100 Notable alumni of
University of Cambridge
Updated:
The University of Cambridge is 3rd in the world, 2nd in Europe, and 2nd in the United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the University of Cambridge sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 20 individuals affiliated with the University of Cambridge won Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
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Stephen Hawking
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- 1962-1966 graduated with doctorate
- Occupations
- writercosmologisttheoretical physicist
- Biography
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Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between 1979 and 2009, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, widely viewed as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world.
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George VI
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1920
- Occupations
- tennis playermonarcharistocratmilitary officer
- Biography
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George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.
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Robert Oppenheimer
- Occupations
- art collectornuclear physicisttheoretical physicistscience administratorphysicist
- Biography
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J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in overseeing the development of the first nuclear weapons.
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Isaac Newton
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- 1661-1665 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- 1667-1668 graduated with Master of Arts
- Occupations
- mathematicianphilosopher
- Biography
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Sir Isaac Newton was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment that followed. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, achieved the first great unification in physics and established classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and shares credit with German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for formulating infinitesimal calculus, though he developed calculus years before Leibniz. He contributed to and refined the scientific method, and his work is considered the most influential in bringing forth modern science.
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George V
- Occupations
- politicianmonarcharistocratphilatelist
- Biography
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
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Charles Darwin
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- In 1828 studied theology
- Occupations
- travel writerexplorerphilosopherbotanistgeologist
- Biography
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Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental scientific concept. In a joint presentation with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
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Alan Turing
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1931-1934
- Occupations
- computer scientistcryptographer
- Biography
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Alan Mathison Turing was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer. Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science.
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Charles III of the United Kingdom
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- 1967-1970 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- entrepreneurpoliticianphilanthropisthelicopter pilotpolo player
- Biography
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Charles III is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms since 8 September 2022.
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Edward VII
- Occupations
- politicianart collectormonarcharistocrat
- Biography
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Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
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Rachel Weisz
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm directoractortelevision actoraudiobook narrator
- Biography
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Rachel Hannah Weisz is an English actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received several awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award.
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Sacha Baron Cohen
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwritertelevision directoractorfilm producer
- Biography
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Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English comedian, actor and performance artist. Often described as one of the most preeminent comedians of his generation, he's received various accolades throughout his career, including three Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA TV Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Writers Guild of America Award in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He's best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen.
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Tom Hiddleston
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in classics
- Occupations
- musicianfilm producerfilm actorcomedianstage actor
- Biography
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Thomas William Hiddleston is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with Thor in 2011 and including the Disney+ series Loki (2021–2023).
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Eddie Redmayne
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorstage actormodeltelevision actor
- Biography
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Edward John David Redmayne is an English actor. He has received accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Olivier Awards.
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Emma Thompson
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorvoice actorstage actoractor
- Biography
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Dame Emma Thompson is a British actress and screenwriter. Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and her accolades include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, she was made a dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to drama.
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Freddie Highmore
- Occupations
- film actorchild actorscreenwritertelevision actordirector
- Biography
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Alfred Thomas Highmore is an English actor. He is known for his starring roles beginning as a child, in the films Finding Neverland (2004), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Arthur and the Invisibles (2006), August Rush (2007), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), and Astro Boy (2009). He won two consecutive Critics' Choice Movie Awards for Best Young Performer.
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Ian McKellen
- Occupations
- stage actoractortelevision actorscreenwriterfilm actor
- Biography
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Sir Ian Murray McKellen is an English actor. With a career spanning more than sixty years, he is noted for his roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Emmy Awards.
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Jawaharlal Nehru
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- In 1910 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in natural science
- Occupations
- politiciantrade unionistautobiographerfreedom fighterwriter
- Biography
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Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister for 16 years. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, the books he wrote in prison, such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), have been read around the world.
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Srinivasa Ramanujan
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1914-1916
- Occupations
- mathematician
- Biography
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Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar was an Indian mathematician. Often regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems then considered unsolvable.
