100 Notable alumni of
University College London
Updated:
University College London is 37th in the world, 14th in Europe, and 6th in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from University College London sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 6 individuals affiliated with University College London won Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology or Medicine.
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Mahatma Gandhi
- Enrolled in University College London
- In 1888 studied law
- Occupations
- journalisthumanitarianbarristercivil rights advocatephilosopher
- Biography
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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (from Sanskrit, meaning great-souled, or venerable), first applied to him in South Africa in 1914, is used worldwide.
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Christopher Nolan
- Occupations
- film editorcinematographerproducercamera operatorfilm screenwriter
- Biography
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Sir Christopher Edward Nolan is a British and American filmmaker. A significant auteur of his generation, he has been a major Hollywood figure in the 21st century. Nolan's films have earned over $6 billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing film director. His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two British Academy Film Awards. Nolan was appointed as a CBE in 2019 and was knighted in 2024 for his contributions to film.
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Chris Martin
- Enrolled in University College London
- 1996-2000 studied ancient history
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Christopher Anthony John Martin is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay.
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David Attenborough
- Occupations
- film producerfilm actornaturalisttelevision actortelevision producer
- Biography
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Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. First becoming prominent as host of Zoo Quest in 1954, his filmography as a writer, presenter and narrator has spanned eight decades; it includes the nine nature documentary series forming The Life Collection, Natural World, Wildlife on One, the Planet Earth franchise, The Blue Planet and Blue Planet II. He is the only person to have won BAFTA Awards in black-and-white, colour, high-definition, 3D and 4K resolution. Over his life he has collected dozens of honorary degrees and awards, including three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narration and one Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Personality - Non-Daily.
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Rabindranath Tagore
- Occupations
- essayistfreedom fighterplaywrightcomposerwriter
- Biography
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Rabindranath Thakur FRAS, also known by his pseudonym Bhanusimha (Sun Lion) was a Bengali polymath (poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter) of the Bengal Renaissance period. In 1913, Tagore became the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in any category, and also the first lyricist and non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. A significant moulder of culture within the Indian subcontinent, he has written and composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.
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Ricky Gervais
- Occupations
- musiciantelevision presentertelevision actortelevision producerfilm director
- Biography
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Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms The Office (2001–2003), Extras (2005–2007), and Life's Too Short (2011–2013) with Stephen Merchant. He also created, wrote, and starred in Derek (2012–2014) and After Life (2019–2022). Gervais was also executive producer of and had cameos in the American rendition of The Office (2005–2013).
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Alexander Graham Bell
- Occupations
- professorbusinesspersonelectrical engineerengineerinventor
- Biography
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Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
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Charli XCX
- Occupations
- songwritersinger-songwriterrecording artistsinger
- Biography
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Charlotte Emma Aitchison, known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Records in 2010, Charli XCX released a series of singles and mixtapes in the early 2010s. In 2012, she was featured on "I Love It" by Swedish duo Icona Pop, which became her first number-one song in the UK and received global success. Her positively reviewed debut studio album, True Romance (2013), failed to meet commercial expectations.
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John Stuart Mill
- Occupations
- botanical collectorclerkwriterautobiographereconomist
- Biography
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John Stuart Mill was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and political economy. Dubbed "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century" by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, he conceived of liberty as justifying the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control. He advocated political and social reforms such as proportional representation, the emancipation of women, and the development of labour organisations and farm cooperatives.
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Kash Patel
- Enrolled in University College London
- Studied in 2004
- Occupations
- civil servantlawyerwriter
- Biography
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Kashyap Pramod Patel is an American lawyer serving since 2025 as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Patel also served as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from February to April 2025.
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Natsume Sōseki
- Occupations
- writerpoetnovelistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Natsume Sōseki was a Japanese novelist, poet, and scholar. He is considered one of the greatest writers in modern Japanese history and is often called the first modern novelist of Japan. Sōseki's fiction explored themes of individualism, loneliness, and the conflict between traditional Japanese values and the rapid Westernization of the Meiji era. His major works include I Am a Cat (1905), Botchan (1906), Sanshirō (1908), Kokoro (1914), and his unfinished final novel Light and Dark (1916).
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Ken Follett
- Occupations
- prose writernovelistwriter
- Biography
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Kenneth Martin Follett is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 195 million copies of his works.
