Peter the Great, Czar of Russia
Peter the Great became czar of Russia when he was only 10 years old. As a young man, he showed little interest in politics...
Maxim Gorky, Russian Writer and Activist
Political activist, author and playwright Maxim Gorky gave a voice to the unheard majority of Russia before, during and after the Russian Revolution. From...
Andrea Bocelli, Opera and Pop Singer
An idyllic farm surrounded by vineyards and olive groves in the Tuscan countryside was the setting for Andrea Bocelli’s childhood. But this soft-spoken singer,...
Clarence Darrow, Renowned American Lawyer
Clarence Darrow participated in many controversial and highly publicized trials, tirelessly defending the underdog and fighting for civil rights. Never afraid to speak his...
Pablo Picasso, Groundbreaking Painter
From his Cubist works to his famous Blue Period, painter Pablo Picasso changed the face of art forever.
Picasso's Early Days
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born...
Niccolò Machiavelli, Author of “The Prince”
Niccolò Machiavelli lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in Italian history. An early alliance with the wrong faction suspended his political career;...
Stanley Kunitz, American Poet
Stanley Kunitz was destined to be a poet. Kunitz once said, “There was so much joy in playing with the language that I couldn’t...
William Faulkner, American Novelist
William Faulkner, revered modernist writer, historian and sociologist, is known for capturing the raw beauty of the rural South in all its dark complexity....
Anne Frank, Holocaust Diarist
Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank lived 15 years, yet her legacy has lived on for decades. In the book known in English as...
Horace Mann, “Father of American Education”
Horace Mann was an educational pioneer. At a time when many saw considerable problems in American education, he stepped forward to address the issues,...
