20th Century

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.

Martinican writer, poet and politician (1913-2008), founder of the Négritude movement. He served as mayor of Fort-de-France and deputy of Martinique, combining literary commitment with political action to defend the rights of colonized peoples.

French writer, philosopher, and journalist (1913–1960), Albert Camus is one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. Author of The Stranger and The Plague, he developed a philosophy of the absurd and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

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.

African-American civil rights activist, philosopher, and university professor born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama. An iconic figure of the Black Power movement and intersectional feminism, she was imprisoned in 1970 before being acquitted. She remains a leading voice against systemic racism and social inequality.

Russian journalist and activist, Anna Politkovskaya distinguished herself through her courageous reporting on the Chechen wars and human rights abuses under Putin. Assassinated in Moscow in 2006, she became a symbol of press freedom and resistance against authoritarian regimes.

Anne Frank (1929-1945) was a young Dutch-Jewish girl whose diary, written in hiding during the Nazi occupation, became a poignant testimony of the Holocaust. She died in deportation at Bergen-Belsen, and her work remains a major source for understanding persecution and humanity in the face of horror.

French writer born in 1940, Annie Ernaux is known for her innovative approach to autofiction and auto-sociobiography. Her major work, A Man's Place (1983), traces her father's story and social journey, marking a turning point in contemporary French literature.

French writer and aviator (1900–1944), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry left a lasting mark on 20th-century literature through his poetic and philosophical works. Author of the celebrated The Little Prince, he also explored themes of commitment, friendship, and self-transcendence through his tales of aerial adventure.

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.

Assia Djebar, de son vrai nom Fatima-Zohra Imalayen, est une romancière et cinéaste algérienne de langue française. Pionnière de la littérature féminine maghrébine, elle donna une voix aux femmes algériennes à travers une œuvre mêlant mémoire, Histoire et féminisme. En 2005, elle fut la première femme maghrébine élue à l'Académie française.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an American poet, essayist, and activist, a leading figure in Black feminism and the civil rights struggle. She theorized intersectionality before the term existed, championing the rights of Black women, LGBT people, and the oppressed.

An American philosopher, novelist, and screenwriter of Russian origin, Ayn Rand is the founder of Objectivism, a philosophy championing reason, individualism, and capitalism. Her bestselling novels, including 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged,' have had a lasting influence on American libertarian thought.

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.

An American intellectual, writer, and feminist activist, bell hooks dedicated her life to analyzing the connections between race, gender, and class. The author of more than thirty books, she profoundly reshaped feminist thought by centering the experiences of Black women.

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 writer, musician, and artist (1920–1959), an iconic figure of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Author of Froth on the Daydream, he embodied the spirit of the postwar generation, blending jazz, literature, and provocation.

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.

Clarice Lispector, née en Ukraine et élevée au Brésil, est l'une des plus grandes écrivaines de langue portugaise du XXe siècle. Son œuvre, profondément introspective, renouvelle la prose brésilienne par un style poétique et philosophique unique.

A Salvadoran writer and sculptor, Consuelo Suncín is best known as the wife of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A woman of letters and an artist, she inspired the character of the Rose in *The Little Prince*.

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.

Son of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom and the Empire of India from 1901 to 1910. An emblematic figure of the Belle Époque, he played a decisive role in bringing France and Britain closer together through the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022, Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She embodied the stability of constitutional monarchy through decolonisation, the Cold War, and globalisation.

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.

Etty Hillesum est une jeune Juive néerlandaise dont le journal intime, rédigé entre 1941 et 1943, témoigne d'une profonde vie intérieure face à la persécution nazie. Travailleuse sociale au camp de transit de Westerbork, elle refuse de fuir et choisit de partager le sort de son peuple. Elle est déportée à Auschwitz et y meurt en novembre 1943 à 29 ans.

Franco-Romanian playwright (1909–1994), Eugène Ionesco is one of the founders of the Theatre of the Absurd. His plays, marked by humor, absurdity, and a critique of mass society, revolutionized contemporary theatre.

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*.

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

Freya Stark est une exploratrice et écrivaine britannique qui parcourut les régions les plus reculées du Moyen-Orient au XXe siècle. Première femme occidentale à atteindre certaines vallées d'Arabie et d'Iran, elle publia de nombreux récits de voyage alliant érudition et aventure. Son œuvre contribua à faire connaître le monde arabe en Europe.

Gabriela Mistral, de son vrai nom Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, est une poétesse et diplomate chilienne. Première Latino-Américaine à recevoir le prix Nobel de littérature en 1945, elle a consacré son œuvre aux thèmes de l'amour maternel, de l'enfance et de l'identité latino-américaine.

Georges Pompidou (1911-1974) was a French statesman, Prime Minister under de Gaulle from 1962 to 1968, then the second President of the Fifth Republic from 1969 until his death. A former literature teacher, he left his mark on France through his policy of industrial modernization and his support for contemporary arts.

A Quebec poet and writer born in 1958, Hélène Dorion is a leading figure in contemporary French-Canadian poetry. Her work, marked by introspection and meditation on nature and identity, explores themes of belonging and freedom.

Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) est une philosophe et romancière irlando-britannique, professeure à Oxford, connue pour ses romans alliant réflexion morale et intrigue psychologique. Auteure de plus de vingt-six romans et de travaux philosophiques majeurs, elle explore les thèmes de l'amour, de la liberté et du bien.

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.

French playwright (1910–1987), Jean Anouilh wrote modern plays that reinterpret ancient myths. His 1944 adaptation of Antigone became a landmark work of 20th-century French theatre.

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.

French philosopher, writer, and playwright (1905–1980), founder of existentialism. He explored human freedom, responsibility, and commitment through his major philosophical and literary works.

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.

Argentine writer

Bulgarian-born French philosopher, linguist, and psychoanalyst, born in 1941. A major figure in structuralist and post-structuralist thought, she developed the concepts of intertextuality and semoanalysis. A professor at the University of Paris VII, she profoundly reshaped literary theory and psychoanalysis.

Senegalese poet, writer, and statesman (1906–2001), Senghor was the first president of independent Senegal. A leading theorist of the Négritude movement, he championed a humanist vision of African culture and left a lasting mark on twentieth-century Francophone literature.

French writer, playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker (1914–1996), Marguerite Duras is a major figure in contemporary literature. Author of The Lover, she revolutionized the novel form by exploring psychological introspection and the formal ruptures of the Nouveau Roman.

