1,518 simulated lineages
The gallery We applied the same method to documented figures. Each has its probable lineage, its regions and its ancient peoples, and you can look for the ones that share yours.
Continent All Africa Middle East Europe Asia Oceania Americas 1,518 figures
Africa 315 figures Ibn Khaldun Historian, father of sociology Fourteenth-century Tunis: he founded the study of societies, six centuries ahead of his time. Tunisia 67% Naguib Mahfouz Writer, 1988 Nobel Prize The Cairo of a thousand alleys, from pharaonic Egypt to today. Egypt 46% Umm Kulthum 'Star of the East' The voice that, every Thursday night, silenced the whole Arab world. Egypt 46% Youssou N'Dour Singer, voice of mbalax Dakar: heir to the Wolof griots, carried onto every stage in the world. Senegal 91% Wole Soyinka Writer, 1986 Nobel Prize Yoruba from Nigeria: first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Nigeria 88% Fela Kuti Pioneer of Afrobeat Lagos: the Yoruba rhythm turned into a political weapon. Nigeria 88% Angélique Kidjo Singer, 5-time Grammy winner Benin's Vodun heritage, sung in a dozen languages. Benin 92% Didier Drogba Footballer, Ivorian legend Abidjan, which he reconciled as a nation for the length of a match. Côte d’Ivoire 90% Haile Selassie Last Emperor of Ethiopia Ethiopia: a lineage traced, by claim, back to the Queen of Sheba. Ethiopia 97% Wangari Maathai 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Kikuyu Kenya: the first African woman to win the Peace Prize, through trees. Kenya 90% Patrice Lumumba First Prime Minister of Congo Kinshasa: the voice of Congolese independence. Congo - Kinshasa 86% Nelson Mandela 1993 Nobel Peace Prize Thembu Xhosa clan — descended from the Bantu expansion, 1,500 years ago. South Africa 76% Miriam Makeba 'Mama Africa' The Xhosa voice of exile, who sang against apartheid. South Africa 76%
Middle East 118 figures Rumi Sufi mystic poet From Balkh to Konya: the most-read poet, eight centuries after his death. Iran 62% Omar Khayyam Poet and mathematician Nishapur: algebra and quatrains in the same hand. Iran 62% Kahlil Gibran Poet, author of 'The Prophet' From Mount Lebanon to New York: one of the best-selling books in history. Lebanon 58% Fairuz Singer, 'voice of Lebanon' Beirut at dawn: the voice that wakes the Arab world each morning. Lebanon 58% Freddie Mercury Singer of Queen Parsi from Zanzibar: a Zoroastrian lineage fleeing Persia in the 8th century. India 92%
Europe 284 figures Leonardo da Vinci Painter, engineer, scientist Tuscany: the universal gaze of the Renaissance. Italy 68% Michelangelo Sculptor, painter of the Sistine Chapel Tuscan marble turned into David and the ceiling of the world. Italy 68% Dante Alighieri Poet, 'The Divine Comedy' Florence: the Italian language born of a journey through hell. Italy 68% Galileo Galilei Astronomer, father of modern science Pisa: 'And yet it moves.' Italy 68% Pablo Picasso Painter, founder of Cubism Málaga, where eight centuries of Al-Andalus still surface. Spain 63% Miguel de Cervantes Writer, 'Don Quixote' Castile: the first modern novel in literature. Spain 69% Vincent van Gogh Post-Impressionist painter Dutch Brabant: light pursued to the point of burning. Netherlands 65% William Shakespeare Playwright, poet Stratford: the English language reinvented forever. United Kingdom 71% Isaac Newton Physicist, mathematician Lincolnshire: gravity explained, legend says, under an apple tree. United Kingdom 71% Ada Lovelace Computing pioneer London: the first algorithm, a century before the computer. United Kingdom 71% Marie Curie Physicist, two Nobel Prizes Warsaw: two Nobels, two sciences, an element named 'polonium'. Poland 74% Frédéric Chopin Composer, pianist Mazovia: the piano as memory of a lost homeland. Poland 74% Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomer Toruń: the Earth cast out from the center of the world. Poland 74% W. A. Mozart Composer Salzburg: the child prodigy who became a universal language. Austria 67% Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Rhineland: the Ninth Symphony composed in silence. Germany 68% Albert Einstein Physicist, 1921 Nobel Prize Rhineland Ashkenazi Jew, whose lineage traces Europe's migrations. Germany 65% Franz Kafka Writer Prague: the bureaucratic nightmare turned into literature. Czechia 62% Astrid Lindgren Author of 'Pippi Longstocking' Småland: free childhood invented for the whole world. Scandinavia 63% Hans Christian Andersen Storyteller Odense: the fairy tales that have lulled the planet. Scandinavia 63% Leo Tolstoy Writer, 'War and Peace' Yasnaya Polyana: the Russian soul spread over a thousand pages. Russia 64% Nikola Tesla Inventor, engineer A Serb of the borderlands: the alternating current that electrified the world. Serbia 65% Aristotle Philosopher Stagira: 'the master of those who know.' Greece 66%
Asia 412 figures Mohandas Gandhi Father of independent India Gujarat: the non-violence that freed a subcontinent. India 92% Rabindranath Tagore Poet, 1913 Nobel Prize Bengal: first Nobel Prize in Literature from outside Europe. India 96% B. R. Ambedkar Architect of India's Constitution Maharashtra: born 'untouchable', he wrote a nation's law. India 96% Srinivasa Ramanujan Mathematical genius Tamil Nadu: formulas he said were dictated by a goddess. India 96% Malala Yousafzai 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Swat Valley: the youngest Nobel laureate in history. Pakistan 96% Siddhartha Gautama The Buddha Lumbini: Enlightenment at the foot of the Himalayas, 2,500 years ago. Nepal 97% Confucius Philosopher Shandong: social harmony taught twenty-five centuries ago. China 80% Ai Weiwei Artist, dissident Beijing: art as an act of freedom. China 79% Show more (1470 remaining)