Thursday, July 2, 2009

* Thomas Jefferson: As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Jefferson was appointed to the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, which he completed in just a few days.

* Simón Bolívar: President of Gran Colombia and dictator of Peru, he was a soldier and statesman who led the revolutions against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of New Granada.

* Sukarno: The leader of the Indonesian independence movement and Indonesia's first president (1949-66), he suppressed the country's original parliamentary system in favour of an authoritarian "Guided Democracy" and attempted to balance the Communists against the army leaders. He was deposed in 1966 by the army under Suharto.

* Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: The leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule, he is considered to be the father of his country. Gandhi is internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest to achieve political and social progress.

* Golda Meir: A founder and fourth prime minister (1969-74) of the State of Israel. During World War II, she emerged as a forceful spokesman for the Zionist cause in negotiating with the British mandatory authorities.

Source : Britannica