Leading Figures in History

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

18354 persons found

Yao Yanzhang

Yarisley Silva

b. 1987

Cuban pole vaulter

Yasir Shah

b. 1986

Pakistani cricketer

Yasmina Reza

b. 1959

French actor and writer

Yasuhiko Yabuta

b. 1973

Japanese baseball player

Yasuhiro Nakasone

b. 1918

Prime Minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987

Yasumasa Morimura

b. 1951

Japanese artist

Yasunari Kawabata

Japanese novelist (1899–1972)

Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Japanese-American painter (1889–1953)

Yasushi Akimoto

b. 1958

Japanese producer and lyricist (born 1958)

Yaya Touré

b. 1983

Ivorian footballer (born 1983)

Ye Jianying

b. 1897

Chinese communist leader and politician (1897–1986)

Yechezkel Kutscher

b. 1909

Israeli philologist and Hebrew linguist

Yegor Titov

b. 1976

Russian footballer

Yehuda Amichai

b. 1924

Israeli poet and author (1924–2000)

Yehudi Menuhin

b. 1916

American-British violinist (1916–1999)

Yeji (singer)

b. 2000

South Korean singer and dancer (born 2000)

Yekaterina Podkopayeva

b. 1952

Yelena Bonner

Human rights activist in the Soviet Union (1923–2011)

Yelena Gorchakova

b. 1933

Soviet javelin thrower

Yelena Isinbayeva

b. 1982

Russian Olympic pole-vaulter

Yelena Shushunova

b. 1969

Soviet Russian gymnast (1969–2018)

Yenew Alamirew

b. 1990

Ethiopian runner

Yeoh Ghim Seng

Singaporean politician (1918–1993)