Born on January 15

Joan of Arc (1412–1431) was a French heroine who played a decisive role during the Hundred Years' War. Inspired by religious visions, she led the French armies to several victories against the English. Captured, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake in Rouen, she became an iconic figure of France.

Austrian physician and physiologist, a pioneer of the cathartic method. His treatment of the patient “Anna O.” in the 1880s and his collaboration with Sigmund Freud paved the way for the birth of psychoanalysis.

Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891) was the first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics in Europe and the first female professor of mathematics at a modern university. A pioneer in analysis and mechanics, she broke through the barriers of the male academic world to establish herself as a leading mathematician.

Etty Hillesum was a young Dutch Jewish woman whose diary, written between 1941 and 1943, bears witness to a profound inner life in the face of Nazi persecution. Working as a social worker at the Westerbork transit camp, she refused to flee and chose to share the fate of her people. She was deported to Auschwitz, where she died in November 1943 at the age of 29.

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.

Italo Calvino (1923-1985) is one of the major Italian writers of the 20th century. Author of fantastical and combinatorial tales such as “The Baron in the Trees” and “Invisible Cities”, he blended fable, science, and literary play with boundless imagination.

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.