Leading Figures in History

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

21510 persons found

Mary Miles Minter

b. 1902

American actress (1902–1984)

Mary Moser

English painter

Mary O'Connor (runner)

b. 1955

New Zealand long-distance runner

Mary of Enghien

Countess of Lecce

Mary of Guise

Queen of Scotland from 1538 to 1542

Mary of Jesus of Ágreda

Spanish nun (1602–1665)

Mary of Modena

Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1685 to 1688

Mary of Teck

b. 1867

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1936

Mary of the Divine Heart

19th-century German religious sister

Mary Petty

b. 1899

American cartoonist

Mary Pickford

Canadian actress and producer (1892–1979)

Mary Portas

b. 1960

English retail consultant

Mary Prior

b. 1942

Lord Lieutenant of Bristol (born 1942)

Mary R. Calvert

b. 1884

American astronomer (1884–1974)

Mary Reibey

b. 1777

Australian businesswoman

Mary Robinson

b. 1944

President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997

Mary Rodgers

American composer, author and screenwriter (1931–2014)

Mary Rogers Miller

b. 1868

American author and educator

Mary Schapiro

b. 1955

29th Chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (born 1955)

Mary Scheier

American artist (1908–2007)

Mary Seacole

Jamaican-British businesswoman (1805–1881)

Mary Sibbet Copley

b. 1843

American philanthropist

Mary Soames

English author (1922–2014)

Mary Stewart (novelist)

British novelist (1916–2014)