French writer (1903–1987), Marguerite Yourcenar is the author of Memoirs of Hadrian, a masterpiece of 20th-century literature. The first woman elected to the Académie française in 1980, she left a lasting mark on literature through her reflections on history and humanity.

A Chilean singer and companion, then wife, of the poet Pablo Neruda, she was his muse and the inspiration behind several of his major collections. After the poet's death in 1973, she dedicated her life to preserving and promoting his work.

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.

Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014) est une romancière sud-africaine dont l'œuvre dénonce avec force le régime de l'apartheid. Prix Nobel de littérature en 1991, elle a consacré toute sa vie à défendre les droits humains et la liberté d'expression en Afrique du Sud.

French writer of Russian origin (1900-1999), Nathalie Sarraute is a major figure of the French Nouveau Roman. She revolutionized the novel form by exploring movements of consciousness and the 'sub-conversations' that animate human relationships.

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.

A major Chilean poet of the 20th century (1904–1973), Pablo Neruda is celebrated for his political commitment and wide-ranging poetic work, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971. A Communist activist and diplomat, he embodies the engaged intellectual in Latin America.

260th pope of the Catholic Church (1939–1958), Pius XII led the Church through the Second World War and the Cold War. His attitude toward the Holocaust remains controversial to this day.

Italian writer and chemist (1919-1987), Primo Levi is the author of landmark testimonies about the Holocaust. Arrested in 1943 as an antifascist partisan, he was deported to Auschwitz where he survived thanks to his skills as a chemist. After the war, he became an essential voice in witness literature.

A major French poet of the 20th century, René Char is known for his modern poetry and his involvement in the French Resistance during World War II. His works combine poetic innovation with political commitment, exploring themes of freedom and revolt.

French poet (1900–1945) and major figure of Surrealism, celebrated for his wordplay and innovative poetry. A committed member of the French Resistance during World War II, he was deported and died at the Terezín concentration camp in 1945.

Japanese politician born in 1961, member of the Liberal Democratic Party. She has held several ministerial positions in Japan, including Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Known for her conservative views and interest in Japanese pop culture.

Russian impresario and patron of the arts, Diaghilev founded the Ballets Russes in 1909, revolutionizing choreographic art by bringing together the greatest artists of his era. He collaborated with Stravinsky, Picasso, Matisse, and Nijinsky to create total spectacles blending dance, music, and the visual arts.

French philosopher and novelist (1908–1986), Simone de Beauvoir is a towering figure of existentialism and modern feminism. Author of The Second Sex, a foundational essay on the condition of women, she profoundly shaped philosophical thought and emancipatory movements throughout the 20th century.

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.

A towering figure of 20th-century African American literature, Toni Morrison wrote landmark novels exploring the Black American experience, particularly slavery and its lasting trauma. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, becoming the first Black woman to be awarded that honor.

Vandana Shiva (born 1952) is an Indian physicist, philosopher, and environmental activist. Founder of the Navdanya movement, she champions biodiversity and farmers' rights while opposing GMOs and neoliberal globalization. A leading figure in ecofeminism, she received the Right Livelihood Award (the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993.

French writer and illustrator (1902-1991), Vercors is the author of the Resistance novel "The Silence of the Sea" (1942), published clandestinely during the Occupation. Co-founder of Les Éditions de Minuit, he fought against Nazism through the power of writing.

Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist (1870–1924), Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 and founded the Soviet Union. He developed Leninism, an adaptation of Marxism to Russian conditions.

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese visual artist born in 1929 in Matsumoto. A pioneer of psychedelic art and pop art, she is known for her obsessive polka-dot patterns and immersive mirror installations. Since 1977, she has voluntarily lived in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo while continuing to create.

Adele is a British singer-songwriter born in 1988 in London. She broke through to mainstream audiences with her album '19' in 2008, and has since established herself as one of the best-selling artists of the 21st century, known for her powerful voice and introspective lyrics.

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.

Alia Bhatt is an Indian actress and singer born on March 15, 1993, in Mumbai. The daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, she has established herself as one of Bollywood's most influential actresses, balancing blockbuster hits with demanding dramatic roles.

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.

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.

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.

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.

African-American jazz singer

French writer, musician, and artist (1920–1959), an iconic figure of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Author of Froth on the Daydream, he embodied the spirit of the postwar generation, blending jazz, literature, and provocation.

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.

Céline Dion is a Quebec singer born on March 30, 1968, in Charlemagne, Canada. Discovered by the public as a teenager, she became one of the best-selling artists in the history of pop music. Her international career symbolizes the global reach of the French-speaking world and the influence of Quebec culture on the world stage.

Surnommée la « Diva aux pieds nus », Cesária Évora est la voix emblématique de la morna, genre musical mélancolique du Cap-Vert. Révélée tardivement sur la scène internationale dans les années 1990, elle a porté la culture lusophone cap-verdienne aux quatre coins du monde.

A British actress born in 1946, Charlotte Rampling established herself as one of the most distinctive figures in European cinema. Based in France, she collaborated with the greatest directors and embodied a certain idea of rebellious elegance.

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.

French jazz guitarist

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.

Son of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom and the Empire of India from 1901 to 1910. An emblematic figure of the Belle Époque, he played a decisive role in bringing France and Britain closer together through the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

Nigerian musician and activist

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*.

An American avant-garde composer and guitarist, Frank Zappa is one of the most original figures in rock and experimental music of the 20th century. Founder of the band The Mothers of Invention, he blended rock, jazz, contemporary classical music, and satirical humor.

Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) was the only woman in the famous French musical collective known as 'Les Six'. A prolific composer, she created works for piano, orchestra, and opera, maintaining an elegant neoclassical style throughout a career spanning nearly seven decades.

Hebe Camargo (1929-2012) was an icon of Brazilian television, a singer and TV host who shaped Brazil's popular culture for more than six decades. She began her career in radio in the 1940s before becoming a fixture on Brazilian television from its earliest days.

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.

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.

Born in 1959 in Mali, Kandia Kouyaté is a Mandinka griot singer nicknamed "the Diva of the Mande." From the renowned Kouyaté griot lineage, she is one of the greatest voices of the oral griot tradition, transmitting epic songs and the collective memory of the Mali Empire.

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'.

Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta in 1986 in New York, Lady Gaga is an American singer-songwriter and actress. A multi-faceted artist, she has established herself as one of the defining figures of global pop music in the 21st century.

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).

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 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.

