History hero

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

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My History Hero: Franklin D Roosevelt (1882- 1945). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An engraved depiction of John Lilburne, who "stands as a towering icon of the liberal tradition". (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Stuart

My history hero: John Lilburne (c1615-57)

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My history hero: John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft. "She desperately wanted women to have the chance of an education and not set their sights too low," says Jo Brand. (Getty Images)

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History heroJo Brand chooses Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The 16th president of the United States "understood the value of hard work, had deep beliefs and pursued them," says Alastair Campbell. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)  

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My history hero: Abraham Lincoln (1809–65). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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My history hero: Clara Schumann (1819-96). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

John Linnell's 1816 portrait of Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick. His high-pressure steam engine "was the invention that unleashed power on this planet," says Michael Mosley. (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

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My history hero: Richard Trevithick (1771-1833). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rosa Parks Riding the Bus

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My history hero: Rosa Parks (1913-2005). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Robert Louis Stevenson, the 19th-century English poet and novelist perhaps best known for his books 'Treasure Island' and the 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

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My history hero: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British political cartoonist David Low. His caricatures of political figures including Hitler resulted in him being placed in the Nazi 'Black Book' – a list of prominent Britons who were to be arrested in the case of a successful invasion of Britain. (Photo by Felix Man/Picture Post/Getty Images

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My history hero: Sir David Low (1891–1963). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Herbert 'Blondie' Hasler (left) pictured with Bill Sparks and Mary Lindell. It was "his ability to take ordinary men and give them the confidence and skills to do extraordinary things" that made him a hero, says Paddy Ashdown. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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My history hero: ‘Blondie’ Hasler (1914–87). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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My history hero: Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Richard Buckminster standing next to his draft of a house of the 21st century. (Ullstein picture via Getty Images)

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My History Hero: Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A photograph of J Meade Falkner, c1915. He "had an extraordinary mind, the type you don't come across often," says Chris de Burgh of the novelist. (Public Domain)

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My history hero: J Meade Falkner (1858-1932). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Landscape gardener, architect and writer John Loudon. "I just wish I had a fraction of his vision," says Mark Easton of one of the first people to champion green space in Britain's cities. (Public Domain)

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My history hero: John Loudon (1783–1843). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sue Townsend admires Charles Dickens (pictured c1960) for his battles against social injustice. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images)

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My history hero: Charles Dickens (1812-1870). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ernest Bevin

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My history hero: Ernest Bevin (1881-1951). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Frederick Courteney Selous (1851-1917). (Alamy)

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My history hero: Frederick Courteney Selous (1851-1917). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mary Beard, professor of classics at the University of Cambridge. (David Levenson/Getty Images)

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My history hero: Sir Moses I Finley (1912–86). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the leader of a network of French resistance agents during the Second World War. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

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My history hero: Marie-Madeleine Fourcade (1909–89). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

American golfer Bobby Jones practising his swing on the roof of the Savoy Hotel in London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

20th Century

My history hero: Robert Tyre Jones (1902–71)

Clarence Harry Willcock MP, who refused to show his identity card to a policeman, 13 June 1951. (Photo by Walter Bellamy/Express/Getty Images)

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

Kathleen Kenyon challenged biblical accounts with her pioneering work at the ancient city of Jericho. (Photo by Bettmann/contributor via Getty Images)

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My history hero: Kathleen Kenyon (1906–78). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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My history hero: Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Field Marshal Harold Alexander, pictured in 1943. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

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My history heroField Marshal Harold Alexander (1891–1969). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sir Alec Clegg was the founder of Bretton Hall College (pictured), a West Yorkshire college specialising in arts and performance. (Photo by Memitina/Getty Images)

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My history hero: Sir Alec Clegg (1909-86). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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My history hero: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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My history hero: Samuel Johnson (1709-84). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

20th Century

My history hero: Douglas Bader (1910–82)

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