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Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon
- Occupations
- photographeraristocratfashion photographerfilmmakerdesigner
- Biography
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Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon was a British photographer. He is best known internationally for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, and other major venues. More than 280 of his photographs are in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery. From 1968 through 1973, he also made several television documentary films.
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David Attenborough
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied zoology and geology
- Occupations
- television writerenvironmentalistwriterbiologistnature photographer
- Biography
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Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian, and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.
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Hugh Laurie
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1981
- Occupations
- novelistfilm directorfilm actorcomedianwriter
- Biography
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James Hugh Calum Laurie is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry.
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Salman Rushdie
- Occupations
- essayistscreenwriterwriterchildren's writernovelist
- Biography
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Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie CH FRSL is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, typically set on the Indian subcontinent. Rushdie's second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to be "the best novel of all winners" on two occasions, marking the 25th and the 40th anniversary of the prize.
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Aleister Crowley
- Occupations
- foundermountaineeroccultistnovelistwriter
- Biography
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Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life.
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Lord Byron
- Occupations
- politicianplaywrightautobiographerpoetdiarist
- Biography
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George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, FRS was a British poet and peer. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest of British poets. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narratives Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular.
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Bertrand Russell
- Occupations
- social criticjournalistscience fiction writerphilosopher of sciencepolitical activist
- Biography
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Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic philosophy.
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Francis Bacon
- Occupations
- judgepoliticianscientistlawyerastrologer
- Biography
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Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, 1st Baron Verulam, PC was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued the importance of natural philosophy, guided by scientific method, and his works remained influential throughout the Scientific Revolution.
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Rebecca Hall
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwriterfilmmakertelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Rebecca Maria Hall is an English actress and director. She made her first onscreen appearance at the age of 10 in the 1992 television adaptation of The Camomile Lawn, directed by her father, Peter Hall. Her professional stage debut came in her father's 2002 production of Mrs. Warren's Profession, which earned her the Ian Charleson Award. In 2006, following her film debut in Starter for 10, Hall got her breakthrough role in Christopher Nolan's thriller film The Prestige. In 2008, she starred in Woody Allen's romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
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Stephen Fry
- Occupations
- novelistautobiographerfilm directorfilm actorcomedian
- Biography
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Sir Stephen John Fry is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He first came to prominence as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1989–1995) and Jeeves and Wooster (1990–1993). He also starred in the sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984) alongside Laurie, Emma Thompson, and Robbie Coltrane and in Blackadder (1986–1989) alongside Rowan Atkinson. Since 2011 he has served as president of the mental health charity Mind. In 2025, he was knighted for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity.
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John Cleese
- Occupations
- writerautobiographerfilm produceractorstage actor
- Biography
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John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python costars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983).
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Sylvia Plath
- Occupations
- essayistwriterautobiographerchildren's writernovelist
- Biography
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Sylvia Plath was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for The Colossus and Other Poems (1960), Ariel (1965), and The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her suicide in 1963. The Collected Poems was published in 1981, which included previously unpublished works. For this collection Plath was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982, making her the fourth to receive this honor posthumously.
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Niels Bohr
- Occupations
- association football playerphysicistchemistphilosopher of scienceuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research.
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Jane Goodall
- Occupations
- ethologistactivist
- Biography
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Dame Jane Morris Goodall DBE, formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, primatologist and anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, after 60 years' studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees. Goodall first went to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to observe its chimpanzees in 1960.
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Naomie Harris
- Occupations
- actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Naomie Melanie Harris is an English actress. She started her career when she was a child, appearing in the television series Simon and the Witch in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film 28 Days Later (2002), the witch Tia Dalma in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films, Winnie Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), and Frances Barrison / Shriek in Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). She portrayed Eve Moneypenny in the James Bond films Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).
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Rahul Gandhi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rahul Rajiv Gandhi is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he is currently serving as the 12th leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and as the member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, since June 2024. He previously represented the constituency of Wayanad, Kerala, from 2019 to 2024, and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, from 2004 to 2019. Gandhi served as the party president of the Indian National Congress from December 2017 to July 2019.
