Leading Figures in History

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

24411 persons found

Vlasta Vraz

b. 1900

Czech American relief worker, editor, and fundraiser

Võ Văn Kiệt

Prime Minister of Vietnam

Volfgangs Dārziņš

Latvian composer, pianist and music critic

Volker Beck (athlete)

b. 1956

East German sprinter and hurdler

Volkmar Groß

German footballer (1948–2014)

Volmari Iso-Hollo

Athletics competitor

Volney Howard

American lawyer, statesman, and jurist (1809–1889)

Volodymyr Holubnychy

b. 1936

Ukrainian racewalker (1936–2021)

Volodymyr Sabodan

Ukrainian bishop and Primate (1935–2014)

Voltaire

French writer and philosopher (1694–1778)

Vonda Shepard

b. 1963

American singer (born 1963)

Vontae Davis

b. 1988

American football player (1988–2024)

Vujadin Boškov

Yugoslavian footballer and manager (1931–2014)

Vyacheslav Artyomov

b. 1940

Russian and Soviet composer (born 1940)

W. Arthur Lewis

Saint Lucian economist and Nobel laureate (1915–1991)

W. B. Yeats

b. 1865

Irish poet and playwright (1865–1939)

W. G. G. Duncan Smith

b. 1914

British flying ace (1914–1996)

W. G. Sebald

b. 1944

German writer and academic (1944–2001)

W. Graham Claytor Jr.

American government official (1912–1994)

W. H. Davies

b. 1871

Welsh poet and writer (1871–1940)

W. H. R. Rivers

English psychiatrist and anthropologist (1864–1922)

W. J. M. Rankine

b. 1820

Scottish mechanical engineer (1820–1872)

W. Otto Miessner

b. 1880

American composer and music educator (1880–1967)

W. P. Kinsella

b. 1935

Canadian author (1935–2016)