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Matthew Vaughn
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorproducerfilm producerfilm actor
- Biography
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Sir Matthew Allard de Vere Drummond, also known as Sir Matthew Vaughn, is an English filmmaker. He has produced films including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), and directed Layer Cake (2004), Stardust (2007), Kick-Ass (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011), and Argylle (2024). Vaughn also co-created the Kingsman comic book series and resulting franchise, directing, producing and co-writing the films Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), and The King's Man (2021).
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Junichiro Koizumi
- Occupations
- diplomateconomistpolitician
- Biography
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Junichiro Koizumi is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is the sixth-longest serving Prime Minister in Japanese history.
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Itō Hirobumi
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Prince Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888. Itō held office again as prime minister three times between 1892 and 1901. He was also a member of the genrō, a group of senior statesmen who effectively dictated policy for the Empire of Japan during the Meiji era. A key figure in the making of modern Japan, Itō played a central role in the drafting of the 1889 Meiji Constitution as well as the establishment of the National Diet and Japanese cabinet system.
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Emma Thomas
- Occupations
- film producer
- Biography
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Dame Emma Thomas, Lady Nolan is a British film producer. She has produced all of the feature films directed by her husband Christopher Nolan, which have grossed more than $6 billion worldwide and are regarded as some of the greatest films of their respective decades.
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G. K. Chesterton
- Occupations
- writercrime fiction writerpoetliterary criticphilosopher
- Biography
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Gilbert Keith Chesterton KC*SG was an English Christian apologist writer. Chesterton's wit, paradoxical style, and defence of tradition made him a dominant figure in early 20th-century literature.
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Jagadish Chandra Bose
- Occupations
- chemistbotanistwriteruniversity teacherphysicist
- Biography
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Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was a Bengali polymath in British India with interests in biology, physics and writing science fiction. He was a pioneer in the investigation of radio microwave optics, made significant contributions to botany, and was a major force behind the expansion of experimental science on the Indian subcontinent. Bose is considered the father of Bengali science fiction. A crater on the Moon was named in his honour. He founded the Bose Institute, a premier research institute in India and also one of its oldest. Established in 1917, the institute was the first interdisciplinary research centre in Asia. He served as the Director of Bose Institute from its inception until his death.
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Roger Penrose
- Enrolled in University College London
- Studied in 1955
- Occupations
- astronomeruniversity teachermathematicianphilosopherphysicist
- Biography
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Sir Roger Penrose is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, and philosopher of science. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, an emeritus fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and an honorary fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, and University College London. He shared the 1988 Wolf Prize in Physics with Stephen Hawking for the Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems, and the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics with Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez "for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity". He proposed the Penrose triangle and corresponded with M. C. Escher, influencing his Waterfall and Ascending and Descending. Penrose's eponymous aperiodic tiling presaged the discovery of quasicrystals by Dan Shechtman.
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Lucy Punch
- Occupations
- film actoractorstage actor
- Biography
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Lucy Alice T. Punch is an English actress. She has appeared in the films Ella Enchanted (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Dinner for Schmucks, (both 2010) and Into the Woods (2014). She is also known for her roles as Amy in Bad Teacher (2011) and Amanda in the BBC sitcoms Motherland and its spin-off Amandaland. She also played Esmé Squalor in the Netflix dark comedy drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.
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David Irving
- Occupations
- opinion journalistessayistwriterjournalistbiographer
- Biography
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David John Cawdell Irving is an English author who has written on the military and political history of the Second World War, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court in 2000 as a result of a failed libel case.
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Robert Reed
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directordirectoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Robert Reed was an American actor. He played Kenneth Preston on the legal drama The Defenders from 1961 to 1965 alongside E.G. Marshall, and is best known for his role as patriarch Mike Brady, opposite Florence Henderson's role as Carol Brady, on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch, which aired from 1969 to 1974. He later reprised his role of Mike Brady on several of the reunion programs. In 1976, he earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his guest-starring role in a two-part episode of Medical Center and for his work on the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man. The following year, Reed earned a third Emmy nomination for his role in the miniseries Roots.
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Luisa Neubauer
- Occupations
- geographernon-fiction writerclimate activistbloggerpodcaster
- Biography
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Luisa-Marie Neubauer is a German climate activist, politician, and author. She is one of the main organizers of the school strike for climate movement in Germany, where it is commonly referred to under its alternative name Fridays for Future. She advocates a climate policy that complies with and surpasses the Paris Agreement and endorses de-growth. Neubauer is a member of Alliance 90/The Greens and the Green Youth.
