Who is Who

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Arafat, Yasser (1929-2004): Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Araft al-Oudwa al-Husseini) Palestinian president until death. Leader of PLO from 1968; shared Nobel peace prize, ’94.

Archer, Thomas (1668-1743): British architect. Practitioner of Baroque style.

Archimedes (287-212 B.C): Greek mathematician and engineer. Known for Archimedes principle. Invented Archimedean screw.

Aristotle (384-322 B.C): Greek teacher and philosopher, pupil of Plato, tutor to the young prince Alexander of Macedon.

Armstrong, Louis ‘Satchmo’ (1900-71): American jazz trumpeter, and singer, a popular entertainer of 2oth century

Armstrong, Neil (b.1930): American astronaut, the first the moon, (Apollo XI mission) 21 July 1969.

Arnold, Mathew (1822-’88): English poet and critic. The scholar gypsy.


Arundale, George Sydney (1878-1945): An Englishman who adopted Indian as his home. Advocate of national education and the Swadeshi movement. Married Rukmani Devi.

Aryabhatta (476-520): Indian mathematician astronomer. India’s first satellite was named after him.

Ashapurna Devi (1909-’95): Bengali writer. First woman Jnanpith award winner. Prathama Pratishruti, Subarnolata, Bokul Katha.

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Ashcroft, Peggy (1907-1991): One of the greatest actresses of British stage. Remembered for her role in the film A passage to India (Oscar) and the TV series The Jewel in the Crown.

Asimov, Isaac (1920-92): Us biochemist and writer of non-fiction. Born in Russia. Foundation Trilogy, The edge of tomorrow, inside the atom, the stars in their courses.

Asoka (3rd C.B.C): Emperor of India. After victory in the battle of Kalinga (261 B.C), he renounced war and embraced Buddhism.

Asturias, Miguel Angel (1899-1974): Gautemalan writer and diplomat. Men of Maize, novel. Nobel prize, 1967.

Ataturk, Kemal (Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) (1881-193: Builder of modern turkey, fine soldier, president of Turkish republic.

Attenborough, Sir Richard (b.1923): British actor-director whose Gandhi (1983) won 8 Oscars.

Attila The Hun (406-53): Barbarian leader who helped to bring about the fall of the Roman empire.

Attlee, Clement Richard (1883-1967): Labour prime minister of Britain, 1945-51. his government granted independence to India.

Auden, Wystan Hugh (1907-’73): Poet, b. in England, a naturalized American. Professor of poetry at Oxford.

Augustus, Caius Octavianus (63 B.B.-A.D. 14): First Roman emperor.

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Aurangazeb (1618-1707): Mughal emperor of India; empire reached its fullest extent, but he estranged Hindus and Sikhs.

Aurobindo, Sri (Aurobindo Ghosh) (1872-1950): Indian philosopher, a revolutionary in his early days. Set up an Ashram in Pondichery. Retired in to seclusion in 1926.

Austen, Jane (1775-1817): British novelist. Emma, Pride and Prejudice.

Ayyankali (1863-1941): Leader of Harijans, in Kerla. Mahatma Gandhi called him ‘pulayaraja’. Great organizer.

Ayyar, Alladi Krishnaswami, Sir (1883-1953): Scholar and brilliant lawyer of Tamil Nadu.

Azad, Adul Kalam (1888-195: Indian freedom-fighter, staunch nationalist, first education minister of free India. Bharat Ratna, 1992. India wins freedom.

Azad Chandra Sekhar(1906-’31): Indian revolutionary; involved in non cooperation movement, the assembly bomb incident, Delhi conspiracy, Lahore conspiracy.

Azana, Manuel (1880-1940): PM of Spain from 1931 to ’33 and president from 1936 to ‘ 39. Spanish civil war sent him into exile.

Azharudin, Mohammed (b.1963): Indian cricketer, former captain. Made a world record 0f 9079 runs in one-day internationals in june ’99. Accused of involvement in match-fixing scam.

Azmi, Shabana (b.1954): Indian film actress who won the national award five times. Social activist, former Rajya Sabha member. Ankur, Arth, Khandhar, Paar, God mother.

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Babar, Zahirud-din Mohammed (1453-1530): Founder of the Mughal dynasty which ruled northern Indian for nearly three centuries.

Babbage, Charles (1792-1871): English mathemarician. His primitive –calculating machines’ were precursors of the modern comuper.

