Back to Current Biograhpy International Yearbook 2005

• Alhaji Abdul-Razaq, Nigerian lawyer and government official

• Ammar Abdulhamid, Syrian author and activist

• Amsale Aberra, Ethiopian-born fashion designer

• Freddy Adu, Ghanian-born soccer player

• Shohreh Aghdashloo, Iranian actress

• Alejandro Agresti, Argentinean filmmaker

• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

• Akbar Ahmed, Pakistani anthropologist, filmmaker, and civil servant

• Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese head of state

• Massouma al-Mubarak, Kuwaiti cabinet member

• Sinan al-Shabibi, Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq

• Albert II, Prince of Monaco

• Alejandro Amenabar, Screenwriter, filmmaker, and composer

• Anousheh Ansari, Iranian-born computer-software executive

• Alfonso Arau, Mexican filmmaker, producer, and actor

• Asashoryu, Mongolian sumo wrestler

• Bae Yong Joon, South Korean actor

• Mohammad Bakri, Palestinian actor and filmmaker

• Enos Banda, South African banker

• Siddiq Barmak, Afghan filmmaker and head of the Afghan Film Organization

• Tony Blair, Prime minister of Great Britain

• Heston Blumenthal, British chef, restaurant owner, and cookbook author

• Yve-Alain Bois, French art historian, professor, and curator

• Enrico Bombieri, Italian mathematician

• John Bond, British banker and chairman of HSBC Holdings

• Ana Patricia Botín, Spanish banker

• Matthew Bourne, British dancer and choreographer

• François Bozizé, President of the Central African Republic

• Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, CEO and chairman of Nestlé S.A.

• Charles Gyude Bryant, Interim chairman of the National Transitional

• Government of Liberia

• James Burke, Irish writer and television producer

• Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Member of British royal family

• Gary Chang, Chinese architect

• Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, Thai beverage executive

• Chen Guidi & Wu Chuntao, Chinese journalists

• Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor and martial-arts expert

• Yuri Aleksandrovich Chizmadzhev, Russian scientist

• Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor

• Carla Cico, Italian businesswoman

• Johnny Clegg, South African musician

• Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer and songwriter

• Nicola Conte, Italian DJ and record producer

• Manuel Cuevas, Mexican-born clothing designer

• Shobhaa Dé, Indian writer and television host

• Jamel Debbouze, French comedian and actor

• Frank Delaney, Irish writer

• Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player

• Yogesh Deveshwar, Chairman and executive director of the Indian Tobacco Company

• Waris Dirie, Somalian-born model and social activist

• Dolce & Gabbana, Italian fashion designers

• Simon Kirwan Donaldson, British mathematician

• Jorge Drexler, Uruguayan singer and songwriter

• Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer

• Attiyat El-Abnoudi, Egyptian documentary filmmaker

• Jan Eliasson, Swedish diplomat and president of the U.N. General Assembly

• Jean-Claude Ellena, French perfumer

• Frank Evans, British bullfighter

• Craig Ferguson, Scottish actor

• Alejandro Fernandez, Mexican singer

• Juan-Carlos Formell, Cuban musician

• Fu Chengyu, Chinese energy-company executive

• Atsuya Furuta, Japanese baseball player for the Yakult Swallows

• George Galloway, British member of Parliament

• Anju George, Indian athlete

• Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo

• Mahabir P. Gupta, Indian pharmacologist

• King Gyanendra, Nepali ruler

• Françoise Hardy, French singer and songwriter

• Saad Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician

• Zakir Hussain, Indian musician

• José Miguel Insulza, Secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS)

• Dana International, Israeli singer

• Alfredo Jaar, Chilean installation artist and photographer

• Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian novelist, poet, and dramatist

• Jet, Australian rock group

• Jean-Pierre Jeunet, French filmmaker

• Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean filmmaker, comic-book writer, and actor

• Francisco Sionil José, Filipino novelist and journalist

• Amar Kanwar, Indian documentary filmmaker

• Narain Karthikeyan, Indian Formula One race-car driver

• Eugene and Natalya Kaspersky, Russian computer executives

• Mathieu Kassovitz, French actor and filmmaker

• Liya Kebede, Ethiopian-born model and social activist

• David Kelly, Irish actor

• Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

• Imran Khan, Pakistani politician and former cricket player

• Udo Kier, German actor

• Salva Kiir Mayardit, Sudanese soldier and politician

• Keira Knightley, British actress

• Magdalena Kožená, Czech opera singer

• Neelie Kroes, Dutch politician and European Union competition commissioner

• Ricardo Lagos, Chilean politician

• Wilmer Lalupú, Peruvian artist

• Henri Landwirth, Belgian-born businessman and philanthropist

• Daniel Lanois, Canadian musician and record producer

• Geneviève Laporte, French poet and documentary filmmaker

• Andy Lau, Chinese actor and singer

• Evelyn Lau, Chinese-Canadian writer

• Anne Lauvergeon, French nuclear-energy executive

• Lee Kun-Hee, South Korean chairman and CEO of Samsung Group

• Li Dongsheng, Chinese businessman

• David Lordkipanidze, Georgian paleoanthropologist

• Elina Löwensohn, Romanian-born actress

• Pony Ma, Chinese businessman and founder, chairman, and CEO of Tencent Computer Systems