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Freddie Stroma
- Occupations
- singermodeltelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Frederic Wilhelm C. J. Sjöström, known professionally as Freddie Stroma, is a British actor. He is known for his work in roles including Cormac McLaggen in the Harry Potter film series, Adam Cromwell on the Lifetime series Unreal, Brit Vayner in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016), H. G. Wells in the ABC series Time After Time, Luke in Pitch Perfect (2012) and for his role as Adrian Chase / Vigilante in the DC Universe series Peacemaker.
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Francis Crick
- Occupations
- biologistphysicistuniversity teacherbiochemistwriter
- Biography
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Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the helical structure of the DNA molecule.
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Bernard Cornwell
- Occupations
- novelistwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Bernard Cornwell OBE is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written The Saxon Stories, a series of thirteen novels about the unification of England.
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W. Edwards Deming
- Occupations
- economistcomposeruniversity teacherindustrial engineerengineer
- Biography
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William Edwards Deming was an American business theorist, composer, economist, industrial engineer, management consultant, statistician, and writer. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical physics, he helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the United States Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He is also known as the father of the quality movement, known as "Lean manufacturing" today, and was hugely influential in post-WWII Japan, credited with revolutionizing Japan's industry and making it one of the most dominant economies in the world. He is best known for his theories of management.
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Steven Knight
- Occupations
- writerexecutive producerfilm directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Steven Knight is a British screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the films Closed Circuit, Dirty Pretty Things, and Eastern Promises, and also wrote and directed the films Locke, Hummingbird (a.k.a. Redemption) and Serenity. In July 2025, it was announced that he will write the 26th official James Bond film, to be directed by Denis Villeneuve.
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Rachel Hurd-Wood
- Occupations
- modelactor
- Biography
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Rachel Hurd-Wood is an English actress. She is known for her performances in the fantasy adventure film Peter Pan (2003), the supernatural horror film An American Haunting (2005), the thriller film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), the dark fantasy horror film Dorian Gray (2009), the action-adventure war film Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010) and the BBC Three television series Clique (2017–18).
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Karen Mok
- Occupations
- singersongwritermodelrecording artistfilm actor
- Biography
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Karen Joy Morris, better known as Karen Mok, is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is considered one of the leading East Asian pop singers and actresses with a career spanning three decades. Mok is the first female Hong Kong singer to win the Golden Melody Award, and to date has won it three times.
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Alice Evans
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Alice Evans is a British-American actress. She played Chloe Simon in the film 102 Dalmatians as-well as Esther Mikaelson in the third season of the CW's The Vampire Diaries as-well as its spin off show The Originals as a special guest star in the show's second season finale.
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Jonathan Ross
- Occupations
- television directorfilm critictelevision actorfilm actortelevision producer
- Biography
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Jonathan Stephen Ross OBE is an English broadcaster, television personality, film critic, comedian, and writer. He has presented television comedy chat shows, including BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001–2010) and ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show (2011–present). For the BBC show, he won three British Academy Television Awards for Best Entertainment Performance. Ross hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 from 1999 to 2010. He served as film critic and presenter of the television programme Film… (1999–2010).
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Carol Thatcher
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Carol Jane Thatcher is an English journalist, author and media personality. She is the daughter of Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister from 1979 to 1990, and businessman Denis Thatcher.
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Gustav Holst
- Occupations
- librettistmusic teachercomposer
- Biography
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Gustav Holst was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, he composed many other works across a range of genres, although none achieved comparable success. His distinctive compositional style was the product of many influences, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss being most crucial early in his development. The subsequent inspiration of the English folksong revival of the early 20th century, and the example of such rising modern composers as Maurice Ravel, led Holst to develop and refine an individual style.
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Godai Tomoatsu
- Occupations
- businesspersonsamurai
- Biography
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Godai Tomoatsu was one of the Satsuma students of 1865 who were smuggled out of Bakumatsu period Japan to study in Great Britain. He returned to become Japan's leading entrepreneur of the early Meiji period.
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Guy Berryman
- Enrolled in University College London
- In 1997 studied engineering
- Occupations
- singerguitaristbassistpercussionistsongwriter
- Biography
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Guy Rupert Berryman is a Scottish musician, songwriter, producer, businessman and designer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Coldplay and electronic supergroup Apparatjik. Raised in Kirkcaldy, he started to play bass at an early age, drawing inspiration from James Brown, the Funk Brothers and Kool & the Gang. His projects beyond music include The Road Rat magazine and Amsterdam-based fashion brand Applied Art Forms.
