History hero

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

English philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts. (Photo by Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)

My history hero: Angela Burdett-Coutts

My history hero: Aled Jones chooses Freddie Mercury (1946–91)

Designer duo, husband and wife Robin and Lucienne Day, 1955. The pair “were perhaps the greatest British man and wife design team there has ever been”, says Wayne Hemingway. (Photo by Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo)

My history hero: Robin Day (1915–2010) and Lucienne Day (1917–2010)

Charlie Chaplin, in a still from his 1936 film 'Modern Times’. (Photo by American Stock/Getty Images)

My history hero: Charlie Chaplin

Winston Churchill, 1941. (Photo by War Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)

History heroBarbara Taylor Bradford chooses Winston Churchill (1874–1965)

American novelist John Updike

My history hero: John Updike (1932-2009)

Field Marshal Bill Slim

My history hero: Field Marshal Bill Slim (1891-1970)

A portrait of Charles Dickens. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

My history hero: Charles Dickens

History heroJeremy Corbyn chooses Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97)

Gertrude Bell. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

My history hero: Gertrude Bell (1868–1926)

Bob Marley performs live on stage with the Wailers in Holland

My history hero: Bob Marley (1945–81)

Italian writer Primo Levi sitting at a desk in his study. Turin, 1981. (Photo by Sergio del GrandeMondadori PortfolioMondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

My history hero: Primo Levi (1919–87)

Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), 1797. Artist: Abbott, Lemuel Francis (1760-1802)

My history hero: Horatio Nelson (1758–1805)

My history heroNick Knowles chooses Julius Caesar (100–44 BC)

Swiss psychiatrist Dr Carl Jung in his library at home. (Photo by Dmitri Kessel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Carl Jung (1875–1961)

Portrait of Richard Wagner, 1883. (Photo By DEA/A Dagli Orti/De Agostini/Getty Images)

My History Hero: Richard Wagner (1813–83)

Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, a PPP candidate (Pakistan People's Party), campaigning from the sun roof of a car. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007)

British comedian and actor Arthur Askey at the London Palladium, February 1968. (Photo by David Cairns/Daily Express/Getty Images)

History Hero: Arthur Askey (1900–82)

British leader of the Labour Party Clement Attlee leaves the Treasury, 27 May 1945. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

My history hero: Clement Attlee (1883–1967)

Photo of Woody Guthrie c1970. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

My history hero: Woody Guthrie

Statue of Toussaint Louverture, Palais National, Haiti. (Photo by Getty Images)

My history hero: Toussaint Louverture (1743–1803)

Portrait of Charlotte Brontë. (Photo by De Agostini Picture Library/Getty Images)

My history hero: Charlotte Brontë (1816-55)

My history hero: Sam Cooke (1931–64)

Maya Angelou was “the ultimate boundary-breaker”, says Naga Munchetty. (Photo by Craig Herndon/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

My history hero: Maya Angelou (1928–2014)

Douglas Bader in October 1940. “He was competitive, unruly, foolhardy – but also brilliant, brave and hugely talented,” says David Cameron. (Photo by Fg Off S A Devon/IWM via Getty Images)

My history hero: David Cameron chooses Douglas Bader (1910–82)

Seve Ballesteros. (Photo by Brian Morgan/Getty Images)

My history hero: Seve Ballesteros (1957–2011)

Lyndon B Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. (Photo by Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images)

My history hero: Lyndon Johnson (1908–73)

Portrait of William Shakespeare by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

My history hero: William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Guillaume Apollinaire and his wife, Jacqueline Kolb, on the terrace of the boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris, France, in 1918. (Photo by adoc-photos/Corbis via Getty Images)

My history hero: Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)

Bhimrao Ambedkar, May 1946. (Photo by Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891–1956)