Bachchan, Amitabh (b.1942): India’s most popular film star ever. Over 100 movies. M.P. for a short while. Zanjeer, sholay, Diwar, black. National award for best actor, 2005. Son of poet Harivansh Rai Bachan (1907-2003), known for his work Madhushala and autobiography in 4 volumes Kya Bhoolun, Kya Yad Karoon. Amitabh’s son Abhishek, leading film star.


Bacon, Francis (1561-1626): English philosopher and essayist. Novum Organum.

Bacon, Roger (c.1214-92): English philosopher and scientist, called ‘Doctor Mirabilis’. First European to describe the process for making gunpowder.

Baden Powell, Robert (1857-1941): Founder of boy scouts (1908). His sister Agnes founder girl guides (1910).

Bahadur Shah II (1775-1862): The last king of Mughal empire. Took part in the 1857 war of independence in exile.

Bahuguna, Sundarlal (b.1927): environmentalist. Known for the Chipko movement and fight against the building of the Tehri Dam.

Bajaj, Jamnalal (1886-1942): Mahatma Gandhi’s associate, founded Satyagraha Ashram at Wardha; gifted segaon village to Gandhi who named it Sevagram.

Baker, Laurie (1917-2007): British born Indian architect who has pioneered innovative low-cost, environment-friendly housing.

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Bala Saraswati, T. (b.1918): Foremost exponent of the Bharatanatyam style of dance.

Balzac, Honore de (1799-1850): French novelist. La Comedie Humaine.

Banabhatta (7th c.): Indian Sankrit scholar and poet. Kadambari, Harsh Charit.

Bancroft, George (1800-1891): American historian who wrote the 10-volume history of the united states.

Bandaranaike, Solomon (1899-1959): PM of Ceylon from 1956 until assassination. Widow Sirimavo (1916-2000) became world’s first woman PM, 1960. In 1994, daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga became president and Sirimavo PM Sri Lanka.

Bandopadhyay, Padmavathy (b.1944): The first woman air marshal of Indian air force. Received AVSM and VSM.

Bannerjee, Surendranath (1848-1952): One of the first Indian to quality the ICS examination. Held the president ship of Indian national congress twice.

Bannerjee, Womesh Chandra (1844-1906): First president of Indian national congress, migrated to England in 1902.

Bannister, Sir Roger (b.1929): British athlete and doctor who became the first man to run a mile four minutes in 1954.

Barnard, Christian Neethling (1922-2001): South African surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant operation.

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Bartok, Bela (1881-19450: Hungarian composer and pianist.

Baskerville, John (1706-’75): British typographer who is known for the widely used Baskerville typeface.

Basu, Jyoti (b.1914): Veteran communist leader. CM of West Bengal for a record five consecutive terms until Nov. 2000.

Batistuta, Gabriel (b.1969): Former Argentine international footballer retired 2005.

Batuta, Ibn (1304-1378): Traveller from North Africa who spent eight years in India. His travelogue is source for the political history of the Khalji and Tuglaq dynasties of the Delhi sultanate.

Beatles, The (Paul Mc Cartney, John Lennon (1940-80), George Harrison (1943-2001), Ringo starr): English vocal and instrumental rock ‘n’ roll quartet whose highly original and melodic songs held the attention of youth all over the world in the 60’s.

Beaverbrook, Lord (1879-1964): British financier, statesman and newspaper owner.

Becker, Boris (b.1967): German tennis player. Youngest Wimbledon champion, 1985, 1986, 1989. Retired in 1997.

Becket, Smauel (1906-’89): Irish playwright and novelist. Nobel prize, 1969.

Becket, Thomas (1118-’70): Saint and martyr. Archbishop of Canterbury who made the position of the church his first care and, came into conflict with King HenryII. Murdered in Canterbury cathedral.

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Beckham, David (b.1975): British football player with a huge fan following. His marriage to Victoria Adams, otherwise known as Posh Spice, has both made them targets for the tabloid press.

Bedi, Bishen Singh (b.1946: Indian cricketer. Captain for 33 tests.

Bedi, Kiran (b.1949): First woman Indian police service officer (1972). A former Asian games women’s tennis champion. Magsaysay award, 1995. UN medal for outstanding service, 2004.

Beethoven, Ludwig Van (1770-1827): German musician and composer. His symphonies, 9 in number, rank as the greatest ever written.

Begin, Menachem (1913-’92): Israeli prime minister, 1977-’83. Made peace with Egypt(1979). Nobel peace prize, 1978.

Belafonte, Harry (b.1927): American entertainer, civil rights leader.

Bell, Alexander Graham (1847-1922): Scottish-born inventor of the telephone.