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Jomo Kenyatta
- Occupations
- journalistpolitician
- Biography
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Jomo Kenyatta CGH was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He played a significant role in the transformation of Kenya from a colony of the British Empire into an independent republic. Ideologically an African nationalist and a conservative, he led the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party from 1961 until his death.
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Steph McGovern
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Stephanie Rose McGovern is an English journalist and television presenter. She hosted Steph's Packed Lunch on Channel 4 from 2020 to 2023. She worked for the BBC as the main business presenter for BBC Breakfast, often co-hosting the entire programme.
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Jonny Buckland
- Enrolled in University College London
- 1996-2000 studied astronomy and mathematics
- Occupations
- singerguitaristpianistsongwritermusician
- Biography
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Jonathan Mark Buckland is a British musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he started to play guitar at an early age, taking inspiration from groups such as My Bloody Valentine, the Stone Roses and U2. His compositions are noted for being sparse and delicate, using delay pedals and slide bars with a timbre that led to comparisons to the Edge.
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Robert Browning
- Occupations
- writerplaywrightpoetdramaturge
- Biography
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Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and syntax.
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Taco Hemingway
- Occupations
- singersongwriterrapper
- Biography
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Filip Tadeusz Szcześniak, better known by the stage name Taco Hemingway (earlier FV), is a Polish rapper. He began recording in 2011, at which time he released - under the pseudonym Foodvillain - an English-language mixtape entitled Who Killed JFK. A year later, he adopted the pseudonym Taco Hemingway, under which he released the English-language EP Young Hems. In 2014, he released a second EP, this time recorded in Polish, titled Trójkąt warszawski. The album brought the musician publicity, thanks to which he joined the label Asfalt Records, under which he released a re-release of Trójkąt warszawski and a new EP entitled Umowa o dzieło. These, as well as subsequent albums released on the label, made the rapper famous, and he quickly became one of the most popular musicians in Poland.
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Nadhim Zahawi
- Enrolled in University College London
- Graduated with Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering
- Occupations
- businesspersonentrepreneurpolitician
- Biography
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Nadhim Zahawi is an Iraqi-born British politician who served in various ministerial positions under prime ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak from 2018 to 2023. He most recently served as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio from 25 October 2022 until he was dismissed by Sunak on 29 January 2023. A former member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Stratford-on-Avon from 2010 to 2024. As of January 2026, he is a member of Reform UK.
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Demis Hassabis
- Occupations
- artificial intelligence researchercomputer scientistbusinesspersondata scientistchess player
- Biography
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Sir Demis Hassabis is a British artificial intelligence (AI) researcher and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, and a UK Government AI Adviser. In 2024, Hassabis and John M. Jumper were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their AI research contributions for protein structure prediction.
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Will Champion
- Enrolled in University College London
- 1996-2000 graduated with anthropology
- Occupations
- drummermusician
- Biography
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William Champion is an English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer and percussionist of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Southampton, he learned to play numerous instruments during his youth, being influenced by Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and traditional Irish folk music. His energetic drumming style is largely focused on the essential elements of the songs and he occasionally takes lead vocal duties on live performances.
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Thomas Henry Huxley
- Occupations
- anatomistevolutionary biologistlinguistphotographeranthropologist
- Biography
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Thomas Henry Huxley was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialised in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
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Shou Zi Chew
- Enrolled in University College London
- Graduated with bachelor's degree in economics
- Occupations
- chief executive officer
- Biography
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Shou Zi Chew is a Singaporean business executive who has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of TikTok, an online video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, since 2021.
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Hannah Fry
- Enrolled in University College London
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- science communicatorpresenterauthorscientisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Hannah Mary Fry is a British mathematician, author and broadcaster. She is Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, and president of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. She was previously a professor at University College London.
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Charles K. Kao
- Occupations
- scientistentrepreneurphysicistelectrical engineerexecutive
- Biography
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Sir Charles Kuen Kao was a Hong Kong electrical engineer who contributed to the development and use of fibre optics in telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao created various methods to combine glass fibres with lasers in order to transmit digital data, which laid the groundwork for the evolution of the Internet and the eventual creation of the World Wide Web.
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Joseph Lister
- Occupations
- botanical collectorpoliticianuniversity teachersurgeon
- Biography
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Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, OM, PC, FRS, FRCSE, FRCPGlas, FRCS was an English surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. Lister revolutionised the craft of surgery by the use of close anatomical observation, in the same manner that John Hunter revolutionised the science of surgery.
