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Godiva, Lady
|
(11th-c)
|
English
|
She rode naked in public in order to help others.
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1
|
|
Godwin, William
|
(1756-1836)
|
English
|
Social philosopher. A "Philosophical Radical," he inter-wove a variety of themes: opposition to conservative institutions, utopianism, belief in human goodness, utilitarianism, and libertarianism verging on anarchism.
|
1
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|
Goebbels, Joseph
|
(1897-1945)
|
German
|
Nazi leader.
|
1
|
|
Goering, Hermann
|
(1893-1946)
|
German
|
Nazi leader.
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1
|
|
Goethe, Johann
|
(1749-1832)
|
|
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2
|
|
Goldman, Emma
|
(1869-1940)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Goldwater, Barry
|
(1909-1998)
|
American
|
U.S. senator. He led a nascent "conservative" movement in the Republican party throughout the 1950's and 1960's, but was badly beaten by Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential race. His movement eventually elected Ronald Reagan U.S. president, but there were important distinctions between the two men. Goldwater was, in effect, more of a libertarian (19th century liberal) and less of a social conservative than Reagan.
|
1
|
|
Gollancz, Sir Victor
|
(1893-1967)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gomarus, Franciscus
|
(1563-1641)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gompers, Samuel
|
(1850-1924)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gonzaga, Luigi St.
|
(1568-1591)
|
Italian
|
Priest. A Jesuit, he cared for the sick during plague, caught the illness and died at only twenty-three.
|
1
|
|
Gorbachev, Mikhail
|
(1931- )
|
Russian
|
Soviet Communist Party head and president. He tried to relieve repression and open up and liberalize both Soviet politics and economics while still preserving Communism. This proved to be impossible and the Soviet Union collapsed.
|
1
|
|
Gordon, Charles
|
(1833-1885)
|
English
|
General. Known as "Chinese" Gordon, he died defending Khartoum against the Mahdi, a religious and military leader, and became a great Victorian hero.
|
1
|
|
Gordon, Lord George
|
(1751-93)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gore, AI
|
(1948- )
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gorgias
|
(c.485-c.380 BCE)
|
Greek
|
He was a leading Sophist.
|
1
|
|
Gorton, Samuel
|
(1592-1677)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gould, Jay
|
(1836-1892)
|
American
|
Financier. He tried to manipulate shares and markets, thereby creating artificial booms and busts.
|
1
|
|
Gould, John
|
(1804-1881)
|
English
|
Ornithologist and publisher. Bird illustrator. He published a multi-volume Birds of Europe and an even bigger Birds of Australia.
|
1
|
|
Gower, John
|
(c.1325-1408)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gracchus, Gaius
|
(c.159-121 BCE)
|
Roman
|
Politician, reformer. Like his brother Tiberius he died, but in this case by suicide.
|
1
|
|
Gracchus, Tiberius
|
(168-133 BCE)
|
Roman
|
Politician, reformer. He wanted to redistribute land and was assassinated.
|
1
|
|
Gracian, Baltasar
|
(1601-1658)
|
Spanish
|
Novelist and thinker. In his best known work, he describes Western culture through the voice of a primitive observer.
|
1
|
|
Graham, Billy
|
(1918- )
|
|
|
2
|
|
Graham, Martha
|
(1894-1991)
|
American
|
Dancer, choreographer. She was a creator of modern dance.
Choreographer. A dancer as well as choreographer, she created and epitomized an emotionally expresive form of modern dance.
|
1
|
|
Grahame, Kenneth
|
(1859-1932)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Grant, Cary
|
(1904-1986)
|
English
|
Actor. He became the epitome of charm and grace; not one of the "tough" men.
|
1
|
|
Grant, Duncan
|
(1885-1978)
|
Scottish
|
Painter. He was a noted "Bloomsbury" bohemian.
|
1
|
|
Grant, Ulysses
|
(1822-1885)
|
American
|
General. He won the Civil War for the North. When critics complained to Abraham Lincoln that Grant drank too much, Lincoln reportedly responded that he wished his other generals drank the same thing. He was not considered a great strategian, like Lee, but his doggedness and determination together with overwhelming force, prevailed. His subsequent presidency became mired in the scandal of his friends and subordinates (his own honesty was never challenged), and he wrote a memoir whose unexpectedly stylish prose has been much admired.
|
1
|
|
Gratian
|
(12th-c)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gray, Thomas
|
(1716-1771)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Greer, Germaine
|
(1939- )
|
Australian
|
Feminist. Her best selling book, The Female Eunuch, published in 1970 depicted marriage harshly and created a sensation.
|
1
|
|
Grenfell, Sir Wilfred
|
(1865-1940)
|
English
|
Doctor. He brought medical care to Labrador, took in homeless children, and shared his life and religious convictions with others.