Ben Gurion, David (1886-1973): The first time minister of Israel, 1948-63.

Benedict XVI (b.1927): The Pope, head of the Roman Catholic church since April 2005. Formerly Josef Raatzinger, the German archbishop. Succeeded John Paul II.

Bengal, Shyam (b.1934): Indian film director. Akrosh, Mandi, Bharat Ek Khoj.

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Bosch, Hieronymus (1450-1516): Flemish painter. The Garden of Earthly Delights, The temptation of St.Anthony.

Bose, Amar Gopal (b.1929): American-born Indian professor of electrical engineering at MIT. In 1964, he founded the Bose corporation, which specializes is designing and producing high quality sound systems.

Bose, Jagadish Chandra (1858-1937): Doyen of Indian science. Did original work in electricity.

Bose, Nandalal (1883-1996): Father of modern painting in India. Padma Bhushan.

Bose, Netaji Subhas Chandra (1897-1945): One of the leaders of India’s freedom struggle. Formed the Indian National Army in 1943 to fight the British with the help of Japan. Reportedly killed in an air crash.

Bose, Satyendra Nath (1894-1974): Indian physicist after whom an elementary particle, the boson is named.

Boswell, James (1740-’95): Scottish author of the celebrated biography, The life of Samuel Johnson.

Botha, Louis (1862-1919): The first PM of the Union of South Africa, 1910.

Botham, lan Terence (b.1955): English cricketer and coach, a great all rounder with 14 rest centuries (5200 runs) and 373 test wickets. First player to score a century and take 10 wickets in test (1979).

Botvinnik, Mikhail electrical engineer who used his scientific training to hold the world chess title three times (1948-57, 58-60, 61-63)

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Bourguiba, Habib (1903-2000): First president of Tunisia (1957-87). Proclaimed president for life in 1975, A coup overthrew him.

Boyd, William (b.1952): British novelist. The new confessions.

Bradman, Sir Donald (1908-2001):Australian cricket legend. Captain, 1936-48. 6996 runs in 52 games (average 99.94) including 29 centuries and a highest score of 334.

Bragg, Sir William Lawrence (1890-1971): English physicist born in Australia. With this father Sir William Henry Bragg (186201942), won Nobel Prize for Physics (1915).

Brahmagupta (598-680): The Indian mathematician who was the first to treat zero as a number. Brahma Siddhanta.

Brahms, Johannes (1833-97): German composer, who moved to Vienna. Orchestral works: four symphonies, two piano concertos and a concerto for violin,

Braille, Louis (1809-‘52_: French educationalist, who, as a (blind) teacher of the blind, devised the touch system of reading and writing for the blind.

Brando, Marlon (1924-2004): Outstanding American stage and film actor. On the waterfront, the godfather.

Brandt, Willy (1913-’92): First Social democratic chancellor of the federal republic of Germany, 1969-74. Nobel prize, 1971.

Brezhnev, Leonid (1906-’82) Soviet president (1977); succeeded Khrushchev as first secretary of the communist party, (1954-82).

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Graham, Katherine (1917-2001): Influential American newspaper proprietor, who as publisher of The Washington Post presided over the decision to go public with the Pentagon papers and water gate, Pulitzer for her memoirs personal History.

Graham, Martha (b.1893-1991): American dancer, teacher and choreographer of more than 140 works.

Greene, Graham (1904-’91): English novelist and journalist. The power and the Glory.

Grant, Cary (1904-86): American film star born in Britain as Archibald Leach. Girl Friday, north by Northwest.

Grass, Gunter Wilhelm (b.1927): German novelist, poet and playwright. The Tin Drum, Dog Years, The Call of the Toad. Nobel Prize. Revealed in Aug. ’06 that he had served in Nazi elite force Waffen-SS.

Green, Maurice (b.1924): First sprinter ever to win both 100 and 200m. at world championships.

Gregory XIII (1502-’85): Pope (1572-’85) who introduced the Gregorian calendar.

Guevara, Ernesto ‘Che’ (1928-’67): Latin American revolutionary who took part in the Cuban guerrilla was and became a minister in Cuba 1959-65.

Gujral, Inder Kumar (b.1919): Prime minister of India from Apr. 21, 1997 to Nov. 97 and caretaker PM until Mar.98. Formerly in Union Cabinet from ’67 to ’76 and ’89-’90, Minister of external affairs and ambassador to USSR.

Gundert, Dr. Herman (1814-’93): A linguist of Germany who lived in India, where he learnt 18 local languages and compiled a Malayalam dictionary.