Benedetto, Anthony | Painter | Singer |
| Bennett, William | Clarinetist | Physicist |
| Billroth, Theodor | Pianist | Surgeon |
| Blades, Rubén | Activist | Musician |
| Blom, Gertrude | Social anthropologist | Journalist |
| Borodin, Alexander | Composer | Chemist |
| Brontë, Charlotte | Author | Governess |
| Butchart, Harvey | Grand Canyon explorer | Mathematics professor |

### C

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Carpenter, Charles | Naturalist | Minister |
| Chekhov, Anton | Writer, playwright | Physician |
| Copernicus, Nicolaus | Astronomer | Roman Catholic cleric |
| Cervantes, Miguel | Writer | Marine |
| Carter, Allister | Pilot | Snooker player |

### D

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| d'Abo, Olivia | Singer-songwriter | Actress |
| Darger, Henry | Author, illustrator | Custodian |
| Derleth, August | Naturalist | Novelist |
| Duncan, Watson | Actor | Professor |

### E

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Eriugena, Johannes Scotus | Theologian | Courtier |
| Ekimyan, Alexey | Composer | Senior police official |

### F

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Fermat, Pierre de | Mathematician | Lawyer |
| Foecke, Tim | Whittler, wooden toy maker | Metallurgist |
| Franco, Veronica | Poet | Courtesan |
| Ford, Harrison | Carpenter, pilot | Actor |
| Feynman, Richard | Drummer | Physicist |

### G

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Getty, J. Paul | Art collector | Oilman |
| Gilbert, William | Natural philosopher | Physician |
| Gill, John | Boulderer | Mathematician |
| Goldblum, Jeff | Jazz musician | Actor |
| Grahame, Kenneth | Writer | Bank of England executive |

### H

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Hass, Rudolph | Botany | Letter carrier |
| Hewlett, Hilda | Woodwork, metalwork | Aviatrice |
| Hillary, Sir Edmund | Mountaineer | Beekeeper |
| Hohlbaum, Robert | Writer | Librarian |
| Houston, Charles | Mountaineer | Physician |

### I

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique | Violinist | Painter |
| Ives, Charles | Composer | Insurance agent |

### J

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Jacques, Brian | Author | Milkman |
| Jędruch, Jacek | Historian | Nuclear engineer |

### K

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Kaleeba, Noerine | Activist | Physiotherapist |
| Kafka, Franz | Writer | Insurance assessor |
| Kent, Corita | Artist, printmaker | Roman Catholic nun |
| King, Augusta Ada | Mathematician | Courtier |
| Kogan, Richard, M.D. | Pianist | Psychiatrist |
| Krakauer, Jon | Mountaineer | Journalist/writer |
| Kruger, Barbara | Artist | Graphic designer |

### L

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Lamarr, Hedy | Inventor | Actress |
| Lehrer, Tom | Singer/songwriter | Mathematician |
| Lifton, Robert Jay | Cartoonist | Psychiatrist |
| Lluberas, Gerónimo | Musician | Physician |
| Luna, James | Artist | Counselor |

### M

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Maier, Vivian | Photographer | Au pair |
| Means, Gaston | Con artist | Salesman |
| Meschian, Arthur | Singer & songwriter | Architect |
| Morrison, Toni | Author | Editor |
| Moses, Anna Mary Robertson | Painter | Farmer |

### N

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Norton, Joshua A. | Eccentric (self-declared "Emperor of these United States") | Businessman |
| Nabokov, Vladimir | Lepidopterist | Novelist |

### O

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Obici, Amedeo | Farmer | Businessman |
| Ottendorfer, Anna | Philanthropist | Journalist |

### P

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Peszke, Michael Alfred | Historian | Psychiatrist |
| Pekar, Harvey | Comic book writer | File clerk |

### Q

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Quirinus of Neuss | Missionary | Tribune |

### R

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Radi, Akbar | Playwright | Teacher |
| Rodriguez, Sixto | Folk musician | Demolition worker |
| Roget, Peter Mark | Lexicographer | Physician |
| Rousseau, Henri | Painter | Tax collector |
| Ryan, Jeri | Chef | Actress |

### S

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Santos, Reynaldo dos | Art historian | Physician |
| Saro-Wiwa, Ken | Environmental activist | Television producer |
| Shelley, Mary | Political activist | Author |
| Silva, Inocêncio Francisco da | Bibliographer | Clerk |
| Smith, Walter Parry Haskett | Bouldering | Lawyer |
| Stevens, Wallace | Poet | Insurance executive |

### T

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Thomas, Jean | Folk festival promoter | Stenographer |
| Tov, Baal Shem | Arbitrator and mediator | Rabbi |
| Tolkien, J. R. R. | Novelist | Philologist |
| Trollope, Anthony | Novelist | Royal Mail executive |

### U

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Ullman, Tracey | Knitter and author | Actress |

### V

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Van Damme, Jean-Claude | Martial artist | Actor |

### W

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Weller, Peter | Art historian | Actor |
| Wells, Ida B. | Suffragette | Journalist |
| White, Henry | Fox hunter | Diplomat |
| White, Kate | Author | Editor-in-chief |
| Whorf, Benjamin Lee | Linguist | fire prevention engineer |
| Williams, William Carlos | Poet | Pediatrician |

### X

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Xenakis, Iannis | Composer | Architect |

### Y

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Yada, Lena | Surfer | Model, actress |

## Fictional people whose avocations were not their vocations

| Person | Avocation | Vocation |
| Kent, Clark / Kal-El (DC Comics) | Superhero | Reporter |
| Stark, Tony (Marvel Comics) | Superhero | Industrialist |
| Wayne, Bruce (DC Comics) | Crime fighter | Philanthropist/industrialist/heir |
| Quijano, Alonso (Don Quixote) | Knight-errant | Hidalgo |
| Schrute, Dwight (The Office) | Beet farmer | Paper salesman |