People and Peoples (I-M)
People and Peoples (I-M)
Iban is a replacement term for Dyak.
The Ibo are a west African culture group occupying south east Nigeria and numbering about 18,000,000. Primarily cultivators, they inhabit the richly forested tableland, bounded by the river Niger to the west and the river Cross to the east. They are divided into five main groups, and their languages belong to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family.
Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian dramatist. He was born in 1828 at Skien and died in 1906.
The Ifugao are an indigenous people of north Luzon in the Philippines, numbering approximately 70,000. In addition to practising shifting cultivation on highland slopes, they build elaborate terraced rice fields. Their language belongs to the Austronesian family. The Ifugao live in scattered hamlets and traditionally recognise a class of nobles, kadangya, who are obliged to provide expensive feasts on particular social occasions. Although indigenous beliefs remain, many Ifugao have adopted Christianity.
Ina was King of the West Saxons. He ascended to the throne in 689. In 728 he resigned his crown and went on pilgramage to Rome.
The Inca were an Indian tribe of Peru.
Indulf was King of Scotland from 954 to 962.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres was a French painter. He was born in 1780 at Montauban and died in 1867. He drew fine pencil portraits.
The Innuit are a people inhabiting the Arctic coasts of North America, the east islands of the Canadian Arctic, and the ice-free coasts of Greenland. Inuktitut, their language, has about 60,000 speakers; it belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut group. The Inuit object to the name Eskimos given them by the Algonquin Indians.
John Ireland was an English composer. He was born in 1879 at Bowden and died in 1962. He wrote a lot of music for the piano.
The Irish are people of Irish culture from Ireland or person of Irish descent. The Irish mainly speak English, though there are approximately 30,000-100,000 speakers of Irish Gaelic (see Gaelic language), a Celtic language belonging to the Indo-European family.
Celtic tribes, the ancestors of the Irish, migrated to Ireland about 300 BC. Later known as Gaels (Irishmen), they settled on the Isle of Man and south west Scotland, and established colonies in west Wales, Devon, and Cornwall.
The Iroquois were a confederacy of 6 north American Indian tribes including the Mohawks, Oneidas and Senecas. They lived on the shores of the Mohawk river, and spread through to the Mississippi. Their expansion was checked by white settlers who wiped out several of the tribes and imprisoned others on squalid reservations.
Sir Henry Irving was a British actor, and the first to be knighted. He was born in 1838 and died in 1905. Washington Irving was an American writer. He was born in 1783 at New York and died in 1859.
Christopher Isherwood is an Anglo-American novelist and playwright. He was born in 1904.
An Israeli is an inhabitant of Israel.
Thomas Jonathan Jackson was an American Confederate general. He was born in 1824 and died in 1863. He was nicknamed "stonewall".
The Jacobites were people who wanted the return of the Stuart monarchy after the expulsion of James II by William III.
James was King of Scotland from 1424 to 1437. James was King of England from 1603 to 1625. Henry James was an american writer. He was born in 1843 and died in 1916. William James was an American psychologist. He was born in 1842 and died in 1910.
James II was King of Scotland from 1437 to 1460. James II was King of England from 1685 to 1688.
James III was King of Scotland from 1460 to 1488.
James IV was King of Scotland from 1488 to 1513.
James V was King of Scotland from 1513 to 1542.
James VI was King of Scotland from 1567 to 1625.
William Janszoon was a Dutch explorer. He discovered Australia in 1606.
The Jat are an ethnic group living in Pakistan and north India, and numbering about 11 million; they are the largest group in north India. The Jat are predominantly farmers. They speak Punjabi, a language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. They are thought to be related to the Romany people.
The Javanese are the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Indonesia. There are more than 50 million speakers of Javanese, which belongs to the western branch of the Austronesian family. Although the Javanese have a Hindu-Buddhist heritage, they are today predominantly Muslim, practising a branch of Islam known as Islam Jawa, which contains many Sufi features
In pre-independence Indonesia, Javanese society was divided into hierarchical classes ruled by sultans, and differences in status were reflected by strict codes of dress. Arts and crafts flourished at the court. Although the majority of Javanese depend on the cultivation of rice in irrigated fields, there are many large urban centers with developing industries.
Sir James Jeans wrote many popular books on astronomy. He was born in 1877 at Ormskirk and died in 1946.
John Richard Jefferies was an English essayist and naturalist. He was born in 1848 near Swindown and died in 1883.
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the USA. He was born in 1743 and died in 1826.
