Born on November 24

A 17th-century Dutch philosopher, Spinoza developed an original metaphysical system built on the concept of a single substance (God or Nature). His major work, the Ethics, offers a new conception of freedom and the relationship between mind and body.

18th-century Russian generalissimo, considered one of the greatest military commanders in Russian history. Reputedly undefeated in more than sixty battles, he distinguished himself under the reigns of Catherine II and then Paul I, notably during the wars against the Ottoman Empire and Revolutionary France.

French painter, draughtsman, lithographer and poster artist, a major figure of Post-Impressionism. A witness to the Paris of the Belle Époque, he immortalized the cabarets, the music halls and the nightlife of Montmartre.

Franco-Swiss neurologist and oncologist (1874–1948), he founded the Paris Cancer Institute in 1921 — today known as the Institut Gustave Roussy — the first cancer center in Europe. His pioneering work on brain tumors and cancer laid the foundations of modern oncology in France.

Ahmadou Kourouma was an Ivorian writer and a major figure of French-language African literature. His work denounces post-colonial dictatorships and the violence of contemporary Africa by reinventing the French language through contact with Malinke.

Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) was a Soviet, later Russian, composer and a major figure of 20th-century music. A theorist and practitioner of “polystylism,” he blended Baroque and Romantic quotations with modern techniques in a dense, expressive body of work.