Born on October 10

Antoine Watteau was a French painter and draughtsman of the early 18th century. The inventor of the genre of the “fêtes galantes” (courtship parties), he is one of the major figures of Rococo art, famous for his refined and melancholy scenes.

Norwegian polar explorer who crossed Greenland on skis in 1888 and attempted to reach the North Pole in 1893–1896 aboard the Fram. Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1922, he created the Nansen passport for stateless refugees.

Russian-American linguist and theorist, a major figure of structuralism. Founder of the Prague Linguistic Circle, he revolutionized phonology and proposed a model of the functions of language that left its mark on the linguistics, poetics, and humanities of the 20th century.

Swiss sculptor and painter, a major figure in 20th-century art. After a Surrealist period, he developed a unique style of extremely elongated, slimmed-down human figures that became an emblem of the postwar human condition.

Indian novelist writing in English, one of the greatest writers of twentieth-century India. He created the imaginary town of Malgudi, the setting for most of his works, where he portrays the everyday life of South India with tenderness and irony.

Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer, a major figure of bebop. His distinctive harmonic and rhythmic style, built on dissonance and silence, profoundly renewed the language of modern jazz.

American chemist born in 1966, a pioneer of bioorthogonal chemistry. She developed chemical reactions capable of taking place inside living organisms without disrupting their functioning. She received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022.