Sir Edward Jenner was an English physician. He was born in 1749 at Berkeley and died in 1823. He developed a vaccine for smallpox from cowpox, and thus created the concept of innoculation through mild infection to allow the body's immune system to develope strength against a particular virus.
The Jews are a Semitic race of people also known as the Hebrews and Israelites. Their early history is identified with Palestine, now Israel. The Jewish history is recorded in the Old Testament.
The jivaro are a tribe of east Ecuador and north Peru.
John was King of England from 1199 to 1216. Augustus Edwin John was a British portrait painter. He was born in 1878 at Tenby and died in 1961.
Samuel Johnson was an English writer. He was born in 1709 and died in 1784. He was twice imprisoned for debt.
John Baliol was King of Scotland from 1292 to 1296.
Inigo Jones was an English architect. He was born in 1573 and died in 1652.
Johan Barthold Jongkind was a Dutch artist. He was born in 1819 at Latrop and died in 1891.
Benjamin Jonson was a rival poet and dramatist to Shakespeare. He was born in 1572 and died in 1637.
Jacob Jordaens was a Dutch artist. He was born in 1593 at Antwerp and died in 1678.
James Prescott Joule was an English scientist. He was born in 1818 at Salford and died in 1889. He studied the relationship between heat and mechanical work.
James Joyce was an Irish writer. He was born in 1882 at Dublin and died in 1941. He wrote Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake.
The Ju are the bushmen people of Botswana.
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss scientist. He was born at Basle in 1875. He died in 1961. He is famous for developing a school of analytical psychology.
A Justice Of The Peace or JP is an unpaid magistrate who is not a lawyer. The office dates back to Edward I.
Justinian was Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium. He was born in 483 and died in 565.
The Jutes were a Germanic tribe which settled in Kent and the Isle of Wight, England in AD 449.
Juvenal was a Roman satirist. He was born in 60 and died in 140.
The Kabyle are a group of Berber peoples of Algeria and Tunisia. They served as Zouave in the colonial French forces. Many Kabyles were notable in the fight for Algerian independence 1954-62. Their language belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family.
Franz Kafka was a Czech writer. He was born in 1883 at Prague and died in 1924.
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian artist. He was born in 1866 at Moscow and died in 1944.
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher. He was born at Konigsberg in 1724 and died in 1804. He wrote "Critique of Pure Reason" and "Critique of Practical Reason".
The Karen are a group of south east Asian peoples, numbering 1.9 million. They live in east Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, and the Irrawaddy delta. Their language belongs to the Thai division of the Sino-Tibetan family.
The Kashmiri are native to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Angelica Kauffman was a Swiss painter. She was born in 1741 and died in 1807.
The Kazakh are a pastoral Kyrgyz people of Kazakhstan. Kazakhs also live in China (Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai), Mongolia, and Afghanistan. There are 5-7 million speakers of Kazakh, a Turkic language belonging to the Altaic family. They are predominantly Sunni Muslim, although pre-Islamic customs have survived.
Kazakhs herd horses and make use of camels; they also keep cattle. Traditionally the Kazakhs lived in tents and embarked on seasonal migrations in search of fresh pastures. Collectivized herds were established in the 1920s and 1930s.
Edmund Kean was an English actor. He was born in 1789 at London and died in 1833.
John Keats was an English poet. He was born in London in 1795 and died in 1821.
Kekule was a German scientist. He was born in 1829 at Darmstadt and died in 1896. He worked on the structure of carbon compounds.
William Thomson Kelvin was a professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow. He was born in 1824 at Belfast and died in 1907. He determined the absolute zero of temperature.
Kenneth was King of Scotland from 843 to 860.
Kenneth II was King of Scotland from 971 to 995.
Kenneth III was King of Scotland from 997 to 1005.
Johann Kepler was a German astronomer. He was born in 1571 near Stuttgart and died in 1630. He studied the motion of planets and proved that planets move in an elliptical path with the sun at one focus.
Aram Khachaturyan is a Soviet composer. He was born in 1904 at Tiflis.
The Khmer are the largest ethnic group in Cambodia, numbering about 7 million. Khmer minorities also live in east Thailand and south Vietnam. The Khmer language belongs to the Mon-Khmer family of Austro-Asiatic languages.
The Khmers live mainly in agricultural and fishing villages under a chief. They practise Theravada Buddhism and trace descent through both male and female lines. Traditionally, Khmer society was divided into six groups: the royal family, the Brahmans (who officiated at royal festivals), Buddhist monks, officials, commoners, and slaves.
