what is your favourite historic person and why?

Question

explain also why he/she was so brilliant or what has the person done in his/her life. (quote her/him also if possible)

Answer 1

Zhuge Liang (Kong Ming)

Zhuge Liang lived life as a Hermit but then was asked three time by the virtuous Liu Bei (Liu Pei) to join him in his ambition to restore the Han dynasty at the detriment of Han Prime Minister Cao Cao (T'sao T'sao). Zhuge Liang agreed and successfully defeated Cao Cao on more than one occasion, most notably at Chi Bi. Zhuge Liang also divised that Liu Bei would comand Shu Province away from Liu Zhang and predicted very early on that Liu Bei would have that province. On Liu Bei death he was the gaurdian and Primeminister of the new Shu Han kingdom and advised Liu Chan. Zhuge Liang ran the state and his genius was recognised as foremost in China.

His ability lay in being able to create and apply strategy, a mastery of the art of war and ability to read peoples move made him the foremost strategist in China. He is still highly regarded. He was a wise man who was loyal and eventually ran the state, he advised Liu Bei through his achievements. His book called the "way of the General" is complimentry to the Art of War by Sun Tzu.

His writings being unique, he was also a great statesman and diplomat securing alliances in Nan Zhong and with Wu Kingdom under Sun Quan he was later deified and remains one of the foremost statesman in chinese history.

Answer 2

I would go for Charles de Gaulle. I am not French but I find his doings remarkable.

He was a army man, a General. He faught in the WW2 and even when France was defeated he continued from the UK. He also played a major role in the formation of the 5th French Republic (what is France today). But my admire does not originate from these acoplisments.

As I said he was an army man that fought and saw first hand the WW2. He saw the terror and the destruction and he could go hating Germans for the rest of his life. Instead he was the first to introduce the idea of a united Europe and he put the foundations of the present EU. His phrase "Yes, it is Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, it is Europe" marks his beliefs.

Because of these ideas I now live in EU and have another 24 countries not just my allies but my friends, parterns. We share the same borders and citizenship. The next step is a European Federation but it is not easy.

He and other people like him made Europe a peacful and vibrant place even though 60 years back (shorter than a life time) it was the scene of the deadliest war of humanity. Also Europe held both world wars.

To sum up he proved that if you want and have the patiente everything can be resolved peacfully. You do not need war to gain vital space but just to exchange it or better share it. You could say that UN was based on the same ideas but obviously it failed. There has been no war among EU members and the succesion of new countries makes peace and democrasy in Europe more stable.

Answer 3

I have lots of them and I really like Leonardo DaVinci because of all of the amazing observations and discoveries he made which had a profound influence on later scientists and scholars...he was a bridge between classical philosophy and modern scientific thought.

But I think I have to pick Benjamin Franklin.

He was the last of a different breed of modern human that tried to explore with an open mind every aspect of what it meant to be human.

He was a very influential scientist giving us the lightning rod and developing terminology and theories of electricity that are still valid today (he came up with + and - to describe current flow).

He was a statesman who probably was the biggest factor in winning the Revolutionary War by getting the King of France to support a revolution against the King of England.

He was an author he developed/invented "Poor Richards Almanac" which was the real bible for American farmers for 200 years because of its clever and accurate method of predicting weather patterns for planting and harvest. Many believe he co-wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and there is no doubt he was a voice of reason during the constitutional tribulation and subsequent crises after the war.

He never owned slaves and was one of a group of the fore fathers that had a real problem with it.

From what I've read he also seems like a pretty fun guy who knew how to and liked to party, got along well with everyone and had a knack of saying the most profound things at just the right times in debates and conversations.

Answer 4

Winston Churchill. Although he had too many faults to mention here, he was also a person who throughout his life was willing to stand alone based upon his beliefs, no matter what the consequences. He overcame a bad childhood and a lack of traditional "smarts" in the areas that society valued, only to become intelligent and great when the world needed him most. A chubby loser whom everyone underestimated, and every school expelled, grew up to be the sharpest combination of mind and tongue the Western world had ever know. Lastly, unlike most every other major leader of his time, he was the only one who never caved in or gave an inch to Adolph Hitler.

Second would probably be Che Guevara.

Answer 5

I'm split between Will Shakespearehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare who pretty much created the English that we all know; and Leonardo Da Vinci http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_vinci, who did so many things as well or better than anyone else on the planet up to that time.

