History hero

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

Bob Marley performs live on stage with the Wailers in Holland

My history hero: Bob Marley (1945–81). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

My history hero: Horatio Nelson (1758–1805). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history heroNick Knowles chooses Julius Caesar (100–44 BC). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

My History Hero: Richard Wagner (1813–83). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

My history hero: Woody Guthrie. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

My history hero: Toussaint Louverture (1743–1803). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

My history hero: Charlotte Brontë (1816-55). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Sam Cooke (1931–64). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

My history hero: William Shakespeare (1564–1616). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

My history hero: Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891–1956). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

President Ronald Reagan at Durenberger Republican convention rally, 1982. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

My history hero: Ronald Reagan (1911–2004). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mario Lanza c1950. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Mario Lanza (1921-59). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of Henry V of England

My history hero: Henry V. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

John F Kennedy pictured in 1957

My history hero: John F Kennedy (1917–63). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An undated portrait of Hypatia

My history hero: Hypatia (cAD 370–415). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of King Henry VIII

History heroNathaniel Parker chooses Henry VIII (1491-1547). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The mahogany wooden interior of the Glasgow School of Art

My history hero: Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Artist Leonora Carrington

My history hero: Leonora Carrington (1917–2011). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Emmeline Pankhurst

My history hero: Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jane Austen

My history heroJane Austen (1775–1817). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.