Gagarin, Yuri (1943-68: Soviet cosmonaut, the first man to orbit the earth in spacecraft Vostok l in 1961.

Gainsborough, Thomas (1727-88):British portrait and landscape painter. Viscount Kilmorey, Blue Boy, The Watering Place.

Gaitonde, V.S. (b.1924): India’s celebrated abstract painter.

Albraith, John Kenneth ( 1908- 2006): American economist, diplomat and writer. Ambassador to India, 1961-3. The Affluent Society.

Galileo Gallilei (1564-1642): Italian scientist and astronomer who laid the foundations of modern science. The first man to see the satellites of Jupiter.

Gallup, George Horrace (1901-‘84): Renowned American statistician who studies public opinion through questions put to a representative group-‘ Gallup poll’

Galsworthy, John (1867-1933): English novelist and dramatist. The Forsyte Saga. Nobel prize, 1932.

Gama, Vasco da (1460-1524): Portuguese navigator, discoverer of the sea route from western Europe to India.

Gamow, George (1904-68): Russian-born US nuclear physicist. With Ralph Alpher and Hans Bethe, he developed the Bog Bang theory. Gamow-Teller theory of beta decay is known after his and Edward Teller.

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) (1869-1948): Father of the Indian nation, and one of the greatest personalities of the 20th century. From 1893 to 1914 he lived in South Africa opposing discrimination against Indians. Un 1915, returned to India, dominated the Congress party. Without weapons or armies, he led India to independence. Lived an austere life, devoted to truth, non-violence and worked for Hindu Muslim experiments with truth.