Performing Arts

Phaedrus was a Latin fabulist of the 1st century AD, a freedman of Emperor Augustus. He was the first author to render Aesopian fables in Latin verse, leaving behind a collection in five books that had a lasting influence on European literature.

Aphra Behn (1640-1689) was the first English woman to earn her living by the pen. A prolific playwright, novelist, and spy in the service of Charles II, she defied the conventions of her time by making her mark in the male-dominated literary world.

Gabrielle Charpentier (c. 1764–1793) was the wife of Georges-Jacques Danton, a leading orator of the French Revolution. The daughter of a Parisian café owner, she died at 28 in February 1793 while her husband was on a mission in Belgium, just months before the Reign of Terror.

French filmmaker, actor, producer, director, conjurer and illusionist, pioneer and inventor of cinematic spectacle (1861–1938)

British painter and engraver (1775-1851), Turner is considered the master of Romantic landscape. A forerunner of Impressionism, he revolutionized the depiction of light, water, and atmosphere.

Inventors of the cinematograph, pioneers of cinema

Nephew of Napoleon I, he was elected President of the Republic in 1848, then seized power through a coup d'état on December 2, 1851, before proclaiming the Second Empire. His reign profoundly transformed France: the modernization of Paris under Haussmann, industrial and railway expansion — until the defeat at Sedan in 1870.

German composer (1813–1883), Wagner revolutionized opera by creating the concept of the total work of art (Gesamtkunstwerk). His music dramas, including the Ring Cycle and Tristan und Isolde, remain towering monuments of Romanticism.

painter (born 1989)

French photographer, visual artist, film director and screenwriter

Agnez Mo is an Indonesian-American singer-songwriter and actress born in 1986 in Jakarta. A pop star in Indonesia from childhood, she broke onto the international scene in the 2010s.

Aishwarya Rai is an Indian actress and model born in 1973. Crowned Miss World in 1994, she became one of Bollywood's most internationally recognized stars and a global ambassador for L'Oréal Paris.

Japanese film director and screenwriter

Alla Pugacheva (born 1949) is the most famous pop singer of the Soviet Union and Russia. Nicknamed "the Primadonna," she dominated the Soviet and then Russian music scene for over forty years. Her career illustrates mass culture and the entertainment industry under a communist regime.

French poet and writer (1896–1966), co-founder and theorist of Surrealism. He authored the Manifestoes of Surrealism and gathered around him a generation of revolutionary artists and writers.

Anggun is an Indonesian singer born in 1974 in Jakarta, who became a French citizen in 1998. An international pop star, she broke through in France with her hit 'Snow on the Sahara' (1997) and represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012.

Anna Netrebko is a Russian-Austrian soprano born in 1971, considered one of the greatest opera singers of her generation. Trained at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, she has conquered the world's most prestigious stages — the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, and the Vienna State Opera.

Ariana Grande is an American singer, songwriter, and actress born in 1993 in Florida. She rose to fame through the TV series Victorious before becoming one of the most influential pop artists of her generation. Her response to the 2017 Manchester bombing earned her international recognition.

Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist, essayist, and activist born in 1961. Her novel The God of Small Things (1997) won the Booker Prize. She is a vocal advocate against nuclear weapons, dam construction, and social inequality in India.

Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) was a British actress and model of Belgian origin, an icon of Hollywood cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. She won the Academy Award for Roman Holiday (1953) and became synonymous with elegance and grace on screen. In her later years, she devoted herself to humanitarian work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Avril Lavigne is a Canadian singer and songwriter born in 1984 in Belleville, Ontario. She broke through in 2002 with her debut album 'Let Go', becoming an icon of alternative rock and pop-punk for an entire generation.

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and pop icon born in 1978 in Fukuoka. Nicknamed the "Empress of Pop" in Japan, she is one of the best-selling female artists in the history of Japanese music.

Beyoncé is an American singer, songwriter, and producer born in 1981 in Houston, Texas. A former member of Destiny's Child, she became one of the most influential solo artists of the 21st century, blending R&B, pop, and hip-hop.

French actress, model, and singer, Brigitte Bardot became a global symbol of femininity and freedom during the 1950s and 1960s. An icon of the French New Wave and popular culture, she retired from cinema in 1973 to dedicate herself to animal rights activism.

Britney Spears (born 1981) is an American singer, actress, and pop icon. Launched in the late 1990s, she became one of the best-selling artists in the world. Her career illustrates the excesses of the entertainment industry and the challenges of fame in the media age.

