100 Notable alumni of
SOAS, University of London
Updated:
The SOAS, University of London is 287th in the world, 100th in Europe, and 23rd in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the SOAS, University of London sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Aung San Suu Kyi
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- In 1987 studied Burmese literature
- Occupations
- human rights defenderwriterpolitician
- Biography
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Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese politician, diplomat and author who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. She has served as the general secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) since the party's founding in 1988 and was registered as its chairperson while it was a legal party from 2011 to 2023. She played a vital role in Myanmar's transition from military junta to partial democracy in the 2010s. She has been widely described as the de facto leader of Myanmar from 2016 to 2021. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
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Jemima Goldsmith
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterwritertelevision produceractivist
- Biography
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Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith, known professionally as Jemima Khan, is an English TV and film producer and screenwriter. She is the founder of Instinct Productions, a television production company. Previously she was an associate editor for the British political and cultural magazine The New Statesman and European editor-at-large for the American magazine Vanity Fair.
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Ekaterina Mizulina
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- In 2004 studied art history and Indonesian
- Occupations
- public figurewhistleblower
- Biography
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Ekaterina Mikhailovna Mizulina is a Russian public figure, executive director of the National Center for Children's Assistance (2017–2020), member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, head of the Safe Internet League. She is the daughter of former Senator Yelena Mizulina.
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Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Studied in 2002-2003
- Occupations
- aristocrat
- Biography
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Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway is a member by marriage of the Norwegian royal family. She has been married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne, since 2001. Mette-Marit and Haakon have two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
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Bülent Ecevit
- Occupations
- poetwritertranslatorpoliticianjournalist
- Biography
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Mustafa Bülent Ecevit was a Turkish statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 1974, 1977, 1978–1979, and 1999–2002. Ecevit was chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) between 1972 and 1980, and in 1987 he became chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP).
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Varun Gandhi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Feroze Varun Gandhi is an Indian politician who has been a three time Member of Parliament for Lok Sabha from the Pilibhit constituency. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was inducted into Rajnath Singh's team in March 2012 as General Secretary. He belongs to the Nehru–Gandhi family, which has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India since a time before the country's independence in 1947.
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David Lammy
- Occupations
- juristlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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David Lindon Lammy is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor since September 2025. He previously served as Foreign Secretary from July 2024 to September 2025. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham since 2000. Lammy previously held various junior ministerial positions under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown between 2002 and 2010.
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Francesca Albanese
- Occupations
- international law scholar
- Biography
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Francesca Paola Albanese is an Italian legal scholar and expert on human rights, who has served as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories since 1 May 2022; initially appointed for a three-year term, Albanese was confirmed for another three years in April 2025. She is the first woman to hold the position.
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Maajid Nawaz
- Occupations
- essayistpoliticianwriterhuman rights defenderpolitical activist
- Biography
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Maajid Usman Nawaz is a British activist and former radio presenter. He was the founding chairman of the think tank Quilliam. Until January 2022, he was the host of an LBC radio show on Saturdays and Sundays. Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, to a British Pakistani family, Nawaz is a former member of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. His membership led to his December 2001 arrest in Egypt, where he remained imprisoned until 2006. While there, he read books about human rights and made contact with Amnesty International who adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. He left Hizb-ut-Tahrir in 2007, renounced his Islamist past, and called for a secular Islam. Later, Nawaz co-founded Quilliam with former Islamists, including Ed Husain.
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Bernard Lewis
- Occupations
- historianorientalistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Bernard Lewis, FBA was a British-American historian specialized in Oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Lewis's expertise was in the history of Islam and the interaction between Islam and the West.
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Carter Page
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Carter William Page is an American petroleum industry consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign. Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy Capital, a one-man investment fund and consulting firm specializing in the Russian and Central Asian oil and gas business.
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Halil İnalcık
- Occupations
- historianwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Halil İnalcık was a Turkish historian. His highly influential research centered on social and economic approaches to the Ottoman Empire. His academic career started at Ankara University, where he completed his PhD and worked between 1940 and 1972. Between 1972 and 1986, he taught Ottoman history at the University of Chicago. From 1994 onward, he taught at Bilkent University, where he founded the history department. He was a founding member of the Eurasian Academy.