As one story goes, an older gent, on hearing that his teenage grandson had just seen Shakespeare for the first time, asked him how he liked, "It was good I guess" came the reply, "except it was just so full of cliches..." Shakespeare, in all those wonderful plays and poems, brought many classic European stories into English; and gave birth to more cliches than any other person in the history of our language. This is a very real measure of his importance on the formation of English. The other easy way is to ask how many works of a given author someone can name. On average, Shakespeare wins hands down.

Da Vinci wins because his brilliance spans such an incredible range of fields. If he had only painted, we would know him as one of the most gifted and influential artists ever. As a scientist, his work would also be known for his clear and careful observations and restless spirit of inquiry. But he also is known for his inventions, his technologies, morality... he was THE Renaissance man.

Answer 6

Socrates.

Hard to sum him up. I had always imagined that the Greek philosophers would be really difficult to understand and deep, but a even a child can understand where Socrates is coming from.

Basically, he questioned everything, and through his questioning was able to lead people to understand that that nothing in this world is black and white. Although he never wrote anything, his methods and personailty are brilliantly brough to to life in Plato's "The Last Days of Socrates". Also, he is very funny.

He was condemned to death for his behaviour by the authorities, and though given the opportunity to escape declined.

He was a man of brilliant integrity. The line most famously attributed to him is "All I know is I know nothing", and his life was spent in encouraging people to question their opinions and convictions.

Answer 7

Alexander Hamilton
He is a true rags to riches, American Dream guy.
He was the single most important person in the founding era...
He set up this government...fighting the ignorant Jefferson at every turn....
He saved us from ruin...and helped turn us into a strong powerful industrialized country.

take Alexander Hamilton out of the equasion....and the United States wouldn't have lasted 45 years.

Answer 8

Marie Antoinette, because she was just like the rest of us. Like everybody else, she did the best she could with the knowledge she had on hand. If she was misadvised or her upbringing was negligent, that was not her fault. Like many people, she ended up paying a heavy price for decisions that other people actually made. Examples:
- She did not take books and education seriously; well why should she have? Her own mother, Empress Maria Theresa, did not fuss much over the daughter's education until it was deemed absolutely necessary, and that wasn't until M.A. was nearly 14. Now think about that in today's terms. If a kid is allowed to be wayward until that age, it's extremely difficult to suddenly start getting him or her on the right path, isn't it?
- Paris cheered when she entered the city wearing diamonds. She therefore thought they loved when she looked extravagant. When she was later hated for her extravagance, she tried to look and act more plain. She was equally condemned for that as well.
- Because of hatred between Austria and France that existed well before the poor lady was even born, she was greeted at Versailles by people who despised her. Aren't there people today who are hated on sight, because they unwittingly represent a group that is hated or misunderstood?
- She was blamed for the earthquake in Portugal of 1755, just because she happened to have been born on the day the earthquake took place. Aren't there people today who have been held accountable for things that are beyond their control?
- There was nothing she could do to stop unscrupulous people from printing lies about her. Aren't there people today who have suffered because of lies that were told about them?
Amazingly, as her life became progressively worse, her character and inner strength actually improved, and she became a grand lady just because of her dignified comportment, her lack of bitterness, and her newly-discovered insight. Doesn't adversity sometimes bring out the best in us, in its own strange way?

Answer 9

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. "

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. "

Benjamin Franklin is my hero. He was brilliant, having invented among other things the Franklin stove. He was an inventor, author, printer, publisher, politician, statesman, ambassador, congressman, and world traveler. He was witty with his genious. He was a peaceful patriot, protesting the Revolutionary war until all hope of a peaceful conclusion disappeared.

Answer 10

my favourite historic person is captain Christopher Columbus coz he was the first one to proe that the end of the seais not flat n he also proved tat the earthis a sphere, however, people didnt believe him, but latter on they did so. n they also let to go to the indies, but instead went to south america n thought the people livilng there r red indians too. he is actually a hero to me coz he tried to make people understand that the earth is a sphere n not flat that someone cud fall n never be sen again!

Answer 11

I have to choose three. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. What great minds that have travelled through 200 plus years of history. These three men are responsible for one of the greatest endeavors our country has ever engaged in; they orchastrated the American Revolution.