Biography
1803 peopleBiographies of notable people — their path, achievements and key facts.
Boris Yeltsin
Born: February 1, 1931 Butko, Siberia, Russia Russian president, politician, and government official Boris Yeltsin, who became president of Russia in 1...
Wu Yi
Vice-Premier of the State Council and Minister of Public Health for China Born in November of 1938, in Wuhan, in the Hubei Province, China. Education: ...
Zhang Yimou
Perhaps the most critically acclaimed filmmaker to emerge from mainland China in modern times, Zhang Yimou (born 1950) came to critical attention in the 1990s for his tense films t...
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 1949) won election as president of the Republic of Indonesia in October of 2004, thus becoming his country's first directly elected president. ...
Viktor Yushchenko
President of Ukraine Born Viktor Andriyovich Yushchenko, February 23, 1954, in Khoruzhivka, Sums'ka Oblast, Ukraine; son of Andriy Andriyovych (a teacher) and Varvara Tymofi...
Viktor Yushchenko
February 23, 1954 • Khoruzhivka, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko was Prime Minister of Ukraine from December 1999 to April 2001. After being...
Tim and Nina Zagat
Restaurant critics Born Eugene H. Zagat Jr., c. 1940, in New York; son of Eugene Zagat, Sr.; married Nina Safronoff (an attorney), 1965; children: Ted, John. Educa...
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
August 4, 1960 • Valladolid, Spain Prime minister Just three days after a series of bomb blasts killed nearly two hundred in Madrid in March of 2004, Spanish voters...
Mao Zedong
Born: December 26, 1893 Shaoshan, Hunan, China Died: September 9, 1976 Beijing, China Chinese statesman Mao Zedong wa...
Jiang Zemin
Born: August 17, 1926 Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China Chinese political leader Hand picked by Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997) to be built up as ...
Elias A. Zerhouni
United States government official Born Elias Adam Zerhouni, April 12, 1951, in Nedroma, Algeria; married to Nadia Azza (a pediatrician); children: three. Education...
Dieter Zetsche
German automotive executive Dieter Zetsche (born 1953) was credited with a sharp improvement of the fortunes of the United States-based Chrysler division of the DaimlerChrysler aut...
Warren Zevon
Born Warren William Zevon, January 24, 1947, in Chicago, IL; died of lung cancer, September 7, 2003, in Los Angeles, CA. Singer and songwriter. Acclaimed musician Warren Zevon was best kno...
Ziyi Zhang
Actress Born Zhang Ziyi, February 9, 1979, in Beijing, China; daughter of Zhang Yuan Xiao (a government economist) and Li Zhou Sheng (a kindergarten schoolteacher). ...
Zinédine Zidane
Zinédine Zidane (born 1972) was the toast of France after leading that country to its only World Cup soccer championship in 1998. The midfielder, nicknamed "Zizou," scored twice in...
Paul Zindel
Born: May 15, 1936 Staten Island, New York American playwright, screenwriter, and author From Pulitzer prize-winning playwright to young adult fiction ...
Slavoj Zizek
Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek (born 1949) is an academic star, the "Elvis of Cultural Studies," according to one often-quoted journalistic formulation. His lectures, dealing i...
Bashar al-Assad
President of Syria and physician Born on September 11, 1965, in Damascus, Syria; married Asma (Emma) al–Akhras, December 31, 2000; children: Hafez. Education: ...
Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi
Born: 1942 Surt, Libya Libyan revolutionary, dictator, and army officer Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi led the revolution that set up the Libyan republic in...
Harun al-Rashid
Born: c. 766 Reyy, Persia Died: c. 809 Tus, Persia Persian caliph Harun al-Rashid became the fifth caliph (religious and political leader of an Islamic state) of t...