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Romila Thapar
- Occupations
- historianprofessoruniversity teacherwriter
- Biography
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Romila Thapar is an Indian historian. Her principal area of study is ancient India, a field in which she is pre-eminent. Thapar is a Professor of Ancient History, Emerita, at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
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Konon Molody
- Occupations
- spy
- Biography
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Konon Trofimovich Molody was a Soviet intelligence officer, known in the West as Gordon Arnold Lonsdale. Posing as a Canadian businessman during the Cold War, he was a non-official (illegal) KGB intelligence agent and the mastermind of the Portland spy ring, which operated in Britain from 1953 until 1961.
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Antony Flew
- Occupations
- university teacherphilosopher
- Biography
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Antony Garrard Newton Flew was an English philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, Flew worked on the philosophy of religion. During the course of his career he taught philosophy at the universities of Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele, and Reading in the United Kingdom, and at York University in Toronto, Canada.
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Orde Wingate
- Occupations
- army officer
- Biography
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Major-General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO & Two Bars was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.
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Fatima Bhutto
- Occupations
- poetwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Fatima Bhutto is a Pakistani writer and columnist. She is the daughter of politician Murtaza Bhutto, and grand-daughter of former Pakistani prime minister and president Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Born in Kabul, she was raised in Syria and Karachi, and received her bachelor's degree from Barnard College in New York City, followed by a master's degree from the SOAS, University of London.
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Hsieh Che-ching
- Occupations
- historianart historian
- Biography
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Hsieh Che-ching is a Taiwanese cultural/art history expert, broadcaster and travel writer.
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Budiman Sudjatmiko
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Budiman Sudjatmiko is an Indonesian activist, politician and actor. He is known for co-authoring the Indonesian Village Law and founding the Innovators 4.0 Movement. He is also known as a reform activist for his involvement in founding and leading the People's Democratic Party (PRD), and infamously, reading out the PRD manifesto in the courtroom. His book, Anak-Anak Revolusi, became one of the sources of information about the world of activism during the New Order era.
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Dom Joly
- Occupations
- television presentertelevision directorfilm actorcomedianjournalist
- Biography
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Dominic John Romulus Joly is an English comedian and writer. He is best known as the star of Trigger Happy TV (2000–2003), a hidden camera prank show that was broadcast in over 70 countries.
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Jung Chang
- Occupations
- linguistpoetbiographerwriterautobiographer
- Biography
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Jung Chang CBE is a Chinese-born British author. She is best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans, which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide but is banned in the People's Republic of China. Her 832-page biography of Mao Zedong, Mao: The Unknown Story, written with her husband, the Irish historian Jon Halliday, was published in June 2005. Reception of the work by academics has been largely negative, though the work has received acclaim in the popular press.
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Stella Assange
- Occupations
- lawyerhuman rights defender
- Biography
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Stella Assange is a Swedish-Spanish lawyer. Throughout her career, she has been an international advocate for human rights, most prominently in the case of her husband, Julian Assange. She changed her name to Stella Moris in 2012 and later to Stella Moris-Smith Robertson.
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Jason Chan Chi-san
- Occupations
- television actortelevision presenteractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Jason Chan is a Hong Kong actor and television presenter. He started off at TVB hosting a variety of English Pearl lifestyle shows, which required the use of his proficiency in various languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, French, and Latin.
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John Evans Atta Mills
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherlawyereconomistminister
- Biography
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John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as the 11th president of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 Ghanaian presidential election. He was previously the third vice president from 1997 to 2001 under President Jerry Rawlings, and he contested unsuccessfully in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections as the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was the first Ghanaian head of state to die in office.
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Timothy Winter
- Occupations
- Islamicist
- Biography
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Timothy John Winter, also known as Abdal Hakim Murad (Arabic: عبد الحكيم مراد), is an English Islamic scholar and theologian who is a proponent of Islamic neo-traditionalism. His work includes publications on Islamic theology, modernity, and Anglo-Muslim relations, and he has translated several Islamic texts.