Christina Aguilera is an American singer, songwriter, and actress born in 1980. Breaking through in 1999, she established herself as one of the most powerful voices of her generation, blending pop, R&B, and soul. She became a symbol of female empowerment in the music industry at the turn of the 21st century.

Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress and model born in 1986 in Copenhagen. The daughter of badminton champion Prakash Padukone, she has become one of Bollywood's most influential and highest-paid actresses. She is also known for her public advocacy for mental health awareness.

Doris Lessing (1919-2013) was a British novelist born in Persia and raised in Southern Rhodesia. A major figure of 20th-century literature, she is best known for The Golden Notebook. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007.

Born Édith Giovanna Gassion in 1915 in Paris, Édith Piaf became one of the most celebrated French singers of the 20th century. Nicknamed 'La Môme Piaf' (The Little Sparrow), she is the defining figure of French chanson réaliste and achieved worldwide fame.

Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011) was a British-American actress widely regarded as one of Hollywood's greatest stars. A child prodigy who rose to fame early, she excelled in major roles of classic cinema and became a global symbol of glamour and the Hollywood star system. She was also a pioneering activist in the fight against AIDS from the 1980s onward.

British actress born in 1990, who rose to fame as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series. She became an international feminist activist, notably as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and promoter of the HeForShe campaign.

François Truffaut (1932–1984) was one of the pioneers of the French New Wave. A critic at *Cahiers du Cinéma*, he became an iconic filmmaker with movies such as *The 400 Blows* and *Jules and Jim*.

Gérard Depardieu is one of the most famous and prolific French actors, with over 200 films to his name. Born in 1948 in Châteauroux, he established himself from the 1970s as a major figure in both French and international cinema.

French film director, producer and screenwriter

An Oscar-winning American actress of the 1950s, Grace Kelly left Hollywood at the height of her fame to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. As princess consort, she embodied elegance and cultural prestige until her accidental death in 1982.

Austrian-born American actress, producer, and scientist

American dancer (1877-1927)

French filmmaker (1931–1990), a major figure of the French New Wave, celebrated for his poetic musicals blending vivid colors with melancholy. Director of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort.

Iconic American actor of the 1950s, James Dean embodied youth rebellion in three cult films. Dying at 24 in a car crash, he became an immortal cultural icon.

Jean Gabin (1904–1976) is one of the greatest French actors of the 20th century. He rose to fame in the 1930s with films such as La Bête humaine and La Grande Illusion, embodying the myth of the working-class man — tough yet sensitive.

Franco-Swiss filmmaker (1930–2022) and a major figure of the French New Wave. He revolutionized the language of cinema with films such as Breathless (1960), challenging the conventions of traditional storytelling.

Jennifer Lopez, born in 1969 in the Bronx, New York, is an American singer, actress, and dancer of Puerto Rican descent. She established herself in the 1990s as one of the most influential Latin artists in the world.

A British actress born in 1917 in Japan and died in 2013, Joan Fontaine became a major Hollywood star in the 1940s. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1942 for Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, cementing her place among the great stars of classic American cinema.

French singer, dancer, and revue performer of American origin

Judy Garland (1922-1969) was an American actress and singer, and one of Hollywood's most iconic figures. She rose to fame at 17 in The Wizard of Oz (1939), becoming the defining star of Hollywood's golden age of musical cinema. Her extraordinary voice and tragic life story made her a symbol of 20th-century popular culture.

Kareena Kapoor, born in 1980 in Mumbai, is one of Bollywood's most celebrated actresses. From the legendary Kapoor family of Indian cinema, she has left her mark on Hindi film through her versatile roles and iconic style since the 2000s.

Kate Winslet is a British actress born in 1975 in Reading, England. She rose to worldwide fame through James Cameron's Titanic in 1997 and is considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2009 for her role in The Reader.

Katy Perry is an American singer-songwriter born in 1984 in Santa Barbara. She rose to prominence in the 2000s–2010s as one of the best-selling pop artists in the world, with global hits such as 'Roar' and 'Firework'.

Lana Del Rey, born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, is an American singer-songwriter born in 1985. Known for her melancholic lyrics and retro aesthetic, she blends pop, indie, and cinematic elements across acclaimed albums such as 'Born to Die' (2012).

Liv Ullmann is a Norwegian actress, director, and screenwriter born in 1938. The muse of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, she established herself as one of the greatest actresses in European cinema of the 20th century. She also advocates for children's rights as a UNICEF ambassador.

American singer, dancer, and businesswoman born in 1958, Madonna emerged in the 1980s as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Nicknamed the "Queen of Pop," she constantly pushes the boundaries of artistic creation and asserts her independence in a music industry dominated by men.

