Leading Figures in History

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

21510 persons found

Nicolaes Witsen

b. 1641

Dutch statesman (1641–1717)

Nicolai Abildgaard

Danish painter, sculptor and architect (1743–1809)

Nicolas Aubé-Kubel

b. 1996

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1996)

Nicolas Bentley

b. 1907

British author and illustrator (1907–1978)

Nicolás Bravo

President of Mexico in 1839, from 1842 to 1843, in 1846

Nicolas Calas

b. 1907

Greek-American poet and art critic

Nicolas François de Neufchâteau

b. 1750

French statesman (1750–1828)

Nicolas Hulot

b. 1955

French journalist and environmental activist

Nicolas Jackson

b. 2001

Footballer (born 2001)

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot

b. 1796

French physicist and engineer (1796–1832)

Nicolas Marceau

b. 1964

Canadian politician

Nicolas Nabokov

b. 1903

Russian-American composer

Nicolas Oudinot

b. 1767

French Army marshal (1767–1847)

Nicolas Slonimsky

b. 1894

Russian-American musicologist (1894–1995)

Nicolás Vuyovich

Argentine racing driver

Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc

French astronomer (1580–1637)

Nicolau Tolentino de Almeida

Portuguese writer (1740–1811)

Nicolaus Copernicus

Mathematician and astronomer (1473–1543)

Nicolaus Otto

b. 1832

Inventor of the internal combustion engine

Nicolaus Zinzendorf

German protestant religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church

Nicole Brown Simpson

German-American murder victim (1959–1994)

Nicole den Dulk

b. 1980

Dutch Paralympic equestrian

Nicole Irving

b. 1982

Australian swimmer (born 1982)

Nicole Kaczmarski

b. 1981

American basketball player