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Zeinab Badawi
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- 1988-1989 graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- news presenterwriterjournalistradio journalistradio personality
- Biography
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Zeinab Mohammed-Khair Badawi is a Sudanese-British television and radio journalist, educator, civic activist, and writer. She was the first presenter of the ITV Morning News (later known as ITV News at 5:30), and co-presented Channel 4 News with Jon Snow from 1989 to 1998 before joining BBC News. Badawi was the presenter of World News Today broadcast on both BBC Four and BBC World News, and Reporters, a weekly showcase of reports from the BBC. In 2021, Badawi was appointed as president of SOAS University of London. Badawi serves on several civic boards and published her first book, An African History of Africa, in 2024.
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Mirza Tahir Ahmad
- Occupations
- writerKhalifa
- Biography
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Mirza Tahir Ahmad was the fourth caliph (Arabic: خليفة المسيح الرابع, khalīfatul masīh al-rābi) and the head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the fourth successor of the founder of the community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He was elected on 10 June 1982, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Nasir Ahmad.
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Iqra Choudhary
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Iqra Choudhary or Iqra Hasan is an Indian politician. She is the member of Lok Sabha from Kairana Lok Sabha constituency since 4 June 2024. She is a member of the Samajwadi Party.
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Abdel Bari Atwan
- Occupations
- editorwriterjournalistlinguisttranslator
- Biography
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Abdel Bari Atwan is a Palestinian-born British journalist and the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm, an Arab world digital news and opinion website. Previously he was the editor-in-chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi from the founding of the paper in 1989 until July 2013.
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David Wilson
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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David Clive Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn is a retired British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist. He was the penultimate Commander-in-Chief and 27th Governor of Hong Kong (from 1987 to 1992). He served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the British Monarch's representative to the Assembly, in 2010 and 2011. He is also one of two living former governors of Hong Kong, alongside Chris Patten. He retired from the House of Lords on 12 February 2021 after sitting as a crossbencher for more than 28 years.
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Asif Nazrul
- Years
- 1966-.. (age 60)
- Occupations
- academic
- Biography
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Mohammad Nazrul Islam, better known as Asif Nazrul, is a Bangladeshi writer, novelist, columnist, political commentator and a professor of law at the University of Dhaka. He was appointed an adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh in August 2024. He was responsible for the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
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Martin Lings
- Occupations
- poetwriteruniversity teacherlibrarianphilosopher
- Biography
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Martin Lings, also known as Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn, was an English writer, Islamic scholar, and philosopher. A student of the Swiss metaphysician Frithjof Schuon and an authority on the work of William Shakespeare, he is best known as the author of Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources.
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Freya Madeline Stark
- Occupations
- mountaineerexplorertravel writeressayistphotographer
- Biography
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Dame Freya Madeline Stark DBE was a British-Italian explorer and travel writer. She wrote more than two dozen books on her travels in the Middle East and Afghanistan as well as several autobiographical works and essays. She was one of the first non-Arabs known to travel through the southern Arabian Desert in modern times.
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Salahuddin of Selangor
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Alhaj ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Alhaj was the Sultan of Selangor from 1960, and the eleventh Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) from 1999, until his death in 2001.
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Ehsan Yarshater
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Ehsan Yarshater was an Iranian historian and linguist who specialized in Iranology. He was the founder and director of the Center for Iranian Studies, and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University.
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Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
- Years
- 1961-.. (age 65)
- Occupations
- commentatorLamafilm directoractorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, also known as Khyentse Norbu, is a Tibetan Lama, filmmaker, and writer who was born in Bhutan. His five major films are The Cup (1999), Travellers and Magicians (2003), Vara: A Blessing (2013), Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait (2017), and Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache (2019). He is the author of several published books such as What Makes You Not a Buddhist (2007), Not For Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices (2012), The Guru Drinks Bourbon? (2016), Living is Dying (2020), and several non-fiction works on Tibetan Buddhism for free distribution such as Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti’s Madhyamaka with Commentary (2003) and Buddha Nature: Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra with Commentary (2007). He has also written an autobiography in process entitled Mugwort Born. Many of his teachings are available on the Siddhartha's Intent YouTube channel.