The Khoikhoi (formerly Hottentot) are a people living in Namibia and the Cape Province of South Africa, and numbering about 30,000. Their language is related to San (spoken by the Kung) and belongs to the Khoisan family. Like the Kung, the Khoikhoi once inhabited a wider area, but were driven into the Kalahari Desert by invading Bantu peoples and Dutch colonists in the 18th century. They live as nomadic hunter-gatherers, in family groups, and have animist beliefs.
Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher. He was born in 1813 at Copenhagen and died in 1855.
The Kikuyu are an aboriginal people of central Kenya.
Harold "Kim" Philby was a high-level British diplomat and a senior intelligence officer. He defected to the Russians in 1963.
A King is a male sovereign ruler of an independent state.
Charles Kingsley was an English writer. He was born in 1819 at Holme and died in 1875. He wrote Westward Ho! and The Water Babies.
Rudyard Kipling was an Indian writer. He was born in 1865 at Bombay of Britsh parents. He died in 1936. He wrote The Jungle Book.
The Kirghiz are a pastoral people numbering approximately 1.5 million. They inhabit the central Asian region bounded by the Hindu Kush, the Himalayas, and the Tian Shan mountains. The Kirghiz are Sunni Muslims, and their Turkic language belongs to the Altaic family.
The Kirghiz live in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China (Xinjiang), and Afghanistan (Wakhan corridor).
The highest political authority is traditionally entitled khan. During the winter the Kirghiz live in individual family yurts. In summer they come together in larger settlements of up to 20 yurts. They herd sheep, goats, and yaks, and use Bactrian camels for transporting their possessions.
Horatio Herbert Kitchener was a British military leader. He was born in 1850 and died in 1916 on board the HMS Hampshire when the ship struck a mine and sank. He was commander-in-chief during the Boer war. He was secretary for war during the Great War.
Paul Klee was a Swiss painter. He was born in 1879 near Berne and died in 1940.
Sir Godfrey Kneller was an Anglo-German artist. He was born in 1646 at Lubeck and died in 1723. He settled in England in 1674.
John Knox was a Scottish reformer and preacher. He was born in 1505 at Giffordgate and died in 1572.
Robert Koch was a German scientist. He was born in 1843 and died in 1910. He won the Nobel proze for medicine for discovering the bacteria which cause TB, cholera and anthrax.
Zoltan Kodaly was a Hungarian composer. He was born in 1882 and died in 1967.
Oskar Kokoschka was an Austrian painter. He was born in 1886.
The Komi are a Finnish people living mainly in the tundra and coniferous forests of the autonomous republic of Komi in the north west Urals, Russia. They raise livestock, grow timber, and mine coal and oil. Their language, Zyryan, belongs to the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic family.
Fritz Kreisler was an Austrian violinist. He was born in 1875 and died in 1962.
The Kung (formerly Bushman) are a small group of hunter-gatherer peoples of the north east Kalahari, southern Africa, still living to some extent nomadically. Their language belongs to the Khoisan family.
The Kurds are the Kurdish culture, living mostly in the Taurus and Sagros mountains of west Iran and north Iraq in the region called Kurdistan.
The Kurdish languages (Kurmanji, Sorani Kurdish, Gurano, and Zaza) are members of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family, and the Kurds are a non-Arab, non-Turkic ethnic group. The Kurds are predominantly Sunni Muslims, although there are some Shiites in Iran.
Kurds traditionally owe allegiance to their families, and larger groups are brought together under an agha, or lord. They are predominantly shepherds and farmers, cultivating a wide range of crops and fruit. National dress is still worn in the more mountainous regions and there is a strong tradition of poetry and music. Kurdish professionals are found in many Middle Eastern cities.
Jean de La Fontaine was a French poet. He was born in 1621 and died in 1695. He wrote a number of popular fables.
A Labourite is a member of the British Labour Party.
Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec was a French physician who invented the stethoscope. He was born in 1781 and died in 1826.
Jules Laforgue was a French poet. He was born in 1860 and died in 1887. He was a pioneer of free verse.
R.d. Laing was a Scottish psychoanalyst. He originated some radical methods of psychiatry.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck was a French naturalist. He was born in 1744 at Picardy and died in 1829. He catalogued invertebrates.
Charles Lamb was an English poet. He was born in 1775 at London and died in 1834. He wrote essays under the name of Elia.
Walter Savage Landor was an English poet. He was born in 1775 at Warwick and died in 1864. He raised a private regiment to fight against Napoleon in Spain.
