Famous people
Find out who our students are writing about
Paul Tcheng
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, born in 1869, was the leader of the « Indian Independence Movement » in the British-ruled part in India.
He is known to be the first man to employ non-violent civil disobedience.
He is the man that led India to independence.
Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of non violence, he was the first to use it.
Gandhi influenced a lot of leaders of the world: the first is of course the former prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.
In the United States, Martin Luther King refers clearly to Gandhi in his battle for the African-American Civil Rights.
Gandhi was, and is a major source of inspiration for everybody. His is a model in terms of faith, simplicity and
freedom. Even nowadays, we can see how his ideas had shaped the world: A lot of voluntary associations use Gandhi non-violent principle to communicate their ideas to change the world. Even our most simple vision of peace is a heritage from the great Gandhi.
He is present everywhere: In movies (« Gandhi »-1982), in books (« India Of my dream » or « Key to health »), and even in some recent philosophical text that uses Gandhi as a perfect exemple of the man, that was so convinced by an idea, he dedicated he entire life to it.
Lucas Raad
Steve Jobs
The phone you’re reading this on was made by one of the most innovative men of the 21st century, Steve Jobs.
Apple was founded in April 1976 to sell personal computers. It all started on the 9th of January 2007, when apple released the 1st IPhone. At the time it was revolutionary, the 1st smartphone. It had everything, internet, a built-in camera and the last but not the least: a touch screen. Steve Jobs changed everything when it comes to phones with that one phone. After that, he made the IPhone 3G enabling wireless on the go internet connection. The IPhone 3G got was very popular and truly changed the way we used phones.
Today, we are at the 7th generation of iPhone and we are nearing the iPhones 10 year anniversary. Since the IPhone 3G, IPhone has developed Touch ID, Siri and many other features that have revolutionized the way phones are made.
I chose Steve Jobs because he made a truly huge difference in the world. He may not be a historical figure per se, but he will go down in history.
Gaelle Honein
Christopher Columbus
Many people have changed the world in many different ways. One of these people is Christopher Columbus. Columbus is the most famous of all explorers. He wanted to go to Asia but instead landed on the West Indies. Which led to the exploitation of the area by the European countries. Thanks to his discovery, we now have the most powerful country in the world: the United States of America. I always wonder, what would have happened if Columbus never landed on the West Indies? What if the continent was never discovered? I am sure that the world would have been very different from the one we know. We probably never would have known what hamburger or a chicken nugget was. We would never have been able to watch as amazing movies or had as amazing technology. All of these things prove that Columbus and his discovery have changed the world in a very big way.
Sophia Moubarak
Princess Diana
If you ask me to pick a historical figure, I would hesitate because I wouldn’t be able to choose one instantly. There are many historical figures such as Michelle Obama, Malala Yousafzai, William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, Theodore Roosevelt and many more. But the first person I thought of was Princess Diana.
Diana, princess of Wales was born the 1st of July 1961 and passed away the 31st of August 1997, in a car accident in Paris. She got married to the Prince of Wales the 29th of July 1981 and produced two sons, princes William and Harry.
Princess Diana was mostly famous for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and campaigns for animal protection. She was involved with dozens of charities including London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for children. She was also the patroness of charities and organisations working with the homeless, youth, drug addicts and elderly. She was a patron of Headway and a brain injury association. From 1984 to 1992 she was the president of Barnardo’s, a charity to care for vulnerable children and young people. In 1988 she became the patron of the British Red Cross and supported its organisations in other countries such as Australia and Canada.
Her patronages also included Landmines Survivors Network, Help the Aged, the trust for Sick Children in Wales, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the British Lung Foundation, the National AIDS Trust, Eureka!, the National Children’s Orchestra, Royal Brompton Hospital, British Red Cross Youth, the Malcom Sargent Cancer Fund for Children, the Royal School for the blind and the British Deaf Association. Diana also made several visits each week to Royal Brompton Hospital, where she worked to comfort seriously ill or dying patients.
In June 1995, Princess Diana made a brief trip to Moscow, where she visited children’s hospital that she had previously supported threw her charity work. Diana presented the hospital medical equipment. During her time in the Russian capital, Diana was awarded the International Leonardo Prize, an award given to the most distinguished patrons and people in the arts, medicine and sports which was her case at the time. In October 1996, Diana received the Princess Palsy Humanitarian Award in New York City.