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Swapan Dasgupta
- Occupations
- columnistpoliticianjournalist
- Biography
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Swapan Dasgupta is an Indian journalist and politician. He is influential within the Indian right-wing, writing columns for leading English dailies espousing Hindu nationalism. He was a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. In 2015, Dasgupta was conferred with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to literature and education.
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Chen I-hsin
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Graduated with doctorate
- Graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Chen I-hsin, also known by his English name Charles Chen, is a Taiwanese economist, econometrician, and politician.
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Frank Dikötter
- Occupations
- historianwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Frank Dikötter is a Dutch historian who specialises in modern China. Dikötter is the author of The People's Trilogy, which consists of Mao's Great Famine (2010), The Tragedy of Liberation (2013), and The Cultural Revolution (2016), which aim to provide a description of Communist-led China.
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Tessy Antony de Nassau
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- businesspersonexecutivephilanthropistsoldieraristocrat
- Biography
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Tessy Antony de Nassau, formerly Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, is a Luxembourgish businesswoman and non-profit executive. She is a former member of the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg as the ex-wife of Prince Louis of Luxembourg, the third son of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. She married Prince Louis in 2006, and they have two sons. In January 2017, they announced their separation and intent to divorce, with divorce proceedings occurring in London. Their divorce was finalized on 4 April 2019, at which point Antony de Nassau lost her titles of princess of Luxembourg, of Bourbon-Parma, and of Nassau.
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Har Dayal
- Occupations
- revolutionaryIndologistpolitician
- Biography
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Lala Har Dayal Mathur was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple living and intellectual acumen inspired many expatriate Indians living in Canada and the U.S. in their campaign against British rule in India during the First World War.
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Hammad Azhar
- Years
- 1981-.. (age 45)
- Occupations
- politicianbarrister
- Biography
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Muhammad Hammad Azhar is a Pakistani politician from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He was elected from NA-126 (Lahore-IV) in 2018 Pakistani general election and remained a member of National Assembly of Pakistan between August 2018 to January 2023. He served in various ministerial positions in Imran Khan ministry between 2018 and April 2022. He served as Energy Minister of Pakistan and Finance Minister of Pakistan between 16 April 2021 to 3 April 2022 and 29 March 2021 to 16 April 2021 respectively.
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Femi Fani-Kayode
- Occupations
- ministerpoliticianlawyeressayistpoet
- Biography
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David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode is a Nigerian aristocrat, politician, writer, lawyer, diplomat and poet.
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Alizeh Agnihotri
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Alizeh Agnihotri, credited mononymously as Alizeh, is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She is the niece of Salman Khan, the daughter of actor Atul Agnihotri and producer Alvira Khan. She made her debut in the 2023 film Farrey.
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Hüseyin Çelik
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Hüseyin Çelik is a Turkish former Minister of National Education of Turkey and member of parliament for Van for the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
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Wang Gungwu
- Occupations
- historiansinologist
- Biography
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Wang Gungwu AO, CBE, also written Wang Gung Wu, is a Chinese Australian historian, sinologist, and writer specialising in the history of China and Southeast Asia. He has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora. An expert on the Chinese tianxia ("all under heaven") concept, he was the first to suggest its application to the contemporary world as an American tianxia. He is the recipient of many honours and awards, including the Singapore Literature Prize at age 91.
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Nasser Khalili
- Occupations
- philanthropistentrepreneurart historianart collectorbusinessperson
- Biography
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Sir Nasser David Khalili KCSS is a British scholar, collector, and philanthropist based in London. Born in Iran and educated at Queens College, City University of New York and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he is a naturalised British citizen.
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Emma Dabiri
- Occupations
- writeracademictelevision presenterradio personality
- Biography
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Emma Dabiri FRSL is an Irish writer and broadcaster. Her debut book, Don't Touch My Hair, was published in 2019. Her 2021 book, What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition, became an international bestseller. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023.
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Achim Steiner
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Achim Steiner is a Senior Fellow of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. He also serves as Chair of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference. A Brazilian-German National, he completed his two terms as UN Under-Secretary General and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (2017–2025) and vice-chair of United Nations Sustainable Development Group in June 2025.