|
1
|
|
Grenville, William
|
(1759-1834)
|
English
|
Politician. He vigorously opposed the slave trade and eventually succeeded in outlawing it.
|
1
|
|
Grey, Charles
|
(1764-1845)
|
English
|
British prime minister. His accomplishments included the important 1832 Reform Act and bringing an end to slavery in British possessions.
|
1
|
|
Grey, Maria
|
(1816-1906)
|
English
|
Educator. She was a pioneer in educating women.
|
1
|
|
Grimke, Angelina
|
(1805-1879)
|
American
|
Social reformer. She chose to support her sister Sarah (see below).
|
2
|
|
Grimke, Sarah
|
(1792-1873)
|
American
|
Social reformer. Her family owned slaves, but she left them, became a Quaker, and struggled against slavery and for women's rights.
|
2
|
|
Grimm, Jacob
|
(1785-1863)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Grimm, Wilhelm
|
(1786-1859)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Grinnell, George
|
(1849-1938)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Grolier, Jean
|
(1479-1565)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Grotius, Hugo
|
(1583-1645)
|
Dutch
|
Polymath. A public figure as well as thinker, author of poetry and tragedies, and lawyer, pioneered the idea of international law.
|
1
|
|
Grove, Sir George
|
(1820-1900)
|
English
|
Musicologist. He was a lover of music and learning.
|
1
|
|
Guevara, Che
|
(1928-1967)
|
Argentine
|
A romantic revolutionary and a leader of the Cuban Revolution. He was executed in the jungles of Bolivia.
|
2
|
|
Guillaume de Lorris
|
(c.1200-?)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Guise, Henri
|
(1550-88)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Gulbenkian, Calouste
|
(1869-1955)
|
Turkish
|
Mysterious global businessman. He became a symbol of the businessman as international adventurer.
|
1
|
|
Guthrie, Woody
|
Folksinger,songwriter
|
|
|
3
|
|
Gutierrez, Gustavo
|
(1928- )
|
|
|
2
|
|
Guyon, Jeanne Marie
|
(1648-1717)
|
French
|
Spiritual figure. A celebrated mystic and servant of the poor, she got in trouble with Roman Catholic Church authorities, was imprisoned, but then released.
|
1
|
|
Habermas, Jiirgen
|
(1929- )
|
|
|
1
|
|
Haeckel, Ernst
|
(1834-1919)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hafiz
|
(c.1326-c.1390)
|
Iranian
|
Poet. He was a Sufi, and his work was thought to have a hidden, mystical meaning.
|
1
|
|
Haggard, Sir H.
|
(1856-1925)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hahn, Kurt
|
(1886-1974)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hahnemann, Samuel
|
(1755-1843)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Haile Selassie I
|
(1891-1975)
|
Ethiopian
|
Emperor. A small man, he won the sympathy of the world as he unsuccessfully pleaded for help against Mussolini's invasion of his country. He was probably smothered in his old age by a ruthless army officer who had seized power, but remained a devotional cult object for Jamaican Rastafarians (noted for their characteristic "dreadlocks").
|
1
|
|
Hakluyt, Richard
|
(c.1552-1616)
|
English
|
Chronicler. He recorded the English voyages of navigation.
|
1
|
|
Hale, Edward
|
(1822-1909)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hale, Sarah
|
(1788-1879)
|
American
|
Author, feminist. She wrote Women's Record: or Sketches of All Distinguished Women. . . and also broke new ground by editing the Ladies Magazine.
|
1
|
|
Hale, Sir Matthew
|
(1609-1676)
|
English
|
Judge. He developed and recorded "the common law."
|
1
|
|
Halifax, Edward
|
(1881-1959)
|
English
|
Statesman. He favored appeasing the Nazis, but became war-time ambassador to the U.S.
|
1
|
|
Hall, G. Stanley
|
(1844-1924)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hall, Joseph
|
(1574-1656)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hall, Marguerite
|
(1880-1943)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hamilton, Lord Frederick
|
( )
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hamilton, Patrick
|
(1503-1528)
|
Scottish
|
Protestant martyr. A follower of Luther, he was burned in Scotland as a heretic.
|
1
|
|
Hamilton, Sir William
|
(1730-1803)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hamlin, Hannibal
|
(1809-1891)
|
American
|
Vice-president. Moved by anti-slavery sentiment, he left the Democrats to become Abraham Lincoln's first vice-president.
|
1
|
|
Hammarskjold
|
(1905-1961)
|
Swedish
|
Secretary-general of the U.N. He worked tirelessly to contain regional conflicts and died in the Congo. The later publication of his journals revealed a religious and especially a mystical side.
|
1
|
|
Hammerstein, Oscar
|
(1895-1960)
|
American
|
Lyricist. He interpreted American life.