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Simon Baron-Cohen
- Occupations
- writerpsychiatristpsychologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College.
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David Baddiel
- Occupations
- television presenteractortelevision producerwriternovelist
- Biography
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David Lionel Baddiel FRSL is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, author and singer. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in The Mary Whitehouse Experience and later for his comedy partnership with Frank Skinner.
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Roger Rees
- Occupations
- actortelevision actordirectorfilm actortheatrical director
- Biography
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Roger Rees was a Welsh-American actor and director. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. He also received Obie Awards for his role in The End of the Day and as co-director of Peter and the Starcatcher. Rees was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in November 2015.
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Roxanne Tong
- Occupations
- television presenteractormodel
- Biography
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Roxanne Tong Lok-man is a Hong Kong actress and former beauty pageant contestant contracted to TVB.
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Justine Frischmann
- Occupations
- painterguitaristsingermusician
- Biography
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Justine Elinor Frischmann is an English artist and retired musician. After forming Suede, she co-founded the Britpop band Elastica before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as an artist.
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Derek Jarman
- Enrolled in University College London
- Studied in 1963-1967
- Occupations
- film editorphotographerdiaristpaintercostume designer
- Biography
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Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English artist, film maker, stage designer, writer, gardener, and gay rights activist, regarded as one of the most influential figures associated with the new queer cinema. Trained originally as a painter, he moved into stage and production design in the late 1960s, including work on Ken Russell’s controversial historical 1971 film The Devils, before turning to filmmaking as a director.
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Chaim Herzog
- Occupations
- lawyermilitary officerwriterhistorianadvocate
- Biography
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Chaim Herzog was an Irish-Israeli politician, military officer, lawyer and author who served as President of Israel from 1983 to 1993. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Dublin, the son of Ireland's Chief Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1935. He served in the Haganah Jewish paramilitary group during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt and in the British Army during World War II. Following the end of the British Mandate and Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, he served in the Israel Defense Forces and fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He remained in the Israeli military as an officer following the war until retiring in 1962 with the rank of major-general.
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Thérèse Coffey
- Enrolled in University College London
- Studied in 1998
- Occupations
- chemistfinancial analystpolitician
- Biography
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Thérèse Anne Coffey, Baroness Coffey,, is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022 under Liz Truss.
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Inoue Kaoru
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Marquess Inoue Kaoru GCMG was a Japanese politician and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period of the Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesmen (Genrō) in Japan during that period, he had a tremendous influence on the selection of the nation's leaders and formation of its policies.
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Joseph Chamberlain
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Joseph Chamberlain was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading imperialist in coalition with the Conservatives. He split both major British parties in the course of his career. He was the father, by different marriages, of Nobel Peace Prize winner Austen Chamberlain and of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
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A. A. Gill
- Occupations
- journalistwriter
- Biography
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Adrian Anthony Gill was a Scottish writer, best known for writing about food and travel, and for his work in television. Publications he contributed to included The Sunday Times, he wrote for Vanity Fair, GQ, and Esquire, and also published numerous books.
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Colin Chapman
- Occupations
- Formula One drivercar designerracing automobile driverentrepreneurdesign engineer
- Biography
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Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman CBE RDI was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of the sports car company Lotus Cars.
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Brett Anderson
- Occupations
- singerguitaristcomposersinger-songwritersongwriter
- Biography
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Brett Lewis Anderson is an English singer best known as the lead singer-songwriter and primary lyricist of the rock band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted the Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004–2006, and released four solo albums on which he also played guitar and keyboards. Suede re-formed in 2010; they continue to record and tour. He is noted for his distinctive wide-ranging voice, poetic lyrics, charismatic stage presence and in Suede's early years, an androgynous appearance.
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Hans Eysenck
- Occupations
- university teacherpsychologist
- Biography
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Hans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-born British psychologist. He is best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, although he worked on other issues in psychology. At the time of his death, Eysenck was the most frequently cited living psychologist in peer-reviewed scientific journal literature.