In my opinion, Princess Diana deserved all the awards that had been awarded to her because she has spent most of her life doing charity work, supporting associations and caring for other people. Princess Diana has inspired many individuals to help others in need.
Habiba El hiny
Ahmed Zewail
Ahmed Zewail was born in the Delta region of Egypt on February 26th 1946. Zewail graduated in the Alexandria University's Faculty of Science with honours in 1967, only one year after a devastating military defeat for Egypt at the hands of Israel that led so many young Egyptians to indeterminate faith and careers.
Like many other prominent science graduates of his time, Zewail - who had assumed a teaching job at the University of Alexandria while finishing off his masters degree - received a scholarship for his Ph.D at the University of Pennsylvania.
This got him started in a long career of scientific research that took him to Berkeley in the early 1970s and crowned him with a Nobel in science in 1999 after he demonstrated that it was possible with rapid laser technique to see how atoms in a molecule move during a chemical reaction down to tenths of femtoseconds .His experiments led to the birth of the research field referred to as Femtochemistry, leading scientists to name the late Zewail “The Father of Femtochemistry”. Zewail’s Nobel prize introduced him to the Egyptian public as a US-based Egyptian scientist, and he was widely celebrated in the media and all over the Egypt as the symbol of the success that an Egyptian could acheive if given the right working conditions. Zewail always spoke affectionately of his childhood and early youth in Egypt and of his dream for a time when Egypt could reassume its interest in scientific research and development.
To fulfill his dream "for Egypt to have centers of excellence where potential researchers could find the right medium for their contributions”, Zewail offered the idea of establishing the Zewail Scientific Research Center - it’s a nonprofit, independent institution of learning, research and innovation. The concept of the city was proposed in 1999 and its cornerstone led on January 1st 2000. After numerous delays, the project was revived by the Egyptian cabinet’s decree on May 11th 2011 following the January 25th revolution. The city with its three constituents – the university, research institutes, and technology park – is designed to bring about effective participation in 21st Century science, to elevate local technologies to the world level, and to increase national productivity.
At the age of 70, Egyptian born-and-raised scientist Ahmed Zewail passed away following a tough struggle with cancer in his adoptive country, the United States. The death of the Egyptian-American Nobel Laureate, widely mourned in Egypt, puts an end to the life of a man who inspired generations and whose life in the US never overshadowed his unavoidable association with Egypt, where his body is laid to rest upon his own wishes.
Jawaher Ghaith
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist who was born in 1913 and died in 2005.
One of the most inspiring and famous incidents that happened to her and made her so popular among activists, was on December 1st 1955.
In the United States, in the 1950s black Americans had no civil rights to the extent that even in the bus black and white were seperated, had their on sections and weren't aloud to be mixed; thats what we call segregation.
On the 1st of December 1955, in Montgomery,Alabama Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger.
This brave woman was arrested and fined for disobeying the city ordinance.But she began a movement that ended segregation in America and made an inspiration to people.
The incident led to an association called The Montgomery Improvement Association led by the young pastor, Martin Luther King Jr.The association called for a boycott of the city owned bus company.This was one of many other campaigns of civil resistance, none violence protests and civil disobedience.These campaigns are led to dialogs between activists and governments and ended up with many changes in the legislation giving rights to black people: discrimination based one race, colour, religion… was banned.
I chose Rosa Parks because she made a huge and inspirational change in the world and tahtn she showed that black people should be equally treated like white people.
Zaynab Khattabi
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States he was born February 12,1809 in Hardin country ,Kentucky. His parents who where from Virginia were modest, they were neither wealthy or well known. Abraham lost his mother at an early age and his father moved away to Indiana. Abraham was a good student he use to work very hard to success in his studies. He married Mary Todd and had four children,eventually three died before becoming adults. As a lawyer,Abraham developed a great capacity for quick thinking.He was very interested in public issues, in 1845 he was elected to the House of Representatives and tried to gain nomination for the senate in 1858.Abraham lost this election,but it made him well known in the Republican Party,during this campaign he gave one of his best remembered speeches. In this speech,Lincoln said that only the federal government had the power to end slavery. Abraham Lincoln became the president in 1861,Lincoln opposed the breakaway of the south and so this led to the American civil war. The civil war was costly and Lincoln started to loose the support of the population,but he managed to keep the Republican Party together. On January 1,1863,Lincoln issued his memorable emancipation proclamation that declared the freedom of slaves. Eventually after 4 years Abraham Lincoln saved the union and ended the slavery . Lincoln was assassinated by the actor John Wilkes booth on April 14,1865. I think that Abraham Lincoln made a big change in the world he influenced many people and was one of the most important president of the US,because of him there is no more slavery.