La Divina, the most celebrated opera soprano of the 20th century

An American theoretical physicist of German origin, she developed the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus. In 1963, she became the second woman in history to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, after Marie Curie.

An American actress, model, and singer, Marilyn Monroe became one of the major cultural icons of the 20th century. A symbol of Hollywood glamour and American consumer society in the 1950s–1960s, her tragic life continues to fuel conversations about the treatment of women in the entertainment industry.

African-American poet, memoirist, and activist (1928–2014), Maya Angelou is best known for her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. A committed figure in the civil rights movement alongside Martin Luther King Jr., she became one of the most important voices in 20th-century American literature.

Born in 1992 in the United States, Miley Cyrus is a versatile artist who has established herself as a singer-songwriter and actress. She first rose to fame through the Hannah Montana series (Disney Channel), before successfully transitioning to an independent and outspoken musical career.

Momoko Kōchi (1932–1998) was a Japanese actress best known for her role in Ishirō Honda's original Godzilla (1954). She played Emiko Yamane, one of the main characters in this iconic film of postwar Japanese science fiction.

Natalia Oreiro is a Uruguayan actress and singer born in 1977 in Montevideo. She gained international fame through Argentine telenovelas of the 1990s and 2000s, and a music career that made her especially popular in Eastern Europe.

An Australian-American actress born in 1967, Nicole Kidman is one of Hollywood's greatest stars. She won the Academy Award in 2003 for The Hours, and has left her mark on world cinema through the range of her roles and her artistic commitment.

Soviet leader from 1953 to 1964, Khrushchev succeeded Stalin and launched a policy of de-Stalinization. A central figure of the Cold War, he confronted the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

French actor born in 1892 and died in 1973, Noël Roquevert is best known for his roles as grumpy gendarmes, military figures, and authoritarian characters in film. He appeared in over 200 movies, leaving his mark on French cinema from the 1930s through the 1970s.

A British actress born in 1916 in Tokyo, Olivia de Havilland was one of Hollywood's greatest stars of the 1930s and 1940s. She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress and successfully fought against the Hollywood studio system, paving the way for actors' contractual freedom.

American director, actor, and screenwriter (1915–1985), Orson Welles revolutionized cinema with Citizen Kane (1941), widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. A towering figure in filmmaking, he also left a lasting mark on radio and theater.

German dancer and choreographer

Preity Zinta is an Indian actress born on January 31, 1975, in Shimla. She rose to fame with the film Dil Se (1998) and became one of Bollywood's most popular actresses throughout the 2000s. She is also known for her humanitarian work and international career.

Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress and singer born in 1982 in Jamshedpur. Crowned Miss World in 2000, she became one of Bollywood's most popular actresses before breaking into Hollywood. She embodies India's cultural influence on the world stage.

Rihanna is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman born in 1988. She rose to international fame in the 2000s and became one of the best-selling music artists in history. She is also the founder of the Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty brands.

Rita Hayworth (1918-1987) was an American actress and dancer, considered one of the greatest Hollywood stars of the 1940s. A glamour icon, she is best known for her role in Gilda (1946).

Indian Bengali filmmaker, writer and composer

An American-Danish actress and singer born in 1984 in New York, Scarlett Johansson established herself in the 2000s as one of Hollywood's most influential actresses. She is also a producer and an advocate for feminist causes.

Selena Gomez is an American singer and actress born on July 22, 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas. Rising to fame through a Disney Channel series, she became a global pop icon and influential entrepreneur. She is also an advocate for mental health awareness and Latino representation in the media.

Shakira is a Colombian singer, songwriter, and actress born in 1977 in Barranquilla. A global icon of Latin pop, she blends Arabic, rock, and Afro-Caribbean influences. She was the first Latin American artist to surpass one billion views on YouTube.

Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was a major American intellectual of the 20th century — essayist, novelist, and activist. Known for her reflections on photography, illness, and war, she profoundly shaped contemporary critical thought.

British actress born in 1913, Vivien Leigh is world-famous for her role as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). A two-time Oscar winner, she embodied Hollywood glamour while also pursuing a demanding stage career in London.

Whitney Houston (1963-2012) is one of the greatest American singers of all time, celebrated for her exceptional voice. She dominated global charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s and starred in the blockbuster film The Bodyguard (1992).

Yoko Ono is a Japanese artist born in 1933 in Tokyo, a major figure in conceptual art and the Fluxus movement. A peace activist, she is also known for her artistic and political commitment alongside John Lennon. Her work explores audience participation, peace, and memory.