A German-American actress and singer, Marlene Dietrich established herself as an icon of Hollywood cinema in the 1930s. Refusing to collaborate with the Nazi regime, she committed herself to the Allied cause during the Second World War.

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.

South African jazz singer and political activist

French pedagogue, pianist, organist, choral conductor, orchestral conductor, and composer

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.

American jazz singer, pianist, composer, and civil rights activist for Black people

Egyptian singer and actress

260th pope of the Catholic Church (1939–1958), Pius XII led the Church through the Second World War and the Cold War. His attitude toward the Holocaust remains controversial to this day.

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.

Indian sitarist and composer

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.

Japanese politician born in 1961, member of the Liberal Democratic Party. She has held several ministerial positions in Japan, including Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Known for her conservative views and interest in Japanese pop culture.

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.

Russian impresario and patron of the arts, Diaghilev founded the Ballets Russes in 1909, revolutionizing choreographic art by bringing together the greatest artists of his era. He collaborated with Stravinsky, Picasso, Matisse, and Nijinsky to create total spectacles blending dance, music, and the visual arts.

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.

Siramori Diabaté (c. 1920–1989) was a renowned Malian griot woman from the village of Kéla, Mali, belonging to the Mandinka people. A keeper of the Sundiata Keita epic, she was one of the most celebrated transmitters of the griot oral tradition in the 20th century.

Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter born in 1989 in Pennsylvania. She began her career in country music before becoming one of the most influential pop artists of her generation. Her work explores universal themes such as love, identity, and female empowerment.

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.

Martinican writer, poet and politician (1913-2008), founder of the Négritude movement. He served as mayor of Fort-de-France and deputy of Martinique, combining literary commitment with political action to defend the rights of colonized peoples.

Ivorian political figure and prominent voice in Côte d'Ivoire's public life. Embodying the meeting point between African cultural traditions and modern political engagement, she represents women's participation in the institutions of postcolonial West Africa.

A South African anti-apartheid activist of Indian descent, Amina Cachalia devoted her life to fighting racial segregation in South Africa. A close ally of Nelson Mandela and the ANC, she was a leading figure in the Federation of South African Women.

African-American civil rights activist, philosopher, and university professor born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama. An iconic figure of the Black Power movement and intersectional feminism, she was imprisoned in 1970 before being acquitted. She remains a leading voice against systemic racism and social inequality.

Militante birmane pour la démocratie, Aung San Suu Kyi a consacré sa vie à la résistance pacifique contre la junte militaire au Myanmar. Prix Nobel de la Paix en 1991, elle a passé 15 ans en résidence surveillée avant de diriger son pays de 2016 à 2021.

Benazir Bhutto fut la première femme à diriger un gouvernement dans un pays à majorité musulmane, devenant Première ministre du Pakistan en 1988. Fille du Premier ministre Ali Bhutto, elle lutta contre les dictatures militaires et devint le symbole de la démocratie et des droits des femmes en Asie du Sud. Assassinée lors d'un attentat en 2007, elle reste une figure emblématique du courage politique.

Argentine Marxist revolutionary (1928–1967) and iconic figure of 20th-century guerrilla warfare. A key player in the Cuban Revolution alongside Fidel Castro, he went on to lead revolutionary movements in Africa and Latin America before his death in Bolivia.

Corazón Aquino, épouse du militant politique assassiné Benigno Aquino, devient en 1986 la première femme présidente des Philippines après avoir mené la « Révolution du pouvoir populaire » contre la dictature de Ferdinand Marcos. Symbole de démocratie et de courage civique, elle incarne la résistance pacifique et la transition démocratique en Asie du Sud-Est.

Draupadi Murmu is an Indian stateswoman born in 1958 into a family from the Santali tribal community. The first woman from a tribal community to become President of India in 2022, she symbolizes the political rise of marginalized populations.

Son of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom and the Empire of India from 1901 to 1910. An emblematic figure of the Belle Époque, he played a decisive role in bringing France and Britain closer together through the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022, Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She embodied the stability of constitutional monarchy through decolonisation, the Cold War, and globalisation.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf est devenue en 2006 la première femme élue présidente d'un État africain, dirigeant le Liberia après une longue guerre civile. Économiste de formation, elle a œuvré pour la reconstruction du pays et la réconciliation nationale, recevant le prix Nobel de la paix en 2011.

Eva Perón, épouse du président argentin Juan Perón, devint l'une des figures politiques les plus influentes d'Amérique latine. Symbole des descamisados (sans-chemise), elle lutta pour les droits des travailleurs et des femmes, obtenant notamment le droit de vote féminin en Argentine en 1947.

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

Nigerian educator and activist (1900–1978), she led the Abeokuta women's movement against British colonial taxation. A pioneer of women's suffrage in Nigeria, she was the first woman to drive a car in her country and the mother of musician Fela Kuti.

Egyptian military officer and statesman (1918–1970), Nasser was the chief architect of the 1952 revolution that overthrew the monarchy. President of Egypt from 1956 until his death, he became the embodiment of Arab nationalism and Third Worldism.

Secretary General of the French Communist Party from 1972 to 1994, Georges Marchais was one of the major figures of the French left during the Cold War. He embodied an orthodox communism, publicly supporting the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1980.

Georges Pompidou (1911-1974) was a French statesman, Prime Minister under de Gaulle from 1962 to 1968, then the second President of the Fifth Republic from 1969 until his death. A former literature teacher, he left his mark on France through his policy of industrial modernization and his support for contemporary arts.

Golda Meir, née en Ukraine et émigrée en Palestine mandataire, est l'une des fondatrices de l'État d'Israël. Première femme Premier ministre d'Israël (1969-1974), elle incarne la construction du jeune État et affronte la guerre du Kippour en 1973.

Last General Secretary of the Soviet Union (1985–1991), Gorbachev initiated sweeping reforms with Perestroika and Glasnost, transforming the USSR before its dissolution in 1991. His actions marked the end of the Cold War and the restructuring of the Soviet bloc.

A Mozambican activist born in 1945, Graça Machel has established herself as a global figure in the defense of children's rights and women's rights. First Lady of Mozambique and later of South Africa, she has dedicated her life to fighting poverty and advancing education.

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.

German-born American philosopher (1906–1975), Hannah Arendt is one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. A refugee in the United States after fleeing Nazism, she developed a critical analysis of totalitarianism, political violence, and the human condition in the modern world.