Juuzou Suzuya
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr was an American minister and activist who was a leader of the civil rights movement. He Lived in a period of racial humiliation and inequality which, putting an end to was his priority. He fought the discrimination and made a campaign helping poor people as well. His action notified ,he was awarded the Noble Peace Prize. He delivered his famous speech ‘I have a dream’ in 1963 during the organization of the March on Washington, five years before he was assassinated.
Today lies he’s memorial monument in the West Potomac in Washington DC in gees of memorial of him.
Molka
Nelson Mandela
For me, Nelson Mandela changed the world by fighting and helping the people. He was arrested by the police and imprisoned for 27 years because he was defending the blacks. He participates in a lot of strikes to denounce the white people and the injustices that was suffered by the black people.
For me he was a historical figure and a reference for the humanity. He changed the world by stopping the black people being discriminated by the white people and by helping them to defend themselves, to impose themselves and to not obey to the racist laws.
Yassine Benmansour
Nelson Mandela
There are hundreds of people that have made a difference in the world. Some have had a bigger influence that others.
I am going to talk about one of the most famous figure in history. His name,which you probably already know, is Nelson Mandela.
He is a great man that has brought about many drastic changes in the world.
Nelson Mandela was a South African political activist who spent over 20 years in prison for his opposition to the apartheid regime (a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa between 1948 and 1991) . He was released in 1990 and, in 1994 and was later elected the first leader of a democratic South Africa. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his work in helping to end racial segregation in South Africa. He is considered the father of a democratic South Africa and widely admired for his ability to bring together a nation, previously divided by racism and discrimination. Nelson Mandela is one of the most admired political leaders of the Twentieth and Twenty First Century for his vision to forgive. As President, he sought to heal the rifts of the past. His forgiving and tolerant attitude gained the respect of the whole South African nation and considerably eased the transition to a full democracy.
In my opinion, Nelson Mandela is a man that shall not be forgotten and he shall stay in the heart of everyone We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela ever again, so it falls to us, as best we can, to carry forward the example that he set. He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the ages.
Some of his most famous sayings :
“If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness. “
“The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.”
“We believe that South Africa belongs to all the people who live in it, and not to one group, be it black or white. We did not want an interracial war, and tried to avoid it to the last minute. ”
Danah Jannoun
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was born on the 14th of March 1879 in Germany .and died on the 18th of April 1955 in the United States .He was a theoretical physicist . He invented the general theory of relativity . His work influenced the philosophy of science .He developed many important formulas and equations . He received the 1921 Nobel prize in Physics .He has published more than 300 scientific papers and 150 non-scientific papers During the period Adolf Hitler came to power he was visiting the US . He was Jewish so he didn't return to Germany . He became an American citizen in 1940 . Albert , being German , but Jewish alerted the president of the US about "a new type of bomb ", a nuclear bomb , on the day before World War II and suggested they start some research themselves He denounced the use of nuclear fission but he supported the Allied forces .
Einstein's intellectual achievements have made him known as a genius , the man with the highest IQ level .
He has changed the meaning of physics and logic for many people . He's become a role model and a goal for people , he personally is my idol .He is just like everything else part of what we have now , if anything from the past was differnt we wouldn't be where we are now .He changed the world by sharing his ideas and discoveries .
Hassan hassfaouaz
Gaius Julius Ceasar
There are many figures that made a change in the world in different areas,but today,I chose Gaius Julius Ceasar a deceased roman consul that changed the world as we know it.Before we get into anything I'm just going to give you guys a quick biography about Julius.Julius was born in 100BC,he was a great general and tactician,he was the one who invaded France and Britain...He later became the dictator of the Roman empire.As you all know Julius a role model for many important figures like Napoleon,Adolf Hitler,ect..Why?Well because he tried to take over the world and he almost succeeded,so Napoleon and Hitler tried too.Julius also put an end to the Roman republic.Julius is mostly known for his military campaigns;his civil war,his galic war,his egyptian campaigne.He is also the author of our calendar the Julian calendar with 12 months and 365 days.This is who I think made a great change in the world.Thank you for reading.