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Sam Mendes
- Occupations
- directorscreenwritertheatrical directortelevision directorfilm producer
- Biography
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Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was knighted in the 2020 New Years Honours List. In 2000, Mendes was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg, Germany. In 2005, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of Great Britain. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 15 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture".
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John Maynard Keynes
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1902-1905
- Occupations
- businesspersonnon-fiction writerdiplomatauthormathematician
- Biography
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John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes CB, FBA, was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in mathematics, he built on and greatly refined earlier work on the causes of business cycles. One of the most influential economists of the 20th century, he produced writings that are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics, and its various offshoots. His ideas, reformulated as New Keynesianism, are fundamental to mainstream macroeconomics. He is known as the "father of macroeconomics".
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Rajiv Gandhi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rajiv Gandhi was an Indian politician who was the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi, to become at the age of 40 the youngest Indian prime minister. He served until his defeat at the 1989 election, and then became Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, resigning in December 1990, six months before his own assassination.
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Milo Yiannopoulos
- Occupations
- writerjournalistblogger
- Biography
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Milo Yiannopoulos is a British far-right political commentator. His speeches and writings criticise Islam, feminism, social justice, and political correctness. Yiannopoulos is a former editor of Breitbart News, an American far-right news and opinion website.
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Ludwig Wittgenstein
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1911-1913
- Occupations
- philosopherteachermathematicianarchitectural theoreticianprofessor
- Biography
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Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.
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Milton Friedman
- Occupations
- university teachereconomiststatisticianessayist
- Biography
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Milton Friedman was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. With George Stigler, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism until the mid-1970s, when it turned to new classical macroeconomics heavily based on the concept of rational expectations. Several students, young professors and academics who were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists, including Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, and Robert Lucas Jr.
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Erasmus
- Occupations
- Lady Margaret's Professor of DivinityLatin Catholic priestuniversity teachertheologianwriter
- Biography
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Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and theologian, educationalist, satirist, and philosopher. Through his vast number of translations, books, essays, prayers and letters, he is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Northern Renaissance and one of the major figures of Dutch and Western culture.
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Sonia Gandhi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Sonia Gandhi is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. She took over as the party leader in 1998, seven years after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, her husband and a former Prime Minister of India, and remained in office until 2017 after serving for twenty-two years. She returned to the post in 2019 and remained the President for another three years.
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Tom Hollander
- Occupations
- stage actoractortelevision actorscreenwriterfilm actor
- Biography
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Thomas Anthony Hollander is a British actor. Hollander trained with National Youth Theatre and won the Ian Charleson Award in 1992 for his performance as Witwoud in The Way of the World. He made his Broadway debut in the David Hare play The Judas Kiss in 1998. His performance as Henry Carr in a revival of the Tom Stoppard play Travesties earned nominations for both the Olivier Award and Tony Award.
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Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
- Occupations
- politiciannaval officermilitary personneldiplomat
- Biography
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Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman, Royal Navy officer and close relative of the British royal family. He was born in the United Kingdom to the prominent Battenberg family. He was a maternal uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a second cousin of King George VI. He joined the Royal Navy during the First World War and was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command, in the Second World War. He later served as the last Viceroy of India and briefly as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India.
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Margrethe II of Denmark
- Occupations
- screenwritermonarchpaintertextile artist
- Biography
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Margrethe II is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until her abdication on 14 January 2024. Having reigned for exactly 52 years, she was the second-longest reigning Danish monarch after Christian IV. She is also the world's most recent female reigning monarch.
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Lee Kuan Yew
- Occupations
- politicianlawyerautobiographerstatespersonphilosopher
- Biography
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Lee Kuan Yew GCMG CH SPMJ DK, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean statesman, politician, and lawyer who served as the Minister Mentor between 2004 to 2011, Senior Minister between 1990 to 2004 and first prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He served as the secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) from 1954 to 1992 and was the member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar from 1955 until his death in 2015. Lee is widely recognised as the founding father of the modern Singaporean state, and for his leadership in transforming it into a highly developed country during his tenure.