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) est la première femme Premier ministre de l'Inde, poste qu'elle occupe de 1966 à 1977, puis de 1980 à 1984. Fille de Jawaharlal Nehru, elle marque l'histoire par sa politique de nationalisation, sa gestion de la guerre de 1971 et son autoritarisme lors de l'état d'urgence. Elle est assassinée par ses propres gardes du corps en 1984.

Prime Minister of independent India from 1947 to 1964, Nehru was one of the architects of independence alongside Gandhi. Architect of the modern Indian state, he embodied the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War.

President of the United States from 1961 to 1963, John F. Kennedy embodies the political modernity of the 20th century. His term was marked by critical moments of the Cold War, notably the Cuban Missile Crisis, and by his commitment to civil rights before his assassination in Dallas.

Senegalese poet, writer, and statesman (1906–2001), Senghor was the first president of independent Senegal. A leading theorist of the Négritude movement, he championed a humanist vision of African culture and left a lasting mark on twentieth-century Francophone literature.

An Australian activist for Indigenous peoples' rights, Lowitja O'Donoghue was the first Aboriginal woman to lead ATSIC (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission). A trained nurse, she dedicated her life to defending civil rights and promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Margaret Thatcher, première femme Premier ministre du Royaume-Uni (1979-1990), a transformé l'économie britannique par une politique libérale radicale. Surnommée la « Dame de fer », elle a privatisé les entreprises publiques, combattu les syndicats et joué un rôle majeur dans la fin de la Guerre froide aux côtés de Reagan et Gorbatchev.

A Russian tennis player born in 1987, Maria Sharapova is one of the most decorated athletes of her generation. A former world number 1, she won five Grand Slam titles before retiring in 2020.

African-American Baptist pastor (1929–1968) and major leader of the civil rights movement in the United States. He championed nonviolence and racial equality, becoming one of the most influential figures of the 20th century before his assassination.

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.

Michelle Bachelet, née en 1951 au Chili, est une médecin et femme politique qui fut la première femme présidente du Chili (2006-2010, puis 2014-2018). Militante des droits de l'homme, elle a aussi dirigé ONU Femmes et le Haut-Commissariat aux droits de l'homme de l'ONU.

South African political leader (1918–2013), founding figure of the struggle against apartheid and first Black president of South Africa. Imprisoned for 27 years for his revolutionary activities, he became a symbol of reconciliation and democratic transition in his country.

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.

260th pope of the Catholic Church (1939–1958), Pius XII led the Church through the Second World War and the Cold War. His attitude toward the Holocaust remains controversial to this day.

Pratibha Patil is an Indian politician born in 1934 who became the first female President of India from 2007 to 2012. Trained as a lawyer, she was active within the Indian National Congress party and held numerous government positions before reaching the country's highest office.

Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist, born in 1913 in Alabama. She became famous in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery — an act of civil disobedience that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped accelerate the end of racial segregation in the United States.

Japanese politician born in 1961, member of the Liberal Democratic Party. She has held several ministerial positions in Japan, including Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Known for her conservative views and interest in Japanese pop culture.

French politician (1927-2017), Holocaust survivor, and Minister of Health under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. She is celebrated for championing the law decriminalizing abortion in France in 1975, a landmark victory for women's rights.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first woman to become head of government in the world, elected Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1960. The widow of assassinated Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike, she succeeded him as leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and served in the role three times.

Born Edvige Antonia Albina Màino in 1946 in Italy, Sonia Gandhi married Rajiv Gandhi in 1968 and became an Indian citizen. Following her husband's assassination in 1991, she took over the leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1998 and led the UPA coalition to victory in 2004, declining the position of Prime Minister.

Māori princess from New Zealand (1883–1952), granddaughter of King Tāwhiao, she devoted her life to the cultural and political revival of her people. She resisted the conscription of Māori during World War I and built the village of Tūrangawaewae, a symbol of Māori dignity.

Theresa May (born 1956) is a British politician and member of the Conservative Party. She served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019, succeeding David Cameron following the Brexit referendum.

Vandana Shiva (born 1952) is an Indian physicist, philosopher, and environmental activist. Founder of the Navdanya movement, she champions biodiversity and farmers' rights while opposing GMOs and neoliberal globalization. A leading figure in ecofeminism, she received the Right Livelihood Award (the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was elected President of Iceland in 1980, becoming the first woman in the world to be democratically elected head of state. Re-elected four times, she served until 1996 and became a global figure in feminism and cultural diplomacy.

Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist (1870–1924), Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 and founded the Soviet Union. He developed Leninism, an adaptation of Marxism to Russian conditions.

A New Zealand Māori activist, Whina Cooper dedicated her life to defending her people's land rights. In 1975, at the age of 80, she led the great Māori Land March from Te Hapua to Wellington. Regarded as the 'Mother of the Nation' of the Māori people, she remains a symbol of peaceful resistance.

Israeli crystallographer and molecular biologist, Ada Yonath elucidated the three-dimensional structure of the ribosome, the cellular machinery responsible for protein synthesis. She received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009, the first woman to do so in 45 years.

British mathematician and cryptologist (1912-1954), Alan Turing is the founder of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. He contributed to the decryption of the Enigma machine during the Second World War and formalized the concepts of computability and algorithm.

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.

A pioneering American astronomer, Annie Jump Cannon revolutionized astronomy by classifying the spectra of more than 350,000 stars. Her spectral classification system (OBAFGKM) is still in use today.

Barbara McClintock est une généticienne américaine pionnière qui découvrit les éléments transposables, appelés « gènes sauteurs », dans le maïs dès les années 1940. Longtemps ignorée de la communauté scientifique, elle reçut le Prix Nobel de Physiologie ou Médecine en 1983, seule femme à l'avoir obtenu sans partage dans cette discipline.

British-born American astronomer (1900–1979), she discovered that stars are composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Her 1925 doctoral thesis revolutionized astrophysics, even though her conclusions were initially rejected by her peers.

Sino-American theoretical physicist born in 1922, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 alongside T.D. Lee for the discovery of parity violation in weak interactions. Co-author of Yang-Mills theory, a cornerstone of the standard model of particle physics.

Chien-Shiung Wu est une physicienne expérimentale sino-américaine, surnommée « la Première Dame de la physique ». Son expérience de 1956 réfute la loi de conservation de la parité, bouleversant la physique des particules. Injustement écartée du Prix Nobel attribué à Lee et Yang pour cette découverte, elle reste une figure majeure de la physique du XXe siècle.

