List of Famous people born on April 17th

Catherine Sinclair was a Scottish novelist and a writer of children's literature which departed from the moralising approach common in that period. She is credited with discovering that the author of the anonymous Waverley Novels was Sir Walter Scott.

Johann David Heinichen was a German Baroque composer and music theorist who brought the musical genius of Venice to the court of Augustus II the Strong in Dresden. After he died, Heinichen's music attracted little attention for many years.

Z7 Hermann Schoemann was a Type 1934A-class destroyer built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in the mid-1930s. The ship was plagued by machinery problems for most of her life and was under repair when World War 2 began in September 1939. She covered her sister ships over the next few months as they laid offensive minefields in English waters in late 1939–early 1940. Hermann Schoemann played a minor role in the Norwegian Campaign as engine problems limited her availability throughout 1940 and for most of 1941.

Claude Mérelle was a French stage and film actress who appeared in numerous films during the silent film era of the early 1910s through the late 1920s.