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Frank Furedi
- Occupations
- university teachersociologist
- Biography
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Frank Furedi is a Hungarian-Canadian academic and emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent. He is well known for his work on sociology of fear, education, therapy culture, sociology of knowledge, and what he calls "paranoid parenting".
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Gita Sahgal
- Occupations
- authorhuman rights defenderjournalistfilm producer
- Biography
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Gita Sahgal is a British writer, journalist, film director, feminist activist, and human rights activist, whose work focuses on the issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism.
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Louise Perry
- Years
- 1992-.. (age 34)
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Louise Perry is a British journalist, author and podcast host. She is a featured writer for the Daily Mail and a columnist at the New Statesman, and has been described as a leading reactionary feminist.
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Samia Nkrumah
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Graduated with master's degree in Arabic
- Occupations
- chairman of the executive boardjournalistbank tellerpolitician
- Biography
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Honourable Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah is a Ghanaian politician and former chairperson of the Convention People's Party (CPP) making her the first woman to ever head a major political party in Ghana. In the 2008 parliamentary election, she won the Jomoro constituency seat on her first attempt. She is the daughter of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana.
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Pavin Chachavalpongpun
- Occupations
- diplomatwriterhistorian
- Biography
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Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a Thai scholar notable for his criticism of the Thai monarchy. He currently resides in Japan as a political exile. He has been teaching at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University since 2012.
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Andrew Bertie
- Occupations
- friar
- Biography
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Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie was Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1988 until his death in 2008.
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Edmund “Ed” Husain
- Occupations
- autobiographer
- Biography
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Edmund “Ed” Husain (born 25 December 1974) is a published British American author, co-founder of the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam Foundation, Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). As a political advisor he has worked with leaders and governments across the world. Husain's work at CFR focuses primarily on U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East generally, and specifically at the intersection of Arab-Israeli relations after the Abraham Accords, the geopolitical interplay of Arab Gulf states, China-Muslim world dynamics, and Islamist terrorism. At Columbia and Georgetown Universities, he teaches classes on global security, Arab-Israeli peace, Race, Religion, and Terrorism, and the shared intellectual roots of the West and Islam.
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Ivan van Sertima
- Occupations
- university teacherhistorianjournalistanthropologistlinguist
- Biography
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Ivan Gladstone Van Sertima was a Guyanese-born British associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University in the United States.
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Catherine West
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Catherine Elizabeth West is an Australian-born British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Friern Barnet, previously Hornsey and Wood Green, since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Indo-Pacific from 2024 to 2025.
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Felix Finkbeiner
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- In 2018 studied international relations
- Occupations
- bloggerconservationistnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Felix Finkbeiner is a German environmentalist and the founder of the international tree-planting and environmental advocacy organization Plant-for-the-Planet.
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Gamal Nkrumah
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Graduated with doctorate in political science
- Occupations
- editorwriterjournalist
- Biography
-
Gamal Gorkeh Nkrumah is a Ghanaian journalist, a Pan-Africanist and an editor of Al Ahram Weekly newspaper. He is the eldest son of the first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and his Egyptian mother Fathia Nkrumah. His sister is the Ghanaian politician Samia Nkrumah.
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Husam Zomlot
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- 2000-2007 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in economics
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Husam Said Zomlot is a Palestinian diplomat, academic and economist. He was appointed Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom in October 2018. He has served as the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom since January 2026. Before his posting to the UK, he served as head of the PLO mission to the United States that was closed by President Donald Trump's administration.
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Ambeth Ocampo
- Occupations
- historian
- Biography
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Ambeth R. Ocampo is a Filipino public historian, academic, cultural administrator, journalist, author, and independent curator. He is best known for his definitive writings about Philippines' national hero José Rizal and on topics in Philippine history and Philippine art through Looking Back, his bi-weekly editorial page column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
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Hechmi Hamdi
- Occupations
- writerjournalistbusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
-
Mohamed Hechmi Hamdi, also spelled Mohamed el Hachmi El-Hamdi, Hechmi Haamdi, or Hachmi Hamdi is a Tunisian journalist, media entrepreneur and politician, who lives in London. He is founder and owner of the oppositional Al Mustakillah TV channel. After the Tunisian Revolution in 2011 he founded the "Popular Petition" party later renamed to Current of Love.