French anthropologist and ethnologist (1908-2009), founder of structural anthropology. He revolutionized the study of human societies by applying structuralist methods to myths, kinship systems, and cultural practices. His major work, Tristes Tropiques, combines ethnographic narrative with philosophical reflection.

Donna Strickland est une physicienne canadienne, pionnière dans le domaine des lasers ultraintenses. En 1985, elle co-développe avec Gérard Mourou la technique d'amplification par dérive d'impulsions (CPA), révolutionnant la physique des lasers. En 2018, elle reçoit le prix Nobel de physique, devenant seulement la troisième femme à obtenir cette distinction.

British chemist (1910-1994)

An African-American mathematician, Dorothy Vaughan joined the NACA in 1943 as a "human computer." She became the agency's first Black supervisor in 1949, leading the West Area Computing unit. A computing pioneer, she taught herself FORTRAN and prepared her teams for the era of electronic computers.

First woman to earn an electrical engineering degree from MIT (1919) and the first professionally employed female electrical engineer in the United States. She invented the Clarke graphical calculator, which greatly simplified electrical power transmission calculations.

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

An American biochemist of Czech origin, Gerty Cori was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947, which she shared with her husband Carl Cori. Her work on glycogen metabolism laid the foundations of modern biochemistry.

Grace Hopper, mathématicienne et contre-amirale américaine, est l'une des pionnières de l'informatique. Elle développa l'un des premiers compilateurs et contribua à la création du langage COBOL, révolutionnant la programmation. Elle popularisa l'expression « bug » informatique après avoir trouvé un vrai insecte dans un ordinateur.

American geneticist and botanist, Harriet Creighton is celebrated for her landmark experiment conducted with Barbara McClintock in 1931, proving that genetic crossing-over corresponds to a physical exchange between chromosomes. She taught botany at Wellesley College for decades.

A German-Brazilian biophysicist of the 20th century, Hertha Meyer was a pioneer in electron microscopy applied to cell biology. She worked at the Instituto de Biofísica at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, contributing to the development of biophysics in Brazil.

Danish seismologist (1888–1993), Inge Lehmann discovered in 1936 that the Earth has a solid inner core, through the analysis of seismic waves. This fundamental discovery reshaped our understanding of Earth's internal structure.

Belgian-born physicist and mathematician, naturalized American, born in 1954. A pioneer of wavelet theory, her work revolutionized signal processing and image compression. First female president of the International Mathematical Union.

British and American biologists who discovered the structure of DNA in 1953. Their work revolutionized the understanding of heredity and laid the foundations of modern molecular biology.

British ethologist and primatologist born in 1934, Jane Goodall is world-renowned for her pioneering research on chimpanzees in the Gombe forest of Tanzania. Her observations transformed our understanding of animal behaviour and human origins.

Astrophysicienne britannique née en 1943, Jocelyn Bell découvrit en 1967 les pulsars — étoiles à neutrons émettant des signaux radio réguliers — lors de sa thèse de doctorat. Son directeur de thèse reçut le prix Nobel pour cette découverte, suscitant une controverse durable sur la reconnaissance des femmes en science.

Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (1903–1957), pioneer of modern computing and game theory. He is the founding architect of the programmable digital computer and contributed to the development of nuclear energy.

A twentieth-century Japanese mathematician, Kakutani Yoshie contributed to the growth of modern mathematics in Japan. She worked in an academic environment largely dominated by men, paving the way for women in the exact sciences in Japan.

American mathematician born in 1942, pioneer of geometric analysis and gauge theory. First woman to receive the Abel Prize in 2019, the highest distinction in mathematics. Her work has profoundly influenced theoretical physics and modern geometry.

African-American physicist, mathematician, and space engineer

Austro-Swedish physicist

American physician and astronaut

Margaret Hamilton est une informaticienne et ingénieure américaine pionnière du génie logiciel. Elle a dirigé l'équipe qui a développé le logiciel de navigation embarqué des missions Apollo, contribuant directement à l'alunissage de 1969. Elle est considérée comme l'une des fondatrices du génie logiciel en tant que discipline.

Italian astrophysicist born in Florence in 1922, she directed the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste for thirty years. A pioneer of stellar spectroscopy and a gifted science communicator, she made astronomy accessible to the general public.

French chemist (1909–1975), collaborator of Marie Curie at the Radium Institute. In 1939 she discovered francium, the last natural element to be discovered, and in 1962 became the first woman elected to the French Academy of Sciences.

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.

Marie Tharp est une géologue et cartographe américaine qui a réalisé les premières cartes scientifiques du plancher océanique. En cartographiant la dorsale médio-atlantique, elle a fourni une preuve visuelle décisive de la théorie de la dérive des continents, longtemps ignorée en raison de sa condition de femme.

American mathematician and aerospace engineer, Mary Jackson was the first Black female engineer at NASA. A member of the “Hidden Figures,” she contributed to the calculations for the first American space missions and fought for equal rights within the agency.

Maryam Mirzakhani est la première femme à avoir remporté la médaille Fields en 2014, la plus haute distinction en mathématiques. Née en Iran, elle a révolutionné la compréhension des surfaces de Riemann et de la géométrie hyperbolique. Professeure à Stanford, elle est décédée d'un cancer à seulement 40 ans, laissant une œuvre mathématique majeure.

Maud Menten (1879-1960) was a pioneering Canadian biochemist and physician. She co-authored the Michaelis-Menten law of enzyme kinetics (1913), a cornerstone of biochemistry. She was one of the first Canadian women to earn a doctorate in medicine.

Serbian mathematician and physicist (1875–1948), the first woman admitted to the physics program at the Zurich Polytechnic. First wife of Albert Einstein, she collaborated on his *annus mirabilis* papers of 1905, though her exact contribution remains debated.

American astronaut (1930-2012), Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, he marked a major turning point in space exploration and the Cold War.

American journalist and environmental activist (1899–1968), known for writing a letter describing the devastation caused by DDT on the birds of her private sanctuary in Massachusetts. This letter, sent to her friend Rachel Carson in 1958, was the catalyst for the writing of Silent Spring.

An Italian-American neurologist, Rita Levi-Montalcini discovered nerve growth factor (NGF), revolutionizing neurobiology. She won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1986, and continued her research despite fascist racial laws that forced her to work in secret. She remained active in science past the age of 100.

British molecular biologist (1920–1958), Rosalind Franklin made essential contributions to our understanding of DNA structure through her X-ray crystallography work. She is best known for Photo 51, a landmark image that revealed the double helix structure of DNA.