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Manmohan Singh
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- 1956-1957 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- economistbankeruniversity teachercivil servantpolitician
- Biography
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Manmohan Singh was an Indian politician, economist, nationalist and statesman who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi. A member of the Indian National Congress, Singh was the first Sikh prime minister of India. He was also the first prime minister since Nehru to be re-appointed after completing a full five-year term.
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Ernest Rutherford
- Occupations
- politicianphysicistchemistprofessoruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nuclear physics", and "the greatest experimentalist since Michael Faraday". In 1908, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances." He was the first Oceanian Nobel laureate, and the first to perform the awarded work in Canada.
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Vladimir Nabokov
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- In 1922 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Russian literature, French literature, and ichthyology
- Occupations
- journalistscience fiction writerpoetuniversity teacherchess player
- Biography
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (Владимир Сирин), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian (1926–1938) while living in Berlin, where he met his wife, Véra Nabokov. He achieved international acclaim and prominence after moving to the United States, where he began writing in English. Nabokov became an American citizen in 1945 and lived mostly on the East Coast before returning to Europe in 1961, where he settled in Montreux, Switzerland.
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Karl Popper
- Occupations
- philosopherwriterteacherphilosopher of scienceuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Sir Karl Raimund Popper CH FRS FBA was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the classical inductivist views on the scientific method in favour of empirical falsification. According to Popper, a theory in the empirical sciences can never be proven, but it can be falsified, meaning that it can (and should) be scrutinised with decisive experiments. Popper was opposed to the classical justificationist account of knowledge, which he replaced with critical rationalism, namely "the first non-justificational philosophy of criticism in the history of philosophy".
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Charles Babbage
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1810
- Occupations
- philosopherastronomeruniversity teacherengineermathematician
- Biography
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Charles Babbage KH FRS was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.
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William Wordsworth
- Occupations
- writerpoetlyricist
- Biography
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William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798).
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Constantine II of Greece
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied history of Europe
- Occupations
- monarchsailor
- Biography
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Constantine II was the last king of Greece, reigning from 6 March 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy on 1 June 1973.
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Richard Ayoade
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1995-1998
- Occupations
- film directortelevision presentercomediantelevision actorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Richard Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance.
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Peter Paul Rubens
- Occupations
- printmakerarchitectural draftspersongraphic artistsculptorvisual artist
- Biography
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Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and of frontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp.
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James Clerk Maxwell
- Occupations
- photographerthermodynamicistinventorphysicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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James Clerk Maxwell FRS FRSE was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism achieved the second great unification in physics, where the first one had been realised by Isaac Newton. Maxwell was also key in the creation of statistical mechanics.
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John Oliver
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- In 1998 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in English literature
- Occupations
- screenwriterjournalisttelevision presenteractorcomedian
- Biography
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John William Oliver is a British and American comedian who hosts Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work in the United States as the senior British correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for writing for The Daily Show and became its guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. He also co-hosted the comedy podcast The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously worked on the radio series Political Animal and The Department. From 2010 to 2013, he hosted the stand-up series John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central. His acting roles include Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom Community and voice work in the animated films The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), and The Lion King remake (2019).
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Emma Corrin
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Emma-Louise Corrin is an English actor. They portrayed Diana, Princess of Wales in the fourth season of the Netflix historical drama The Crown (2020), for which they won a Golden Globe and were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
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Muhammad Iqbal
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- 1905-1907 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- 1905-1908 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- philosopherpoliticianpoetlawyerwriter
- Biography
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Sir Muhammad Iqbal was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. His poetry is considered to be among the greatest of the 20th century, and his vision of a cultural and political ideal for the Muslims of British-ruled India is widely regarded as having animated the impulse for the Pakistan Movement. He is commonly referred to by the honourific Allama (Persian: علامه, transl. "learned") and widely considered one of the most important and influential Muslim thinkers and Western religious philosophers of the 20th century.
