hagiography (noun) - a biography that idealizes or excessively flatters its subject; a biography of a saint or holy person [hag-ee-og-ruh-fee]
BREAKDOWN: HAGIO- (of a saint) + -GRAPHY (writing)
a hagiographer is someone who writes about the lives of the saints; a biographer who magnifies the good and minimizes the bad in a subject
See also: choreograph, Types of Clouds
“Some ‘leaders’ are enveloped in hagiographical mystique: their laudably commendable achievements are the only lens through which we view them, while we disregard other facts about them.” —Arthur Boers