Chinese pharmaceutical researcher

American astronomer (1928–2016), Vera Rubin demonstrated the existence of dark matter through her study of galaxy rotation curves. Her work revolutionized our understanding of the composition of the universe.

A South African anti-apartheid activist of Indian descent, Amina Cachalia devoted her life to fighting racial segregation in South Africa. A close ally of Nelson Mandela and the ANC, she was a leading figure in the Federation of South African Women.

African-American civil rights activist, philosopher, and university professor born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama. An iconic figure of the Black Power movement and intersectional feminism, she was imprisoned in 1970 before being acquitted. She remains a leading voice against systemic racism and social inequality.

Russian journalist and activist, Anna Politkovskaya distinguished herself through her courageous reporting on the Chechen wars and human rights abuses under Putin. Assassinated in Moscow in 2006, she became a symbol of press freedom and resistance against authoritarian regimes.

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.

Dolores Huerta, née en 1930 en Nouvelle-Mexique, est une militante syndicale et des droits civiques américaine. Cofondatrice avec César Chávez de l'United Farm Workers (UFW), elle a défendu les droits des travailleurs agricoles migrants, majoritairement latinos. Son slogan « Sí, se puede ! » est devenu un symbole mondial de la lutte pour la justice sociale.

Son of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom and the Empire of India from 1901 to 1910. An emblematic figure of the Belle Époque, he played a decisive role in bringing France and Britain closer together through the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022, Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She embodied the stability of constitutional monarchy through decolonisation, the Cold War, and globalisation.

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.

Nigerian musician and activist

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

Nigerian educator and activist (1900–1978), she led the Abeokuta women's movement against British colonial taxation. A pioneer of women's suffrage in Nigeria, she was the first woman to drive a car in her country and the mother of musician Fela Kuti.

Secretary General of the French Communist Party from 1972 to 1994, Georges Marchais was one of the major figures of the French left during the Cold War. He embodied an orthodox communism, publicly supporting the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1980.

A Mozambican activist born in 1945, Graça Machel has established herself as a global figure in the defense of children's rights and women's rights. First Lady of Mozambique and later of South Africa, she has dedicated her life to fighting poverty and advancing education.

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.

Prime Minister of independent India from 1947 to 1964, Nehru was one of the architects of independence alongside Gandhi. Architect of the modern Indian state, he embodied the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War.

French singer, dancer, and revue performer of American origin

An Australian activist for Indigenous peoples' rights, Lowitja O'Donoghue was the first Aboriginal woman to lead ATSIC (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission). A trained nurse, she dedicated her life to defending civil rights and promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

South African jazz singer and political activist

Collective nickname for the prominent Togolese businesswomen who dominated the wax fabric market in Lomé from the 1960s onward. Iconic figures of female entrepreneurship in West Africa, they earned their nickname from the Mercedes-Benz cars they could afford thanks to their commercial fortunes.

Naomi Ōsaka is a Japanese-American professional tennis player born in 1997 in Osaka. A former world number 1, she has won four Grand Slam titles. She has also been a vocal advocate for social justice and athletes' mental health.

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.

American jazz singer, pianist, composer, and civil rights activist for Black people

Guatemalan political activist and human rights defender

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.

Tarana Burke is an American civil rights activist and founder of the #MeToo movement in 2006. She has dedicated her life to supporting survivors of sexual violence, particularly in underprivileged Black communities.

Māori princess from New Zealand (1883–1952), granddaughter of King Tāwhiao, she devoted her life to the cultural and political revival of her people. She resisted the conscription of Māori during World War I and built the village of Tūrangawaewae, a symbol of Māori dignity.

Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist (1870–1924), Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 and founded the Soviet Union. He developed Leninism, an adaptation of Marxism to Russian conditions.

2004 Nobel Peace Prize, Green Belt Movement, Kenyan

A New Zealand Māori activist, Whina Cooper dedicated her life to defending her people's land rights. In 1975, at the age of 80, she led the great Māori Land March from Te Hapua to Wellington. Regarded as the 'Mother of the Nation' of the Māori people, she remains a symbol of peaceful resistance.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was the leading figure of the American Pop Art movement. He transformed images from mass culture into works of art, blurring the boundary between art and commerce.

Anna Kournikova is a Russian tennis player born in 1981 in Moscow. Turning professional at just 14, she reached the world top 10 and won two Grand Slam doubles titles at the French Open and Wimbledon alongside Martina Hingis. A media icon of the 1990s and 2000s, she came to embody the intersection of sport and popular culture.

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.

French writer, musician, and artist (1920–1959), an iconic figure of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Author of Froth on the Daydream, he embodied the spirit of the postwar generation, blending jazz, literature, and provocation.

The Chupacabra is a legendary creature from Latin America whose name means "goat-sucker" in Spanish. First reported in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, it is associated with mysterious livestock mutilations and has become a major cultural and folkloric phenomenon.

Son of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom and the Empire of India from 1901 to 1910. An emblematic figure of the Belle Époque, he played a decisive role in bringing France and Britain closer together through the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

American businesswoman (1906–2004)

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*.

An American avant-garde composer and guitarist, Frank Zappa is one of the most original figures in rock and experimental music of the 20th century. Founder of the band The Mothers of Invention, he blended rock, jazz, contemporary classical music, and satirical humor.

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

Georges Pompidou (1911-1974) was a French statesman, Prime Minister under de Gaulle from 1962 to 1968, then the second President of the Fifth Republic from 1969 until his death. A former literature teacher, he left his mark on France through his policy of industrial modernization and his support for contemporary arts.

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.

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.

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.

American chef and television host

Born in 1959 in Mali, Kandia Kouyaté is a Mandinka griot singer nicknamed "the Diva of the Mande." From the renowned Kouyaté griot lineage, she is one of the greatest voices of the oral griot tradition, transmitting epic songs and the collective memory of the Mali Empire.

Naomi Ōsaka is a Japanese-American professional tennis player born in 1997 in Osaka. A former world number 1, she has won four Grand Slam titles. She has also been a vocal advocate for social justice and athletes' mental health.

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.

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).

Siramori Diabaté (c. 1920–1989) was a renowned Malian griot woman from the village of Kéla, Mali, belonging to the Mandinka people. A keeper of the Sundiata Keita epic, she was one of the most celebrated transmitters of the griot oral tradition in the 20th century.

