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.^[1][2] 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.^[3]

Many people involved with youth work pursue this as an avocation.^[4]

Avocation in literature[]

But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For heaven and the future's sakes.

— Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, st. 9

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
Copeland, Johnny	boxer	blues guitarist
Copernicus, Nicolaus	Astronomer	Roman Catholic cleric
Cervantes, Miguel	Writer	Marine

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

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[5]	Drummer	Physicist

G[]

Person	Avocation	Vocation
Getty, J. Paul	Art collector	Oilman
Gilbert, William	natural philosopher	Physician
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
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
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

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[6]

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[7]	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[6]

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	Superhero	Reporter
Stark, Tony	Superhero	Industrialist
Wayne, Bruce	crime fighter	Philanthropist/Industrialist/Heir
Quijano, Alonso	Knight-errant	Hidalgo
Schrute, Dwight	Beet farmer	Paper salesman

See also[]

• Alter ego
• Otium
• Secret identity
• Vocation
• Volunteering
• List of amateur mathematicians

References[]

External links[]

• Alex Preston (12 June 2016). "If you want to be a better person, find something to do outside work". Quartz. Atlantic Media. Retrieved 10 September 2016.