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Thandiwe Newton
- Occupations
- film actor
- Biography
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Melanie Thandiwe Newton OBE, formerly credited as Thandie Newton, is a British actress. She has received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, and a BAFTA Award, as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to film and charity.
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Rosalind Franklin
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- 1938-1941 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in physical chemistry
- In 1945 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in physical chemistry
- Occupations
- chemistbiologistphysicistuniversity teacherbiochemist
- Biography
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Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite. Although her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, Franklin's contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely unrecognised during her life, for which Franklin has been variously referred to as the "wronged heroine", the "dark lady of DNA", the "forgotten heroine", a "feminist icon", and the "Sylvia Plath of molecular biology".
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Derek Jacobi
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorstage actorfilm directortelevision actor
- Biography
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Sir Derek George Jacobi is an English actor. He is known for his work at the Royal National Theatre and for his film and television roles. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
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Miriam Margolyes
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorstage actorcomedianvoice actor
- Biography
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Miriam Margolyes is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993), and achieved international prominence with her portrayal of Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011). Margolyes was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours for Services to Drama.
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Jimmy Carr
- Occupations
- radio personalityscreenwritertelevision presenterhumoristwriter
- Biography
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James Anthony Patrick Carr is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of one-liners which some people have taken offence to. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regularly appeared on television as the host of Channel 4 panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.
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J. J. Thomson
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teachermathematician
- Biography
-
Sir Joseph John Thomson was an English physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906 for his discovery of the electron, the first subatomic particle to be found.
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Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1963
- Occupations
- politicianarchitectaristocratbusinessperson
- Biography
-
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the youngest of the nine grandchildren of George V, nephew of Edward VIII and George VI, and first cousin of Elizabeth II. He is 32nd in the line of succession to the British throne, and the highest person on the list who is not a descendant of George VI. At the time of his birth, he was 5th in line to the throne.
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Amartya Sen
- Occupations
- philosophereconomistwritersociologistuniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Amartya Kumar Sen is an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since 1972. In 1998, Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics. He has also made major scholarly contributions to social choice theory, economic and social justice, economic theories of famines, decision theory, development economics, public health, and the measures of well-being of countries.
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John Milton
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse and including twelve books, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval. It addressed the fall of man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and God's expulsion of them from the Garden of Eden. Paradise Lost elevated Milton's reputation as one of history's greatest poets. He also served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell.
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Graham Chapman
- Occupations
- screenwriterphysiciancomposeractorcomedian
- Biography
-
Graham Chapman was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail (1975) and Life of Brian (1979).
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Olivia Williams
- Occupations
- actorfilm actorstage actorwriterplaywright
- Biography
-
Olivia Haigh Williams is a British actress who appears in British and American films and television. Williams studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her first significant screen role was as Jane Fairfax in the British television film Emma (1996), based on Jane Austen's novel.
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Lee Hsien Loong
- Occupations
- politicianmilitary officer
- Biography
-
Lee Hsien Loong PPA SPMJ DK (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as a senior minister of Singapore since 2024, and previously as the third prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024. He served as the secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) from 2004 to 2024, and has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the Teck Ghee division of Ang Mo Kio GRC since 1991, and previously Teck Ghee SMC from 1984 and 1991.
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David Mitchell
- Occupations
- writerautobiographeractorscreenwritercomedian
- Biography
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David James Stuart Mitchell is a British comedian, actor and writer.
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James Mason
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwriterstage actorfilm directordirector
- Biography
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James Neville Mason was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two BAFTA Awards throughout his career.
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A. A. Milne
- Occupations
- writerauthorshort story writerprose writerpoet
- Biography
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Alan Alexander Milne was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-the-Pooh overshadowed his previous work. He served as a lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the First World War and as a captain in the Home Guard in the Second World War.
