‘Biographies / Famous Figures’ Archives
Pricess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales In August 1997, Diana Princess of Wales was the fatal victim of a highspeed car crash in a Parisian subterranean tunnel where she perished with her lover, Dodi Fayed, heir to the Harrods’ fortune. The outpouring of national grief as her funeral was beamed around the world to the accompaniment of Elton John’s Candle [...]
Elvis the King
Elvis the King Although some refuse to believe that Elvis ever passed away, August 16, 1977, is generally acknowledged as the day the 42 year old died. Consequently August is known as ‘death month’ for those who make the journey to Graceland with floral tributes and teddies at the ready to lay at Presley’s grave (Langley, 2000). There is [...]
The Father of America
George Washington George Washington is rightly known as “the father of his country.” No figure had a more central role during the American Revolution and early national period. Even after his death he remained the preeminent embodiment of national character. To understand the trajectory of Washington’s career is to understand that of [...]
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin (Josif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (1879–1953) Soviet dictator The future dictator of the Soviet Union was born Josif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili to illiterate peasant parents in Georgia in the southern Caucuses. Some historians have attributed his tyrannical temperament to the frequent beatings he received from his father [...]
Garry Kimovich Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov Chess player and longtime world champion, who competes for Russia. At the age of 22 he became the youngest world chess champion in history. Born Garri Weinstein in Baku, Azerbaijan, in what was then the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), he learned chess from his father, who died when Garri was seven years old. [...]
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov Russian chess player and longtime world champion, the youngest player ever awarded the title of Soviet Master. Born in Zlatoust, Russia (then part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Karpov learned to play chess at age six. He was tutored by former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik when he was 13, and at age [...]
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) A philosopher and political economist, Friedrich Engels is best known as Karl Marx’s lifetime friend and ally. Engels was born in Barmen, present-day Wuppertal, Germany on November 28, 1820, the eldest son of a successful textile manufacturer. The works of the radical German poet Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) and [...]
Kennedy Family
Kennedy Family Joseph Kennedy (1888–1969), a self-made man who had accumulated one of the largest fortunes in the United States from Wall Street and Hollywood movies, became the American Ambassador to Britain in 1938. Descended from Irish Catholic immigrants, Kennedy’s success embodied the ragsto-riches myth of American immigration and [...]
Mustapha Kemal
Mustapha Kemal (1880–1938) More commonly known as Atatürk, soldier and father of modern Turkey, Mustapha Kemal was born in Salonica in 1880, where a museum at the current Turkish Consulate commemorates his birthplace. His father died when Mustapha was seven, and his mother brought him up. Mustapha studied at the military secondary school in [...]
Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro Cuban president and perpetual thorn in the side of US administrations, Fidel Castro has outwitted the United States for over forty years, withstanding the Bay of Pigs invasion, CIA assassination attempts, blockades and other efforts to destabilize his regime. Castro came to power in 1958 after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista, a [...]