British fashion designer (1941–2022)

A legendary creature of the Himalayas, the Yeti is described as a large bipedal ape-like being living in the eternal snows. A central figure in Tibetan and Nepalese folklore, it has fascinated explorers and scientists since the 19th century.

Adam Devreux is a Belgian comic book author. He is part of the rich Franco-Belgian comics tradition, a visual narrative art form recognized as the 9th art.

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.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was the leading figure of the American Pop Art movement. He transformed images from mass culture into works of art, blurring the boundary between art and commerce.

British artist born in 1974, Banksy is a graffiti artist and political activist known for his satirical and subversive street art. Operating under the cover of anonymity, he uses urban art to criticize society, war, and social injustices.

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*.

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

Mexican painter (1907–1954), renowned for her expressionist self-portraits and works exploring physical pain and identity. An iconic figure of surrealism and feminism, she transformed her personal suffering into major artistic creation.

Georgia O'Keeffe est une peintre américaine pionnière de l'art moderne, célèbre pour ses représentations abstraites de fleurs en gros plan et ses paysages du Nouveau-Mexique. Considérée comme la « mère du modernisme américain », elle a affirmé un style singulier, entre figuration et abstraction, tout au long d'une carrière de plus de sept décennies.

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.

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.

Franco-Swiss architect, urban planner, decorator, painter, sculptor, and writer

Franco-American sculptor

French artist, painter, and sculptor

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.

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).

Russian impresario and patron of the arts, Diaghilev founded the Ballets Russes in 1909, revolutionizing choreographic art by bringing together the greatest artists of his era. He collaborated with Stravinsky, Picasso, Matisse, and Nijinsky to create total spectacles blending dance, music, and the visual arts.

Polish-born painter (1898-1980)

British fashion designer (1941–2022)

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese visual artist born in 1929 in Matsumoto. A pioneer of psychedelic art and pop art, she is known for her obsessive polka-dot patterns and immersive mirror installations. Since 1977, she has voluntarily lived in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo while continuing to create.

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.

French writer, philosopher, and journalist (1913–1960), Albert Camus is one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. Author of The Stranger and The Plague, he developed a philosophy of the absurd and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

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.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an American poet, essayist, and activist, a leading figure in Black feminism and the civil rights struggle. She theorized intersectionality before the term existed, championing the rights of Black women, LGBT people, and the oppressed.

An American philosopher, novelist, and screenwriter of Russian origin, Ayn Rand is the founder of Objectivism, a philosophy championing reason, individualism, and capitalism. Her bestselling novels, including 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged,' have had a lasting influence on American libertarian thought.

An American intellectual, writer, and feminist activist, bell hooks dedicated her life to analyzing the connections between race, gender, and class. The author of more than thirty books, she profoundly reshaped feminist thought by centering the experiences of Black women.

French anthropologist and ethnologist (1908-2009), founder of structural anthropology. He revolutionized the study of human societies by applying structuralist methods to myths, kinship systems, and cultural practices. His major work, Tristes Tropiques, combines ethnographic narrative with philosophical reflection.

Edith Stein, philosophe allemande et élève de Husserl, se convertit du judaïsme au catholicisme et devint carmélite sous le nom de Thérèse-Bénédicte de la Croix. Arrêtée par les nazis en raison de ses origines juives, elle mourut à Auschwitz en 1942. Béatifiée puis canonisée par Jean-Paul II, elle est copatronne de l'Europe.

G. E. M. Anscombe (1919-2001) est l'une des plus grandes philosophes analytiques du XXe siècle. Élève de Wittgenstein, elle forge le terme « conséquentialisme » et révolutionne la philosophie de l'action avec son œuvre majeure *Intention* (1957). Catholique fervente, elle n'hésite pas à s'opposer publiquement à la bombe atomique.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak est une philosophe et critique littéraire indienne, figure fondatrice des études postcoloniales. Connue pour son essai « Can the Subaltern Speak ? » (1988), elle interroge la capacité des dominés à se faire entendre dans les discours occidentaux. Elle est également la traductrice en anglais de « De la grammatologie » de Derrida.

German-born American philosopher (1906–1975), Hannah Arendt is one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. A refugee in the United States after fleeing Nazism, she developed a critical analysis of totalitarianism, political violence, and the human condition in the modern world.

Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) est une philosophe et romancière irlando-britannique, professeure à Oxford, connue pour ses romans alliant réflexion morale et intrigue psychologique. Auteure de plus de vingt-six romans et de travaux philosophiques majeurs, elle explore les thèmes de l'amour, de la liberté et du bien.

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.

French philosopher, writer, and playwright (1905–1980), founder of existentialism. He explored human freedom, responsibility, and commitment through his major philosophical and literary works.

Bulgarian-born French philosopher, linguist, and psychoanalyst, born in 1941. A major figure in structuralist and post-structuralist thought, she developed the concepts of intertextuality and semoanalysis. A professor at the University of Paris VII, she profoundly reshaped literary theory and psychoanalysis.

French philosopher (1926–1984) who revolutionized the analysis of power, knowledge, and surveillance in modern societies. His work on institutions (prisons, hospitals, schools) profoundly influenced contemporary philosophy and the social sciences.

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.

260th pope of the Catholic Church (1939–1958), Pius XII led the Church through the Second World War and the Cold War. His attitude toward the Holocaust remains controversial to this day.

French philosopher and novelist (1908–1986), Simone de Beauvoir is a towering figure of existentialism and modern feminism. Author of The Second Sex, a foundational essay on the condition of women, she profoundly shaped philosophical thought and emancipatory movements throughout the 20th century.

French philosopher (1909-1943) committed to social and spiritual engagement. She combined philosophical reflection with direct action alongside workers and the oppressed, while developing an original mystical thought. Her work, published posthumously, explores the relationships between labor, justice, and transcendence.

Vandana Shiva (born 1952) is an Indian physicist, philosopher, and environmental activist. Founder of the Navdanya movement, she champions biodiversity and farmers' rights while opposing GMOs and neoliberal globalization. A leading figure in ecofeminism, she received the Right Livelihood Award (the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 1993.

Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist (1870–1924), Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 and founded the Soviet Union. He developed Leninism, an adaptation of Marxism to Russian conditions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

American businesswoman (1906–2004)

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'.

Collective nickname for the prominent Togolese businesswomen who dominated the wax fabric market in Lomé from the 1960s onward. Iconic figures of female entrepreneurship in West Africa, they earned their nickname from the Mercedes-Benz cars they could afford thanks to their commercial fortunes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adam Devreux is a Belgian comic book author. He is part of the rich Franco-Belgian comics tradition, a visual narrative art form recognized as the 9th art.