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Khairy Jamaluddin
- Occupations
- radio personalitypolitician
- Biography
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Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, also known as KJ, is a Malaysian politician, radio presenter, and podcaster. He is currently a presenter on Hot FM and co-hosts the political podcast Keluar Sekejap with Shahril Hamdan. Khairy previously served as Minister of Health from August 2021 to November 2022 under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
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Mulk Raj Anand
- Occupations
- writernovelistjournalistnon-fiction writer
- Biography
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Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in the English language, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer class in the traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, together with R. K. Narayan, Ahmad Ali and Raja Rao, was one of the first India-based writers in the English language to gain an International readership. Anand is admired for his novels and short stories, which have acquired the status of classics of modern Indian English literature; they are noted for their perceptive insight into the lives of the oppressed and for their analysis of impoverishment, exploitation and misfortune. He became known for his protest novel Untouchable (1935), which was followed by other works on the Indian poor such as Coolie (1936) and Two Leaves and a Bud (1937). He is also noted for being among the first writers to incorporate Punjabi and Hindustani idioms into English, and was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India.
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Ruby Tandoh
- Occupations
- modelcook
- Biography
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Ruby Alice Tandoh is a British baker, columnist, author, and former model. She was runner-up on series four of BBC's The Great British Bake Off in 2013 and has written four cookbooks. Her 2021 Cook as You Are was named to several best-of lists. Her online debates with many in the UK food world have also drawn attention.
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Karl Pearson
- Occupations
- statisticianbiographerphilosophermathematicianhistorian of mathematics
- Biography
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Karl Pearson FRS FRSE was an English biostatistician and mathematician. He has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university statistics department at University College London in 1911, and contributed significantly to the field of biometrics and meteorology. Pearson was also a proponent of Social Darwinism and eugenics, and his thought is an example of what is today described as scientific racism. Pearson was a protégé and biographer of Sir Francis Galton. He edited and completed both William Kingdon Clifford's Common Sense of the Exact Sciences (1885) and Isaac Todhunter's History of the Theory of Elasticity, Vol. 1 (1886–1893) and Vol. 2 (1893), following their deaths.
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Raymond Briggs
- Occupations
- children's writercaricaturistgraphic artistillustratorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Raymond Redvers Briggs CBE was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story The Snowman, a book without words whose cartoon adaptation is televised and whose musical adaptation is staged every Christmas.
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James Robertson Justice
- Occupations
- character actorjournalistice hockey playerornithologistfilm actor
- Biography
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James Robertson Justice was a British actor. He often portrayed pompous authority figures in comedies, including each of the seven films in the Doctor series. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in several adventure movies, notably The Guns of Navarone. Born in south-east London to a Scottish father, he became prominent in Scottish public life, helping to launch Scottish Television (STV) and serving as Rector of the University of Edinburgh (1957–60 and 1963–66).
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Constance Markievicz
- Occupations
- stage actorrevolutionarypaintersuffragettepolitician
- Biography
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Constance Georgine Markievicz, also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish revolutionary nationalist politician, suffragist and socialist who was the first woman elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Born in London, she came from the upper class Anglo-Irish Protestant landowning elite, which she abandoned in favour of Irish independence and social reform.
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Farhad Moshiri
- Occupations
- entrepreneurbusinessperson
- Biography
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Ardavan Farhad Moshiri is a British-Iranian businessman based in Monaco. He is the former majority owner and board member of English Premier League team Everton, and is the former chairman of USM Holdings, a Russian holding company.
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Tulip Siddiq
- Occupations
- politiciancouncil member
- Biography
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Tulip Rizwana Siddiq FRSA is a British-Bangladeshi politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hampstead and Highgate, previously Hampstead and Kilburn, since 2015. She served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister from 9 July 2024 until her resignation on 14 January 2025, following allegations of misconduct, including her connections to the ousted Bangladeshi regime.
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William Ramsay
- Occupations
- historianprofessorarchaeologistchemist
- Biography
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Sir William Ramsay KCB FRS FRSE was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" along with his collaborator, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for their discovery of argon. After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table.
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Antony Gormley
- Occupations
- graphic artistartistscenographerpainterinstallation artist
- Biography
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Sir Antony Mark David Gormley CH OBE RA is a British sculptor. His works include the Angel of the North, a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; Another Place on Crosby Beach near Liverpool; and Event Horizon, a multipart site installation which premiered in London in 2007, then subsequently in Madison Square in New York City (2010), São Paulo (2012) and Hong Kong (2015–16).
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Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign relations. He was among the major architects of Indian foreign policy, was India's first High Commissioner to United Kingdom and later India's Defence Minister.
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Humberto Maturana
- Occupations
- writerbiologistphilosopheruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Humberto Maturana Romesín was a Chilean biologist and philosopher. Some name him a second-order cybernetics theoretician alongside the likes of Heinz von Foerster, Gordon Pask, Herbert Brün and Ernst von Glasersfeld.