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Karen Yu
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Graduated with master's degree
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Yu Wan-ju, also known by her English name Karen Yu, is a Taiwanese politician. She served a single term on the Legislative Yuan as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party.
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Zairil Khir Johari
- Years
- 1982-.. (age 44)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Zairil Khir Johari is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of the Penang State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state administration under Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Tanjong Bunga since May 2018. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Bendera from May 2013 to May 2018. He is a member of the Democratic Action Party, a component party of the PH coalition. In DAP, he served as the Assistant National Publicity Secretary from September 2013 to March 2022, State Vice Chairman of Penang since December 2013 and Parliamentary Spokesperson of Education, Science and Technology. He is the son of Khir Johari, former federal minister and prominent politician from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Alliance.
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Nasri Atallah
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
-
Nasri Atallah is a British-Lebanese Author, television host, film producer, and entrepreneur. He is the editor-in-chief of Esquire Middle East, Esquire Saudi and Esquire Qatar. He is the Head of Content at SRMG, a co-founder of Last Floor Productions, and a Contributing Editor at GQ Middle East.
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Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah
- Occupations
- diplomatwriterpolitician
- Biography
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Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah was a Pakistani politician, diplomat and author. She joined the Pakistani foreign service in 1948, and was the country's first female civil servant, as well as the first Muslim woman to earn a PhD from the University of London. She was Pakistan's ambassador to Morocco from 1964 to 1967, and a delegate to the United Nations, calling for a more gender-inclusive language in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Moussa Ibrahim
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Moussa Ibrahim Gaddafi is a Libyan political figure who rose to international attention in 2011 as Muammar Gaddafi's Information Minister and official spokesman, serving in this role until the government was toppled the same year in the Libyan Civil War. Ibrahim held frequent press conferences in the course of the war, denouncing rebel forces and the NATO-led military intervention, often in defiant and impassioned tones. His status and whereabouts remained unknown following the Battle of Tripoli in which the Gaddafi government was overthrown, although there were several claims and subsequent refutations of his capture. Eventually, in late 2014, it was discovered he was in Egypt before he was deported and fled to Serbia. On 12 January 2015 Moussa Ibrahim spoke publicly by video link at a political event hosted at the Committee Rooms Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London from an undisclosed location, also the Director of Private Security Company.
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Gold Panda
- Occupations
- record producerdisc jockeycomposer
- Biography
-
Derwin Schlecker, professionally known as Gold Panda, is an English electronic record producer and songwriter. Derwin Dicker also performs house music as DJ Jenifa.
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Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh
- Occupations
- historianwritergeographer
- Biography
-
Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh is an Iranian political scientist and historian. He is a prominent Iranologist, geopolitics researcher, historian and political scientist. He worked in Iranian universities as a geopolitics professor from 1999 to 2014, namely Tarbiat Modares University, University of Tehran and Shahid Beheshti University. He was fired from Tarbiat Modares University in 2014 by Revolutionary Guard Officer Sardar Yahya Rahim Safavi for expressing views in opposition to the Islamic regime. He is an advisor of the United Nations University.
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Suki Kim
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Studied in 1992
- Occupations
- teacherwriterjournalist
- Biography
-
Suki Kim is a Korean American journalist and writer. She is the author of two books: the award-winning novel The Interpreter and a book of investigative journalism, Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea's Elite. Kim is the only writer ever to have lived undercover in North Korea to conduct immersive journalism. Kim is currently a contributing editor at The New Republic.
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Mia Kang
- Occupations
- model
- Biography
-
Mia Kang is a British-Swiss fashion model, Muay Thai fighter, body confidence advocate, and television host based in New York City. Kang grew up in Hong Kong and was bullied as a young girl for being overweight. She halved her weight at the age of 13 and was soon scouted as a model. Kang modeled across Asia and Europe through her high school and college years. She got a master's degree in finance and financial law in England, and left modeling to work as a commodities trader, before returning to modeling in New York City and winning the 2016 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model search and being named a 2017 Rookie.