|
1
|
|
Hammett, Dashiell
|
(1894-1961)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hammurabi
|
(18th-c BCE)
|
Babylonian
|
King, lawgiver. His code, carved in stone, is the earliest extant.
|
2
|
|
Handy, W. C.
|
(1873-1958)
|
American
|
Composer. He promoted "the blues."
|
1
|
|
Hani, Chris
|
(1942-1993)
|
South African
|
Revolutionary. He was an opponent of the Apartheid regime and head of the S.F. Communist party.
|
1
|
|
Hanna, Mark
|
(1837-1904)
|
American
|
Businessman, senator. He was the ultimate political operator, master of the nexus of money and politics, and foe of free trade.
|
1
|
|
Hannibal
|
(247-182 BCE)
|
Carthaginian
|
General. An exemplar of daring, fortitude, and obsession, he nearly destroyed Rome.
|
2
|
|
Harding, Stephen St.
|
(c.1060-1134)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Harding, Warren G.
|
(1865-1923)
|
American
|
President. He represented "America First" isolationism and "normalcy," which appealed to Americans after World War I, but his administration became embroiled in the scandal of his subordinates and he died in office. After his death, several extra-marital love affairs also came to light.
|
1
|
|
Hardy, Bert
|
(1913-1995 )
|
English
|
Photojournalist. He recorded Nazi concentration camps.
|
1
|
|
Hardy, Oliver
|
(1892-1957)
|
American
|
Comedian. He became a symbol of zaniness.
|
1
|
|
Hardy, Thomas
|
(1840-1928)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Hargreaves, James
|
(c.1720-78)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Harlan, John
|
(1833-1911)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Harlow, Harry
|
(1905-1981)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Harlow, Jean
|
(1911-1937)
|
American
|
Actress. She became a symbol of female sensuality.
|
1
|
|
Harmodius
|
(?-514 BCE)
|
Greek
|
Political figure. With Aristogeiton, he killed the brother of the local tyrant Hippias and won fame as a freedom fighter.
|
1
|
|
Harmsworth, Alfred
|
(1865-1922)
|
Irish
|
Newspaper owner. He developed techniques of "popular" journalism, much criticized then and since.
|
1
|
|
Harnack, Adolf von
|
(1851-1930)
|
|
|
1
|
|
Harriman, Pamela
|
(1920-1997)
|
English
|
Society hostess. She married Winston Churchill's son during World War II but soon had an affair with the American special emissary Averell Harriman, whose wife had remained in New York. After years in Hollywood and New York as the wife of the famous Hollywood producer Leland Heyward, she eventually married Harriman, by then a widower, became a celebrated Washington hostess and Democratic Party fundraiser. Following her husband's death, she was appointed by President Clinton as ambassador to France but died swimming in the Embassy pool.
|
1
|
|
Harriman, W. Averell
|
(1891-1986)
|
American
|
Diplomat. He was the polo-playing son and heir of a fabulously rich railroad tycoon father. His early business career was not promising and may have exploited slave labor in the Soviet Union. During World War II, he became special emissary to Britain and then the Soviet Union. Although married, he caddishly chose to have an affair in wartime London with the Prime Minister's daughter-in-law. Whether Churchill knew and said nothing (he desperately needed Harriman's support), is unclear.
|
1
|
|
Harris, Barbara
|
(1931- )
|
American
|
Episcopal priest. Ordaining women was a controversial idea in the Anglican (in the U.S. Episcopal) Church. Harris became a priest and then, even more controversially, a suffragan (deputy) bishop.
|
1
|
|
Harris, Joel
|
(1848-1908)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Harris, Paul
|
(1868-1947)
|
American
|
Lawyer. He founded the Rotary Club, an organization for business and professional people which became a symbol of middle class life and values.
|
1
|
|
Harrison, George
|
(1943-2001)
|
English
|
|
1
|
|
Hartley, David
|
(1705-1757)
|
English
|
Philosopher and doctor. He tried to understand the human mind and morality in purely empirical terms but also defended a belief in God.
|
1
|
|
Harun al-Raschid
|
(766-809)
|
Arab
|
Caliph, fifth of the Abbasids. He presided over the Muslim caliphate at the peak of its powers, cultivated learning and the arts, but could also be a cruel and willful tyrant, as described in The Arabian Nights.
|
1
|
|
Harvard, John
|
(1607-1638)
|
English-American
|
Philanthropist. He came to the colonies and left his wealth to a college which adopted his name.
|
1
|
|
Harvey, William
|
(1578-1657)
|
|
|
2
|
|
Hatshepsut
|
(c.1540-c.1481 BCE)
|
Egyptian
|
Queen. She had herself crowned Pharaoh, an unheard of step for a woman.
|
1
|
|