An American philosopher, novelist, and screenwriter of Russian origin, Ayn Rand is the founder of Objectivism, a philosophy championing reason, individualism, and capitalism. Her bestselling novels, including 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged,' have had a lasting influence on American libertarian thought.

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.

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022, Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She embodied the stability of constitutional monarchy through decolonisation, the Cold War, and globalisation.

Freya Stark est une exploratrice et écrivaine britannique qui parcourut les régions les plus reculées du Moyen-Orient au XXe siècle. Première femme occidentale à atteindre certaines vallées d'Arabie et d'Iran, elle publia de nombreux récits de voyage alliant érudition et aventure. Son œuvre contribua à faire connaître le monde arabe en Europe.

Junko Tabei (1939-2016) est une alpiniste japonaise qui devient en 1975 la première femme à atteindre le sommet de l'Everest. Fondatrice du premier club d'alpinisme féminin au Japon, elle gravit également les plus hauts sommets des sept continents. Elle milita en faveur de la protection de l'environnement montagnard.

American physician and astronaut

American astronaut (1930-2012), Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, he marked a major turning point in space exploration and the Cold War.

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.

Russian cosmonaut and politician, first woman in space

A legendary creature of the Himalayas, the Yeti is described as a large bipedal ape-like being living in the eternal snows. A central figure in Tibetan and Nepalese folklore, it has fascinated explorers and scientists since the 19th century.

Ivorian political figure and prominent voice in Côte d'Ivoire's public life. Embodying the meeting point between African cultural traditions and modern political engagement, she represents women's participation in the institutions of postcolonial West Africa.

The Chupacabra is a legendary creature from Latin America whose name means "goat-sucker" in Spanish. First reported in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, it is associated with mysterious livestock mutilations and has become a major cultural and folkloric phenomenon.

Russian impresario and patron of the arts, Diaghilev founded the Ballets Russes in 1909, revolutionizing choreographic art by bringing together the greatest artists of his era. He collaborated with Stravinsky, Picasso, Matisse, and Nijinsky to create total spectacles blending dance, music, and the visual arts.

A legendary creature of the Himalayas, the Yeti is described as a large bipedal ape-like being living in the eternal snows. A central figure in Tibetan and Nepalese folklore, it has fascinated explorers and scientists since the 19th century.

Princess of Wales (1981–1996), Diana Spencer became a global humanitarian figure through her commitment to banning landmines and supporting people living with AIDS. Her informal diplomatic influence and tragic death in 1997 made her an icon of the 20th century.

Son of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned over the United Kingdom and the Empire of India from 1901 to 1910. An emblematic figure of the Belle Époque, he played a decisive role in bringing France and Britain closer together through the Entente Cordiale of 1904.

Archduke and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, by Gavrilo Princip triggered the First World War. A central figure in the nationalism and European tensions of the early twentieth century.

Egyptian military officer and statesman (1918–1970), Nasser was the chief architect of the 1952 revolution that overthrew the monarchy. President of Egypt from 1956 until his death, he became the embodiment of Arab nationalism and Third Worldism.

Lioudmila Pavlitchenko est la sniper la plus létale de l'histoire, créditée de 309 tirs confirmés sur le front soviéto-allemand. Surnommée « Lady Death », elle devient un symbole de la résistance soviétique et une ambassadrice internationale dès 1942.

Edith Stein, philosophe allemande et élève de Husserl, se convertit du judaïsme au catholicisme et devint carmélite sous le nom de Thérèse-Bénédicte de la Croix. Arrêtée par les nazis en raison de ses origines juives, elle mourut à Auschwitz en 1942. Béatifiée puis canonisée par Jean-Paul II, elle est copatronne de l'Europe.

Etty Hillesum est une jeune Juive néerlandaise dont le journal intime, rédigé entre 1941 et 1943, témoigne d'une profonde vie intérieure face à la persécution nazie. Travailleuse sociale au camp de transit de Westerbork, elle refuse de fuir et choisit de partager le sort de son peuple. Elle est déportée à Auschwitz et y meurt en novembre 1943 à 29 ans.

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.

Née en 1910 en Macédoine ottomane, Mère Teresa fonda en 1950 les Missionnaires de la Charité à Calcutta pour venir en aide aux plus pauvres. Icône mondiale de la compassion, elle reçut le prix Nobel de la paix en 1979 et fut canonisée en 2016.

260th pope of the Catholic Church (1939–1958), Pius XII led the Church through the Second World War and the Cold War. His attitude toward the Holocaust remains controversial to this day.

Grace Hopper, mathématicienne et contre-amirale américaine, est l'une des pionnières de l'informatique. Elle développa l'un des premiers compilateurs et contribua à la création du langage COBOL, révolutionnant la programmation. Elle popularisa l'expression « bug » informatique après avoir trouvé un vrai insecte dans un ordinateur.

Austrian-born American actress, producer, and scientist

Margaret Hamilton est une informaticienne et ingénieure américaine pionnière du génie logiciel. Elle a dirigé l'équipe qui a développé le logiciel de navigation embarqué des missions Apollo, contribuant directement à l'alunissage de 1969. Elle est considérée comme l'une des fondatrices du génie logiciel en tant que discipline.

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.

Radia Perlman is an American engineer and computer scientist born in 1951, nicknamed the "Mother of the Internet." In 1985, she invented the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), which makes computer networks stable and reliable. Her work on network security and routing protocols remains foundational to the architecture of the Internet.

Anna Kournikova is a Russian tennis player born in 1981 in Moscow. Turning professional at just 14, she reached the world top 10 and won two Grand Slam doubles titles at the French Open and Wimbledon alongside Martina Hingis. A media icon of the 1990s and 2000s, she came to embody the intersection of sport and popular culture.

An Australian athlete of Aboriginal descent, Cathy Freeman became Olympic champion in the 400 metres at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. She is an iconic figure of reconciliation between Australians and Aboriginal peoples.

Naomi Ōsaka is a Japanese-American professional tennis player born in 1997 in Osaka. A former world number 1, she has won four Grand Slam titles. She has also been a vocal advocate for social justice and athletes' mental health.

Russian pole vaulter born in 1982, Yelena Isinbayeva is considered the greatest athlete in the history of women's pole vault. A two-time Olympic champion and three-time world champion, she set 28 world records over the course of her career.