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Kim Philby
- Occupations
- opinion journalistjournalistspyintelligence officer
- Biography
-
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring that had divulged British secrets to the Soviets during World War II and in the early stages of the Cold War. Of the five, Philby is believed to have been the most successful in providing secret information to the Soviets.
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Thomas Robert Malthus
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1784
- Occupations
- demographereconomiststatisticianAnglican priestmathematician
- Biography
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Thomas Robert Malthus FRS was an English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography.
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Homi Jehangir Bhabha
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1930
- Occupations
- nuclear physicist
- Biography
-
Homi Jehangir Bhabha, FNI, FASc, FRS was an Indian nuclear physicist who is widely credited as the "father of the Indian nuclear programme". He was the founding director and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), as well as the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) which was renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honour. TIFR and AEET served as the cornerstone to the Indian nuclear energy and weapons programme. He was the first chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy. By supporting space science projects which initially derived their funding from the AEC, he played an important role in the birth of the Indian space programme.
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George Mallory
- Occupations
- explorermountaineer
- Biography
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George Herbert Leigh-Mallory was an English mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions in the early 1920s. He and climbing partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine were last seen ascending near Everest's summit during the 1924 expedition, sparking debate as to whether they reached it before they died.
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Suella Braverman
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts in law
- Occupations
- politicianbarrister
- Biography
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Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman KC is a British politician and barrister who served as Home Secretary from 6 September 2022 to 19 October 2022, and again from 25 October 2022 to 13 November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, she was chair of the European Research Group from 2017 to 2018 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2020 to March 2021, and again from September 2021 to 2022. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fareham and Waterlooville, previously Fareham, since 2015.
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Jin Yong
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directorjournalistnewspaper proprietorwriter
- Biography
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Louis Cha Leung-yung GBM OBE, better known by his pen name Jin Yong (Chinese: 金庸), was a Hong Kong wuxia novelist and co-founder of Ming Pao. Cha authored 15 novels between 1955 and 1972 and became one of the most popular Chinese writers of all time, with over 100 million copies sold globally—excluding widespread pirated editions. Cha’s novels, which have been adapted into numerous TV dramas, films, and video games, are esteemed for their literary quality and universal appeal, resonating with both scholarly and popular audiences.
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Ben Miller
- Occupations
- stage actorwritercomedianexecutive produceractor
- Biography
-
Bennet Evan Miller is an English comedian, actor and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. He is also known for his roles as Angus Jeremy Bough in the Johnny English film series, DI Richard Poole in the BBC crime drama series Death in Paradise and James Lester in the ITV sci-fi series Primeval.
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Marshall McLuhan
- Occupations
- philosopherliterary criticrhetoricianwritersociologist
- Biography
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Herbert Marshall McLuhan CC was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his teaching career as a professor of English at several universities in the United States and Canada before moving to the University of Toronto in 1946, where he remained for the rest of his life. He is known as the "father of media studies".
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Christopher Marlowe
- Occupations
- writertranslatorplaywrightpoet
- Biography
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Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the "many imitations" of his play Tamburlaine, modern scholars consider him to have been the foremost dramatist in London in the years just before his mysterious early death. Some scholars also believe that he greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was baptised in the same year as Marlowe and later succeeded him as the preeminent Elizabethan playwright. Marlowe was the first to achieve critical reputation for his use of blank verse, which became the standard for the era. His plays are distinguished by their overreaching protagonists. Themes found within Marlowe's literary works have been noted as humanistic with realistic emotions, which some scholars find difficult to reconcile with Marlowe's "anti-intellectualism" and his catering to the prurient tastes of his Elizabethan audiences for generous displays of extreme physical violence, cruelty, and bloodshed.
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Georgie Henley
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- In 2016 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- directorwriterchild actorfilm actorstage actor
- Biography
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Georgina Helen Henley is an English actress. She began acting as a child, and became known for starring as Lucy Pevensie in the fantasy film series The Chronicles of Narnia (2005–2010), which grossed over US$1.5 billion worldwide and won her several accolades. This includes nods from several critic groups and an Empire Award nomination.
