Who is Who

[gracemini]

Cushing, Harvey (1869-1939): American surgeon whose pioneering techniques for brain surgery improved neuro-surgery tremendously. Cushing’s syndrome, named after him.

Daimler, Gottlieb (1834-1900): German engineer, inventor. He improved internal combustion engine, furthering car industry.

Dalai Lama (b.1935): (Tenzing Gyatso) Spiritual leader of Tibet. Fled to India after Tibetan uprising, and established Govt-in0exile at Dharamasala in Himachal Pradesh, India (1959). Nobel peace prize (1989).

Dam, Henrik (1895-1976): Danish biochemist who discovered vitamin K. Nobel Prize.

Damien, Father Joseph (1840-’89): Originally Joseph de Veuster. Belgian Catholic missionary. Worked until his death from leprosy in leper colony on Molokai, Hawaii.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): Italian poet. The Divine Comedy.

Dange, Shripat Amrit (1899-1994): Leader of communist party of India, parliamentarian.

Darius I (548-486 B.C): Persian king and founder of Persepolis.

Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-’82): English naturalist who argued that the evolution of present-day morphology had been built up by he gradual and opportunistic mechanism of natural selection. On the Origin of Species.

Daudet, Alphonse (1840-1897): French short-story writer and novelist whose first novel was written at age 14. Monday Tales, The Nabob.

[gracemini]

Davis, Bette (1908-’89): Originally Ruth Elizabeth Davis. American film actress.

Davis, Dwight F. (1879-1945: American who donated the tennis trophy, Davis Cup. He played for the US team in the opening contest.

Davy, Sir Humphry (1778-1829): British chemist and inventor of the Davy miner’s safety lamp.

De Mille, Cecil (1881-1959): American film producer-director. Grand old man of Hollywood. The Ten Commandments.

De Quincey, Thomas (1785-1859): English essayist and critic.

De Sica, Vittorio (1901-’74): Italian film director and actor. Shoeshine, bicycle thieves.

Defoe, Daniel (1660-1731): English political writer; also author of Robinson Crusoe.

Demosthenes (384-322 B.C): Greek orator who roused the Athenians to resist the growing power of Philip of Macedon

Deodhar D.B (1892-1993): The grand old man of Indian cricket, after whom deodhar is named.

Desai, Bhulabahi (1877-1946): Indian national leader who defended Bardoli peasants before Broomifield committee. Founded Swadeshi Sabha to boycott foreign goods.

[gracemini]

Desai, Lord Meghnad (b.1940): Professor of Economics at London school of Economics. British peer.

Desai, Morarji Ranchodji (1896-1995): Indian politician who was prime minister from Mar. ’77 to July ’79. Staunch Gandhian. Chief minister of Bombay (1952-’56). Union minister, 1956-63. Deputy P.M & finance minister, 1967-69. Bharat Ratna.

Descartes, Rene (1596-1650): French mathematician, pioneer of modern philosophy.

Deshpande, Purushottam Lakshman (1919-2000): Veteran Marathi writer and performer known as Pu La.

Deve Gowda, Hardanahalli Dodde gowda (b.1933): Janata Dal leader. India’s PM June,’ 96 to Apr. ’96. Formerly CM of Karnataka.

Dewey, Melvil (1852-1931): American library pioneer, originator of Dewey decimal system of book, originator of Dewey decimal systems of book classification.

Dhawan, Satish (1920-2002): Scientist, director of IIS, B’lore, chairman of ISRO. Padma Vibhushan 1981.

Dhyam Chand (1906-’79): Hockey wizard. Olympic golf in Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932, Berlin 1936. Padmabhushan.

Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-’97): Born Diana Spencer, married prince Charles of Britain (1981), separated (1992), divorced (1996). Mother of prince William and prince Henry. Killed in a car crash.

Dickens, Charles (1812-’70): Popular English novelist of the 19th century. David Copperfield, Pickwick papers, Oliver Twist.

[gracemini]

Dickinson, Emily (183-’86): American poet, Published almost nothing in her lifetime.

Diesel, Rudolf (1858-1913): German engineer, inventor of an internal combustion engine which he patented in 1983.

Dietrich, Marlene (1901-’93): Actress and singer, native Berlin who flourished in the USA. Blue angel.

Dior, Christian (1905-’57): French fashion designer.

Disney, Walter Elias (‘Walt’) (1901-’66): American film cartoonist famous for animated cartoons. Creator of characters Mickey Mouse (192 and Donald Duck (1936).

Disraeli, Benjamin (1804-’81): British statesman and novelist. Prime minister, 1868 and 1874-’80.