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Ysabelle Lacamp
- Occupations
- singeractornovelist
- Biography
-
Ysabelle Lacamp was a French novelist, singer and actress.
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Navin Chawla
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- In 1967 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in study of history
- Occupations
- civil servantbiographerwriter
- Biography
-
Navin Chawla was an Indian civil servant and writer, who served as 16th Chief Election Commissioner of India. Four phases (out of five) of the Indian general election to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, were executed under his supervision in April and May 2009.
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Michael Cook
- Years
- 1940-.. (age 86)
- Occupations
- historianuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Michael Allan Cook FBA is a British historian and scholar of Islamic history. Cook is the general editor of The New Cambridge History of Islam.
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Ghida Fakhry
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
-
Ghida Fakhry is a Lebanese-British journalist, currently a host and executive producer for TRT World in Washington D.C. She was a lead anchor for the global news channel Al Jazeera English at its launch in Washington D.C., and was later one of the primary anchors at the network's headquarters in Doha. She was also the host of Witness, a documentary program.
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Emma McCune
- Occupations
- activisthumanitarian
- Biography
-
Emma McCune was a British foreign aid worker in Sudan who married then-guerrilla leader Riek Machar. She was killed when hit by a matatu in Kenya whilst expecting her first child.
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Stefano Lentini
- Occupations
- singersongwritercomposer
- Biography
-
Stefano Lentini is an Italian composer based in Rome. He has extensively composed and produced music for film, television, and theatre, working across a wide range of genres.
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Ananda Devi
- Occupations
- writerpoetnovelistshort story writer
- Biography
-
Ananda Devi Nirsimloo-Anenden, also known as Ananda Devi, is a francophone Mauritian author. She is the 2024 recipient of the Neustadt Prize, known as the "American Nobel."
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Kamal Salibi
- Occupations
- historianarchaeologistuniversity teacherwriter
- Biography
-
Kamal Suleiman Salibi was a Lebanese historian, professor of history at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the founding Director (later Honorary President) of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Amman, Jordan.
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Arthur Llewellyn Basham
- Occupations
- historianauthor
- Biography
-
Arthur Llewellyn Basham FAHA was a British historian, Indologist and author. As a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London in the 1950s and the 1960s, he taught a number of famous historians of India, including professors Nemai Sadhan Bose, Awadh Kishore Narain, Ram Sharan Sharma, Romila Thapar, and V. S. Pathak and Thomas R. Trautmann and David Lorenzen.
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Inger Andersen
- Occupations
- economistUnited Nations officialenvironmentalist
- Biography
-
Inger Andersen is a Danish economist and environmentalist. In February 2019, she was appointed as the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
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Hollie McNish
- Occupations
- poetlecturerrapper
- Biography
-
Hollie McNish is an English poet and author based between Cambridge and Glasgow. She has published four collections of poetry: Papers (2012), Cherry Pie (2015), Why I Ride (2015), Plum (2017) and one poetic memoir on politics and parenthood, Nobody Told Me (2016), of which the Scotsman suggested “The world needs this book...and so does every new parent” and for which she won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. The latter has been translated into German, French and Spanish. McNish's sixth publication - a second cross-genre collection of poetry, memoir and short stories - Slug, and other things I've been told to hate, was published in May 2021 with Hachette with a further collection Lobster, was published in hardback in 2024 and as a paperback in 2025, with Fleet / Little Brown. In 2016, she co-wrote a play with fellow poet Sabrina Mahfouz, Offside, relating the history of British women in football. This was published as a book in 2017.
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Edith Penrose
- Occupations
- university teachereconomist
- Biography
-
Edith Elura Tilton Penrose was an American-born British economist whose best known work is The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, which describes how firms grow and how fast they do. Writing in The Independent, the economist Sir Alec Cairncross stated that the book brought Dr. Penrose "instant recognition as a creative thinker, and its importance to the analysis of the job of management has been increasingly realized".
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M. K. Asante
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorrapperfilm producer
- Biography
-
M. K. Asante is an American author, filmmaker, songwriter, recording artist, and professor. He is the author of the 2013 best-selling memoir Buck: A Memoir and the 2024 memoir Nephew: A Memoir in Four-Part Harmony.