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Vikram Sarabhai
- Occupations
- physicistengineer
- Biography
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Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped to develop nuclear power in India. Often regarded as the "Father of Indian space program", Sarabhai was honored with Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) in 1972.
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Eric Idle
- Occupations
- playwrighttelevision actorguitaristfilm actorlyricist
- Biography
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Eric Idle is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and joined Cambridge University Footlights. He has received a Grammy Award as well as nominations for two Tony Awards.
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Jagadish Chandra Bose
- Occupations
- physicistarchaeologistchemistbotanistwriter
- Biography
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Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was a polymath 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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Hannah Murray
- Occupations
- stage actorfilm actoractor
- Biography
-
Tegan Lauren-Hannah Murray is an English actress. She played Cassie in Skins (2007–2008, 2013) and Gilly in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2012–2019), for which she has been nominated along with her castmates for three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her film roles include the 2014 musical romance film Stuart Murdoch's God Help The Girl which won her a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and 2015 drama film Jeppe Rønde's Bridgend for which she won the Tribeca Film Festival for Best Actress Award.
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Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale
- Occupations
- politicianaristocrat
- Biography
-
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). From the time of his birth, he was second in the line of succession to the British throne, but did not become king or Prince of Wales because he died before both his father and paternal grandmother Queen Victoria.
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Carrie Lam
- Occupations
- justice of the peacepolitician
- Biography
-
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet Ngor GBM GBS JP is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years.
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Max Born
- Occupations
- academicscientistnon-fiction writertheoretical physicistphysicist
- Biography
-
Max Born was a German-British theoretical physicist who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 1930s. Born was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics for his "fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially in the statistical interpretation of the wave function".
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Michael Portillo
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistbroadcaster
- Biography
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Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo FRSGS is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as Great British Railway Journeys and Great Continental Railway Journeys. A former member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate from 1984 to 1997 and Kensington and Chelsea from 1999 to 2005.
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Richard Osman
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied sociology and political science
- Occupations
- creative directortelevision presentercomedianwritertelevision director
- Biography
-
Richard Osman is an English television presenter, producer, novelist, and comedian. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless. He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows Two Tribes and Richard Osman's House of Games, and been a team captain on the comedy panel shows Insert Name Here and The Fake News Show. He has also made appearances on British panel shows including Would I Lie To You? and QI.
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Dominic Raab
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
-
Dominic Rennie Raab is a British former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor from September 2021 to September 2022 and again from October 2022 to April 2023. He previously served as First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, Raab was Member of Parliament (MP) for Esher and Walton from 2010 to 2024.
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Roger Penrose
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1955-1958
- Occupations
- philosopherphysicistastrophysicistastronomeruniversity teacher
- Biography
-
Sir Roger Penrose is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in 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.
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William Wilberforce
- Occupations
- abolitionistpoliticianwriterphilanthropist
- Biography
-
William Wilberforce was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, and became an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an Evangelical Anglican, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform.
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William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
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Paul Dirac
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- Studied in 1923-1926
- Occupations
- teacheracademicphysicistmathematicianprofessor
- Biography
-
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was an English theoretical physicist who is considered to be one of the founders of quantum mechanics. Dirac laid the foundations for both quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a professor of physics at Florida State University and a 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics recipient.
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Matt Hancock
- Occupations
- politicianeconomist
- Biography
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Matthew John David Hancock is a British politician who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2015 to 2016, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from January to July 2018, and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2018 to 2021. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for West Suffolk from 2010 to 2024. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
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Usha Vance
- Enrolled in the University of Cambridge
- In 2010 graduated with Master of Philosophy
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Usha Bala Chilukuri Vance is an American lawyer who has been the second lady of the United States since January 20, 2025, being married to Vice President JD Vance. She is the first Indian American and Hindu American in this role. A former trial lawyer, she has also worked with justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