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Nikos Anastasiades
- Enrolled in University College London
- Graduated with Master in Shipping Law in shipping law
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Nicos Anastasiades is a Cypriot politician and businessperson, who served as the seventh president of Cyprus from 2013 to 2023. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally between 1997 and 2013 and served as Member of Parliament from Limassol between 1981 and 2013.
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Ash Sarkar
- Occupations
- university teacherwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Ashna Shamim Sarkar is a British journalist and libertarian communist political activist. She is a senior editor at Novara Media and teaches at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Sarkar is a contributor to The Guardian and The Independent, and a panelist on the BBC Radio 4 show Moral Maze.
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Raymond Cattell
- Enrolled in University College London
- In 1929 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- university teacherpsychologist
- Biography
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Raymond Bernard Cattell was a British-American psychologist, known for his psychometric research into intrapersonal psychological structure. His work also explored the basic dimensions of personality and temperament, the range of cognitive abilities, the dynamic dimensions of motivation and emotion, the clinical dimensions of abnormal personality, patterns of group syntality and social behavior, applications of personality research to psychotherapy and learning theory, predictors of creativity and achievement, and many multivariate research methods including the refinement of factor analytic methods for exploring and measuring these domains. Cattell authored, co-authored, or edited almost 60 scholarly books, more than 500 research articles, and over 30 standardized psychometric tests, questionnaires, and rating scales. According to a widely cited ranking, Cattell was the 16th most eminent, 7th most cited in the scientific journal literature, and among the most productive psychologists of the 20th century.
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Mori Arinori
- Occupations
- diplomatthinkerpolitician
- Biography
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Viscount Mori Arinori was a Meiji period Japanese statesman, diplomat, and founder of Japan's modern educational system. Mori Arinori served as the first Minister of Education in the first Ito Cabinet of Japan, playing a key role in establishing the educational system during the Empire of Japan. He, along with Inoue Kowashi, laid the foundation of Japan’s educational system by issuing several orders from 1886, which included the establishment of elementary, middle, normal school systems, and an imperial university system. This was a crucial step in Japan’s modernization efforts during the Meiji era.
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Christian Jessen
- Occupations
- television presenter
- Biography
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Christian Spencer Jessen is an English celebrity doctor, television personality, and writer. He is best known for appearing in the Channel 4 programmes Embarrassing Bodies (2007–2015) and Supersize vs Superskinny (2008–2014).
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Marie Stopes
- Occupations
- curatorscientific collectorbiologistwritersexologist
- Biography
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Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, and was the first female academic on the faculty of the University of Manchester. With her second husband, Humphrey Verdon Roe, Stopes founded the first birth control clinic in Britain, which bore her name for much of its 100-year history. Stopes edited the newsletter Birth Control News, which gave explicit practical advice. Her sex manual Married Love (1918) was controversial and influential, and brought the subject of birth control into wide public discourse. Stopes publicly opposed abortion, arguing that the prevention of conception was all that was needed, though her actions in private were at odds with her public pronouncements.
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David Gower
- Occupations
- cricketer
- Biography
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David Ivon Gower OBE is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 Test matches and 114 One Day Internationals (ODI) scoring 8,231 and 3,170 runs, respectively. He was one of the most capped and high-scoring players for England during this period, and only Jack Hobbs made more runs against Australia than Gower's 3,269. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World Cup.
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Richard Hamilton
- Occupations
- photographerdraftspersoncomputer artistpainterdesigner
- Biography
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Richard William Hamilton CH was an English painter and collage artist. His 1955 exhibition Man, Machine and Motion (Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne) and his 1956 collage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, produced for the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, are considered by critics and historians to be among the earliest works of pop art. A major retrospective of his work was at Tate Modern in 2014.
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Vikkstar123
- Occupations
- YouTuberMinecraft YouTuberonline streamerdisc jockeyInternet celebrity
- Biography
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Vikram Singh Barn, better known as Vikkstar123 or simply Vikkstar, is an English YouTuber and DJ. He is a member of the YouTube group the Sidemen.
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Clarissa Dickson Wright
- Occupations
- writerautobiographerbarristerbusinessperson
- Biography
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Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Johnston Dickson Wright was an English celebrity cook, television personality, writer, businesswoman, and barrister. She was best known as one of the Two Fat Ladies, with Jennifer Paterson, in the television cooking programme from 1996 to 1999. She was an accredited cricket umpire and one of only two women to become a Guild Butcher.
