Zeligesque

comparative more Zeligesque · superlative most Zeligesque

1. Of a person: appearing at a surprisingly wide variety of historic events or with a diverse group of historic figures.

   He [Roger Stone]'s become a kind of Zeligesque political figure, appearing when he's least desired and least expected. Like [Donald] Trump, Roger is constantly burnishing his brand image, writing himself into history, where his role has been, at its very best, tangential.

   2018, Rick Wilson, Everything Trump Touches Dies, New York, N.Y.: Free Press, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Simply put, Mr. [Edmund] Morris has invented a character: himself. For literary purposes, the author, 59, has essentially transformed his own life, […] revised his age, birthplace, identity and resume to become a Zeligesque narrator who is a [Ronald] Reagan contemporary, glimpsing the future President on a Dixon High School football field; bumping into him beneath the elms of his Illinois alma mater, Eureka College; reporting for duty to Lieutenant at the Army Air Force's first motion picture unit.

   1999 September 18, Doreen Carvajal, “Writer as character in Reagan biography”, in The New York Times (A section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Sep 2023, page 1

   Usamah bin Munqidh was one of those ubiquitous players who know everyone who matters at a certain time or place in history and always find themselves at the centre of events. During his long career, this Zeligesque courtier, warrior and writer managed to serve all the great Islamic leaders of his century, from Zangi and the Fatimid caliphs to Saladin, and to know at least two of the kings of Jerusalem.

   2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, “The Golden Age of Outremer”, in Jerusalem: The Biography, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, →ISBN, part 5 (Crusade), page 224

   Synonyms: Zelig-like