Leading Figures in History

Discover the people who shaped our world — from rulers and scientists to artists and activists.

58072 persons found

Vytenis Čižauskas

b. 1992

Lithuanian basketball player (born 1992)

W. A. C. Bennett

b. 1900

Canadian businessman and politician

W. Arthur Lewis

Saint Lucian economist and Nobel laureate (1915–1991)

W. Averell Harriman

American businessman, politician and diplomat (1891–1986)

W. B. Yeats

b. 1865

Irish poet and playwright (1865–1939)

W. Cary Edwards

b. 1944

American politician

W. Clement Stone

American New Thought author (1902–2002)

W. D. Hamilton

b. 1936

British evolutionary biologist (1936–2000)

W. E. B. Du Bois

American sociologist and activist (1868–1963)

W. Earl Brown

b. 1963

American actor, screenwriter, producer and musician (born 1963)

W. Edwards Deming

b. 1900

American engineer and statistician (1900–1993)

W. Eugene Smith

American photojournalist (1918–1978)

W. G. G. Duncan Smith

b. 1914

British flying ace (1914–1996)

W. G. Grace

b. 1848

English cricketer (1848–1915)

W. G. Sebald

b. 1944

German writer and academic (1944–2001)

W. Graham Claytor Jr.

American government official (1912–1994)

W. H. Auden

British-American poet (1907–1973)

W. H. Davies

b. 1871

Welsh poet and writer (1871–1940)

W. H. R. Rivers

English psychiatrist and anthropologist (1864–1922)

W. Heath Robinson

British illustrator (1872–1944)

W. J. M. Rankine

b. 1820

Scottish mechanical engineer (1820–1872)

W. Montgomery Watt

Scottish historian and orientalist (1909–2006)

W. O. Bentley

English engineer (1888–1971)

W. Otto Miessner

b. 1880

American composer and music educator (1880–1967)