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James Rhodes
- Years
- 1975-.. (age 51)
- Occupations
- pianistautobiographer
- Biography
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James Edward Rhodes is a British-Spanish concert pianist and writer, and an activist for the protection of minors against sexual abuse in Spain.
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Eileen Gray
- Enrolled in University College London
- Studied in 1901-1902
- Occupations
- architectdesigner
- Biography
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Eileen Gray was an Irish interior designer, furniture designer and architect who became a pioneer of the Modern Movement in architecture. Over her career, she was associated with many notable European artists of her era, including Kathleen Scott, Adrienne Gorska, Le Corbusier, and the architect Jean Badovici, with whom she was romantically involved and who taught her architecture and collaborated with her on various buildings. Their most famous work is the house known as E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France.
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Penelope Fillon
- Occupations
- lawyerlegislative assistantpolitician
- Biography
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Penelope Kathryn Fillon is the Welsh wife of French former politician François Fillon. She was the Spouse of the Prime Minister of France from 17 May 2007 to 10 May 2012. Born and raised in Wales, Fillon is a graduate of the University College London and the University of Bristol Law School. She worked as an English teacher at a secondary school in France in the late 1970s, where she met her future husband. François and Penelope Fillon married in 1980 and have five children. They are Catholic.
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Heidi Allen
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Heidi Suzanne Allen is a British businesswoman and former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Cambridgeshire from 2015 to 2019. Initially elected as a Conservative, she resigned from the party in February 2019, joining and later serving as acting leader of Change UK. She resigned from Change UK in June of the same year, and joined the Liberal Democrats in October 2019. She announced on 29 October of that year that she would not stand for re-election at the next general election.
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Dominic Keating
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directortelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Dominic Keating is a British television, film and theatre actor best known for his portrayals of Tony in the Channel 4 sitcom Desmond's and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed on Star Trek: Enterprise.
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Wilfred Bion
- Occupations
- psychiatristpsychoanalyst
- Biography
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Wilfred Ruprecht Bion was an influential English psychoanalyst, who became president of the British Psychoanalytical Society from 1962 to 1965.
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Ernest Mason Satow
- Occupations
- diplomatbotanisttranslator
- Biography
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Sir Ernest Mason Satow GCMG, PC, was a British diplomat, scholar and Japanologist. He is better known in Japan, where he was known as Satō Ainosuke (Japanese: 佐藤 愛之助/薩道 愛之助), than in Britain or the other countries in which he served as a diplomat. He was a key figure in late 19th-century Anglo-Japanese relations.
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Julia Taylor Ross
- Occupations
- film actortelevision presenter
- Biography
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Julia Chan is an English actress and presenter.
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Madan Lal Dhingra
- Occupations
- revolutionarystudent
- Biography
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Madan Lal Dhingra was an Indian freedom fighter who, whilst a student at University College London in 1909, assassinated Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, the political Aide-de-camp to the secretary of State for India, in London.
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Tim Rice-Oxley
- Occupations
- pianistcomposermulti-instrumentalistguitaristsinger
- Biography
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Timothy James Rice-Oxley is a British musician, best known for being the keyboardist, backing vocalist and songwriter of the alternative rock band Keane. In 2010, he formed a side-project, Mt. Desolation, with his Keane bandmate Jesse Quin.
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Ananda Coomaraswamy
- Occupations
- writerphilosophermythographerart historian
- Biography
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Ananda Kentish Muthu Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese metaphysician, historian and a philosopher of Indian art who was an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West. He has been described as "the groundbreaking theorist who was largely responsible for introducing ancient Indian art to the West".
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Jeremy Bowen
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Jeremy Francis John Bowen is a British journalist and television presenter.
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William Stanley Jevons
- Enrolled in University College London
- Studied in 1851-1854
- Studied in 1859-1863
- Occupations
- logicianphilosophereconomiststatisticianphotographer
- Biography
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William Stanley Jevons FRS was an English economist and logician.
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Brad Lander
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Bradford Scott Lander is an American politician and urban planner who served as the 45th New York City comptroller from 2022 until 2025. A progressive Democrat, Lander was elected to the New York City Council in 2009, serving for twelve years, later serving as Deputy Leader for Policy. His district was partly based in Brooklyn. Lander was elected city comptroller in 2021 and assumed office on January 1, 2022.