• Mark Malloch Brown, British United Nations official

• Cheb Mami, Algerian singer

• Maná, Mexican pop-rock band

• Irshad Manji, Ugandan-born Canadian author and television host

• Jaime Manrique, Colombian-born writer and teacher

• Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman and founder of Red Bull GmbH

• Nobu Matsuhisa, Japanese chef and restaurateur

• Simon McBurney, British actor and director

• Zakes Mda, South African writer

• Deena Mehta, Indian stockbroker and former Bombay Stock Exchange official

• Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist

• Sania Mirza, Indian tennis player

• Yuichiro Miura, Japanese mountaineer and skier

• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Deputy president of the Republic of South Africa

• Felix Moos, German-born anthropologist

• Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress

• Hania Mufti, Jordanian human rights activist

• Aloma Mukhtar, First female justice on the Nigerian Supreme Court

• Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player

• Yoshitomo Nara, Japanese artist

• Anna Netrebko, Russian opera singer

• Khadja Nin, Burundian singer

• Christopher Nolan, British-American filmmaker and screenwriter

• Enrique Norten, Mexican architect

• Jehane Noujaim, Egyptian-American documentary filmmaker

• Ayman Nour, Egyptian politician and presidential candidate

• Colm O’Connell, Irish cleric and track coach

• Sandra Oh, Canadian actress

• Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Director-general of the Nigerian Stock Exchange

• Sophie Okonedo, British actress

• Festus Okonkwo, Nigerian military commander and head of the African Union peacekeepers in Darfur

• Jamie Oliver, British chef, cookbook author, and television personality

• Adams Oshiomhole, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress

• Helen Oyeyemi, Nigerian-born writer

• Alfredo Palacio, President of Ecuador

• Ian Pearson, British futurologist

• Paolo Pelosini, Italian artist

• Nadia Petrova, Russian tennis player

• Omara Portuondo, Cuban singer

• Michael Potter, British-born Canadian entrepreneur

• Birgit Prinz, German soccer player

• Jan Pronk, Dutch United Nations official

• Puffy AmiYumi, Japanese pop group

• Thomas Quasthoff, German classical singer

• Taqi Rahmani, Iranian writer and political prisoner

• Edi Rama, Albanian politician and artist

• Ren Zhengfei, Chinese telecommunications executive

• Pipilotti Rist, Swiss video artist

• Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, Bolivian interim president and former chief justice

• of the Bolivian Supreme Court

• Ronaldinho, Brazilian soccer player

• Darrell J. Roodt, South African filmmaker

• Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcyclist

• Vasco Rossi, Italian singer

• Laleh Seddigh, Iranian race-car driver

• Alain Senderens, French chef

• Manmohan Singh, Prime minister of India

• Simon Singh, British scientist, writer, and television presenter

• Nosson Slifkin, British-born rabbi and founder of the Zoo Torah program

• Javier Solana, Spanish diplomat and physicist

• Solex, Dutch musician

• Robert Sørlie, Norwegian sled-dog racer

• Vladimir Sorokin, Russian writer

• Imelda Staunton, British actress

• Joss Stone, British soul singer

• Seijun Suzuki, Japanese filmmaker

• Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese manga artist

• Peter Takirambudde, Ugandan-born executive director of the African division of Human Rights Watch

• Jalal Talabani, Iraqi politician

• Yoshio Taniguchi, Japanese architect

• Olga Tañon, Puerto Rican singer

• Günter Thielen, German media executive

• Tian Congming, Chinese media executive

• Rirkrit Tiravanija, Argentinean-born Thai artist

• Amadou Toumani Touré, President of Mali

• Gloria Trevi, Mexican pop star

• Donald Tsang, Chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

• Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean opposition leader

• Daniel Vasella, Swiss pharmaceutical executive and physician

• Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia

• Marites Dañguilan Vitug, Filipino journalist

• Gunther von Hagens, German anatomist

• Jakob von Uexkull, Swedish founder of the Right Livelihood Awards

• Pamela Wallin, Canadian journalist and diplomat

• Shane Warne, Australian cricket player

• Baroness Mary Warnock, British philosopher and member of the House of Lords

• Tony Wheeler, British-born co-founder and director of Lonely Planet Publications

• Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, Swedish ecologist and businesswoman

• Wu Yi, Chinese vice premier and former public-health official

• Yoshindo Yoshihara, Japanese swordsmith

• Yuan Longping, Chinese agriculturist

• Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia

• Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine

• Joseph Zen, Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong

• Zhang Xiaogang, Chinese painter

• Ziyi Zhang, Chinese actress