History hero

Celebrities and popular figures choose their heroes from history. Browse these interviews to find out more about the people they chose…

A bust of Ashoka the Great

General ancient history

History hero Nihal Arthanayake chooses Ashoka the Great (c304–c232 BC)

Laurence Olivier pictured in New York, 1933. “In my young mind he was theatrical royalty – almost a kind of monarch,” says Steven Berkoff. (Image by Getty Images)

History hero Steven Berkoff chooses Laurence Olivier (1907–89)

A colourised portrait of Anton Chekhov, from 1901

History hero William Boyd chooses Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)

Eric Liddell winning the 400-metre final at the 1924 Olympic Games

History hero Dan Walker chooses Eric Liddell (1902–45)

Welfare campaigner Emily Hobhouse

History hero Anita Anand chooses Emily Hobhouse (1860–1926)

Former US president Theodore Roosevelt stands on a boat with Cândido Rondon

History hero Ella Al-Shamahi chooses Cândido Rondon (1865–1958)

Professor Stephen Hawking in his office at the University of Cambridge, 2003

History hero Bobby Seagull chooses Stephen Hawking (1942–2018)

A c1638 oil painting of Katherine Howard, Lady Aubigny

History hero Julia Donaldson chooses Katherine Howard, Lady Aubigny (d1650)

Félix Kir in 1947, when he was the mayor of Dijon

Second World War

History hero Simon Farnaby chooses Félix Kir (1876–1968)

Charles Darwin at his home at Down House, Kent, c1880. (Photo by English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

History hero Andrew Marr chooses Charles Darwin (1809–82)

George Washington Carver in a laboratory

History hero Gillian Burke chooses George Washington Carver (c1864–1943)

A 19th-century engraving of Francis Grose

History hero Susie Dent chooses Francis Grose (1731–1791)

Young girl putting garland around Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. (Photo by Dinodia Photos/Getty Images)

History hero Fergal Keane chooses Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964)

Krystyna Skarbeck, also called Christine Granville

Second World War

History hero Michael Morpurgo chooses Krystyna Skarbek (1908–1952)

Mary Seacole as seen in a contemporary photo. Although she became famous for her nursing work in the Crimean War, her story subsequently became largely forgotten. (Photo by Alamy)

History hero Bernardine Evaristo chooses Mary Seacole (1805–1881)