Dix, Otto (1891-1969): German painter and engraver. Jailed in 1939 for an alleged plot to kill Hitler. Post-war themes included religion.

Donahue, Phil (b.1936: The man who virtually invented the single topic TV talk.

Donatello (1386-1466): Florentine Sculptor, a pioneer of the Renaissance style, born Donato di Betto Bardi. Famous for the marble sculptures of St. Mark and St. George.

Donne, John (1572-1631): One of the great Metaphysical poets. He was chaplain to king James of England, and later Dean of St Paul’s.

[gracemini]

Dostoevsky, Feodor Mukhailovich (1821-’81): Russian novelist. Sent to hard labour in Siberia for revolutionary activity. Crime and punishment, The Idiot, The Possessed.

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (1859-1930): British writer of detective stories. Creator of detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

Drake, Sir Francis (c.1540-;96: English seaman; in 1577-’80 he sailed round the world in the ‘Golden Hind”.

Drucker, Peter F. (1909-2005): Management expert and author of international fame.

Dryden, John (1631-1700): Poet laureate and dramatist. The Indian emperor, heroic stanzas, all for love.

Du Pont, Eleuth-Ere Irenee (17772-1834): American chemicals manufacturer, b.France.

Dulles, John Foster (1888-1959): US secretary of stare 1953-9, opposed negotiation with Russia.

Dumas, Alexandre (1802-’70): French romantic novelist. The Three Musketers.

Dunant, Jean Henri (1828-1910): Swiss philanthropist. Promoted the establishment of the international Red Cross (1863). Shares the first Nobel Prize(1901)

Duncan Isadora (1877-1927): American expressive dancer who united free movement with serious music; one of the founders of modern dance.

[minisoji]

Dunlop, John Boyd (1840-1921): Scottish veterinary surgeon. Patented (188 Dunlop version of pneumatic tyre.

Dupleix, Joseph Francois (1697-1763): French governor in India.

Durant Will (1885-1981): American historian. The Story of Civilization The story if philosophy.

Dutt, Nargis (1929-’81): The greatest film actress of her time. Paired in several immortal film with Raj Kapoor, Married actor Sunil Dutt, who later became a union minister until death in 2005. Best actress award. Padmashri. Nominated to Rajya Sabha. Son Sanjay Dutt, A leading Hindi film actor.

Duvalier, Francois (‘Papa Doc’) (1907-’71): Dictator of Haiti (1957-’71. Used personal police force (Tonton Macoutes).

Dylan, Bob (1941-): US singer and composer, born Robert Allen Zimmerman. Blood in the tracks.

Eastman, George (1854-1932): American inventor; manufacturer of photographic equipment.

Eckermann, Johnn Peter (1792-1854): German writer who was an assistant to Goethe. Conversations with Goethe.

Eckert, John Presper (1919-’95): Co-inventor of the computer. Developed world’s first electronic digital computer with John W.Mauchly.

Eco, Umberto (b.1932): Italian novelist who authored the historical thriller The Name of the Rose, and the novel Foucault’s Pendulum. Also wrote a Theory of Semiotics.

[gracemini]

Edison, Thomas Alva (1847-1931): American inventor who held more than 1300 U.S and foreign patents for his inventions: the photograph, the incandescent lamp, etc.

Ehrenburg, Liya Grigoryevich (1891-1967): Russian writer whose novel The Thaw gave the name to post Stalin relaxation.

Ehrlich, Paul (1854-1915): German scientist, one of the pioneers of bacteriology.

Eiffel, Alexandro Gustave (1832-1923: French engineer, remembered for Eiffel tower, Paris and Panama Canal locks.

Einstein, Albert (1879-1955): Mathematical Physicist whose theory of relatively superseded Newton’s theory of gravitation. His work led on to the making of the nuclear bomb. Nobel prize, 1921.

Einthoven, Willem (1860-1927): Dutch physiologist, invented the electrocardiogram. Nobel prize.

Eisenhower, Gen. Dwight (1890-1969): American general and statesman. He was C-in-C, Allied forces, N.Africa 1942-3, and in the European theatre of operations, 1943-5; Republican president, 1953-61.

Eliot, George (1819-’80): Pen-name of English woman novelist Mary Anne) later Marion) Evans. Middlemarch.

Eliot, Thomas Sterns(1888-1965): English poet and critic, born in U.S. The Waste Land, murder in the cathedral Nobel prize.

Elizabeth II(b.1926): Queen of Gt. Britain and N.Ireland; ascended the throne, 1952.