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Adriano Maleiane
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- In 1998 graduated with master's degree in financial economics
- Occupations
- civil servanteconomistministerpolitician
- Biography
-
Adriano Afonso Maleiane is a Mozambican economist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Mozambique from 3 March 2022 to 15 January 2025.
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Peter Parker
- Years
- 1924-2002 (aged 78)
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
-
Sir Peter Parker KBE LVO was a British businessman and chairman of the British Railways Board from 1976 to 1983.
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Petra Stienen
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Studied in 1990-1991
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticiancolumnistarabist
- Biography
-
Petra Stienen is a Dutch human rights advocate with more than thirty years’ experience in diplomacy, international relations, civil society, social entrepreneurship and politics.
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Jonathan Cook
- Occupations
- journalistopinion journalist
- Biography
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Jonathan Cook, born circa 1965, is a British writer and a freelance journalist formerly based in Nazareth, Israel, who writes about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He writes a regular column for The National of Abu Dhabi and Middle East Eye.
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Andrew Mango
- Occupations
- historian of Modern Agebiographerwriteropinion journalistjournalist
- Biography
-
Andrew James Alexander Mango was a British BBC employee and author.
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Ajmal Masroor
- Occupations
- television presenterpolitician
- Biography
-
Ajmal Masroor is a Bangladeshi-born British imam, broadcaster and political activist. He is known for being a television presenter on political discussions and on Muslim channels.
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Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 52)
- Occupations
- ulema
- Biography
-
Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera is a Sunni Islamic scholar, author, and founder of Whitethread Institute and Zamzam Academy. He authored Fiqh al-Imam and Healthy Muslim Marriage. He was featured in the 2020 edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.
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Luísa Diogo
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- In 1992 graduated with Master of Economics in financial economics
- Occupations
- ministereconomistpolitician
- Biography
-
Luísa Dias Diogo was a Mozambican economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Mozambique from 2004 to 2010. She also served as Minister of Planning and Finance between 2000 and 2005. Diogo was the first female prime minister of Mozambique and her term in office was notable for the economic reforms that brought financial stability to the country and women empowerment.
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Akbar S. Ahmed
- Occupations
- filmmakeruniversity teacherwriterdiplomatanthropologist
- Biography
-
Akbar Salahuddin Ahmed is a Pakistani-American academic, author, poet, playwright, filmmaker and former diplomat. He currently is a professor of International Relations and holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University, School of International Service in Washington, D.C. Akbar Ahmed served as the Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland. He currently is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
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Nur Masalha
- Occupations
- historianuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Nur ad-Din Masalha is a Palestinian writer, historian, and academic. His work focuses on the history, politics, and theology of Palestine, including themes such as the Palestinian Nakba, Zionism, and liberation theology.
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Dharma Vira
- Occupations
- civil servant
- Biography
-
Dharma Vira was an Indian civil servant and politician who served as the governor of Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal and Karnataka. Vira also served as a Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India.
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Aaron Mike Oquaye
- Enrolled in the SOAS, University of London
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in law
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherlawyerdiplomatminister
- Biography
-
Aaron Mike Oquaye is a Ghanaian barrister and politician who served as the sixth Speaker of Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana from 2017 to 2021. An academic, diplomat and Baptist minister, he previously held the cabinet ministerial portfolios for energy and communication and was also the High Commissioner of Ghana to India (2002–04) in the Kufuor administration.
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Paul Madden
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
-
Paul Damian Madden CMG FRGS is a retired British diplomat, who was High Commissioner to Singapore and to Australia, and Ambassador to Japan between 2017 and 2021.
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Andrew Mwenda
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
-
Andrew Mwenda is a Ugandan print, radio and television journalist, and the founder and owner of The Independent, a current affairs newsmagazine. He was previously the political editor of The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan newspaper, and was the presenter of Andrew Mwenda Live on KFM Radio in Kampala, Uganda's capital city.
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Ali Ansari
- Occupations
- historian
- Biography
-
Ali Massoud Ansari is a Professor in Modern History with reference to the Middle East at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where he is also the founding director of the Institute for Iranian Studies.
