Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries
Filterable archive covering centuries of intellectual, artistic, and moral contributions to the human story.
Ken Russell
(Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell)
Flamboyant and controversial British film director renowned for flamboyant, visually extravagant biographies of composers and bold films like Women in Love, The Devils, and The Who's Tommy.
Vasily Alekseyev
(ะะฐัะธะปะธะน ะะฒะฐะฝะพะฒะธั ะะปะตะบัะตะตะฒ)
Legendary Soviet super-heavyweight weightlifter who won back-to-back Olympic gold medals (1972, 1976), set 80 world records, and remained undefeated in major international competition for eight years.
Paul Motian
(Stephen Paul Motian)
Revolutionary American jazz drummer and composer of Armenian descent who redefined jazz percussion as an equal melodic voice with the Bill Evans Trio and Keith Jarrett.
Lynn Margulis
(Lynn Petra Alexander)
Iconoclastic American evolutionary biologist whose serial endosymbiotic theory revolutionized the understanding of cellular evolution, showing that mitochondria and chloroplasts originated as symbiotic bacteria.
Djamel Keddou
(ุฌู
ุงู ูุฏู)
Iconic defender and captain of USM Alger, starting central defender of the Algerian national team that won the Gold Medal against France at the 1975 Mediterranean Games.
Lev Borisov
(ะะตะฒ ะะฒะฐะฝะพะฒะธั ะะพัะธัะพะฒ)
Eminent Russian stage and film actor, younger brother of Oleg Borisov, who starred in over ninety films and achieved cult television status as crime boss 'Antibiotic' in Bandit Petersburg.
Har Gobind Khorana
(เคนเคฐ เคเฅเคฌเคฟเคจเฅเคฆ เคเฅเคฐเคพเคจเคพ)
Indian-American biochemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for deciphering the genetic code and later synthesized the world's first artificial gene.
Joe Frazier
(Joseph William Frazier)
Joseph William 'Smokin' Joe' Frazier was a relentless, ferocious heavyweight boxing champion who became the first man to defeat Muhammad Ali in the 1971 'Fight of the Century'. Armed with an unstoppable bobbing-and-weaving forward attack and the most lethal left hook in boxing history, the 1964 Olympic gold medalist reigned as undisputed heavyweight champion from 1970 to 1973.
Slimane Dehilรจs (Colonel Sadek)
(ุณููู
ุงู ุฏููููุณ (ุงูุนููุฏ ุตุงุฏู))
Legendary ALN Colonel who served as right-hand commander to Krim Belkacem and Ouamrane, commander of Wilaya 4, and husband of resistance heroine Izza Bouzekri.
Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.
(Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.)
American physicist who received the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the separated oscillatory fields method, which enabled modern cesium atomic clocks and GPS navigation.
Flรณriรกn Albert
(Albert Flรณriรกn)
Graceful Hungarian striker nicknamed 'The Emperor', the only Hungarian footballer in history to win the Ballon d'Or (1967), who spent his entire career with Ferencvรกros.
John McCarthy
(John McCarthy)
Visionary American computer scientist who coined the term 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI), developed the Lisp programming language, and pioneered time-sharing computing systems.
Marco Simoncelli
(Marco Simoncelli)
Beloved Italian MotoGP rider and 2008 250cc World Champion 'SuperSic', celebrated for his soaring mop of hair, aggressive riding spirit, and infectious joy that captured the hearts of millions of motorsport fans.
Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
(ุณูุทุงู ุจู ุนุจุฏ ุงูุนุฒูุฒ ุขู ุณุนูุฏ)
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2011 and Minister of Defense and Aviation for nearly five decades, modernizing the Saudi armed forces and establishing major humanitarian foundations.
Habiba El Medkouri
(ุญุจูุจุฉ ุงูู
ุฐููุฑู)
Historic pioneer of Moroccan dramatic performance, known as the 'First Lady of Radio Drama' whose expressive voice on Radio Maroc in 1952 broke social taboos to launch female acting in Morocco.
Norman Corwin
(Norman Lewis Corwin)
Revered American writer, director, and producer during the Golden Age of Radio whose patriotic broadcast On a Note of Triumph celebrated the end of World War II in Europe before 60 million listeners.
Dan Wheldon
(Daniel Clive Wheldon)
Charismatic British open-wheel racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series championship and captured two dramatic victories at the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011.
Barbara Kent
(Barbara Cloutman)
One of the last surviving adult stars of the Hollywood silent film era, who starred opposite Greta Garbo in Flesh and the Devil and played Harold Lloyd's leading lady in Welcome Danger and Feet First.