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer was an English painter. He was born in 1802 at London and died in 1873. He was knighted in 1850. Typically he painted pictures of animals.
William Langland was probably an English priest. He was born in 1332 and died in 1400. He is remembered for his poem The Visions of Piers The Plowman which gives a detailed account of English life at the time.
A lanista was a man who purchased and looked after gladiators.
George Lansbury was a British politician and leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1931 until 1935. He was born in 1859 and died in 1940.
The Lao are a people who live along the Mekong river system in Laos (2 million) and north Thailand (9 million). The Lao language is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family. The majority of Lao live in rural villages. During the wet season, May-Oct, they grow rice in irrigated fields, though some shifting or swidden cultivation is practised on hillsides. Vegetables and other crops are grown during drier weather. The Lao are predominantly Buddhist though a belief in spirits, phi, is included in Lao devotions. There are some Christians among the minority groups.
Lao Tsze was a Chinese philosopher who wrote the Tao Te Ching. He lived around 590BC.
The Laotian are an Indochinese people who live along the Mekong river system. There are approximately 9 million Laotians in Thailand and 2 million in Laos. The Laotian language is a Thai member of the Sino-Tibetan family.
Pierre Simon Laplace was a French mathematician and astronomer. He was born in 1749 at Beaumont-en Auge. He argued that the whole physical universe could be explained by the law of cause and effect so that, given enough information, both the past and the future of the universe could be determined in every detail.
Hugh Latimer was an English protestant martyr. He was born in 1485 near Leicester and died in 1555. He was burnt at the stake in Oxford for being a heretic.
The Latins were an ancient people of Latium. In very early times the Latins formed a league of thirty cities of which the town of Alba Longa became the head. As Rome was a colony of Alba Longa, the Romans spoke the language of the Latins, which was Latin.
William Laud was an English churchman. He was born in 1573 at Reading and died in 1645. He was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633.
Sir Harry Lauder was a Scottish variety actor. He was born in 1870 at Portobello and died in 1950.
Pierre Laval was a French statesman. He was twice Prime Minister during the 1930s. He was born in 1883 and died in 1945.
Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was a French scientist. He was born in 1743 at Paris and died in 1794. He proved the modern theory of combustion.
David Herbert Lawrence was an English poet and novelist. He was born in 1885 at Nottinghamshire and died in 1930. Thomas Edward Lawrence was a British soldier and author. He was born in 1888 near Snowdon and died in 1935. He was known as "Lawrence of Arabia" for his exploits encouraging the Arabs to fight against the Turks durong the Great War.
John Le Carre is the pen name of David John Cornwell, a British author of spy novels which include "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" and "Smiley's People". He was born in 1931.
Charles Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) was a Swiss architect and artist. He was born in 1887 and died in 1965.
Le Duc Tho is a Vietnamese diplomat. He was born in 1911. He was joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in negotiating an end to the Vietnam War in 1973.
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of novels and short stories. He was born in 1814 and died in 1873.
Edward Lear was an English painter and writer of verse. He was born in 1812 at London and died in 1888. He taught drawing to Queen Victoria, but he is remembered for his work A Book of Nonsense, published in 1846.
Frank Raymond Leavis was a British literary critic. He was born in 1895 and died in 1978.
Peter Nikolaievich Lebedev was a Russian physicist. he was born in 1866 and died in 1912. He demonstrated that light exherts minute pressure upon a physical body.
Georges Leclanche was a French engineer. he was born in 1839 and died in 1882. In 1866 he invented a primary electrical cell which still forms the basis for most dry batteries.
Charles Marie Rene Leconte de Lisle was a French poet. He was born in 1818 and died in 1894.
Robert E. Lee was an American Confederate General. He was born in 1807 and died in 1870.
Bruce Lee was the stage name of Lee Yuen Kam, a Chinese actor and expert in Kung Fu who popularised the martial arts in the west.
Lee Yuen Kam was the real name of Bruce Lee, the actor.
Antony Van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch scientist. He was born in 1632 and died in 1723. He was the first person to see and describe bacteria which he did using a self-made microscope.
Fernand Leger was a French painter. He was born in 1881 and died in 1955.
Franz Lehar was a Hungarian composer. He was born in 1870 and died in 1948.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher. He was born in 1646 at Leipzig and died in 1716. He wrote Monadology and Principles Of Nature. He discovered calculus.
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was an Elizabethan courtier and English soldier. He was born in 1532 and died in 1588.
Frederick Baron Leighton was an English artist. He was born in 1830 at Scarborough and died in 1896. He was president of the Royal Academy in 1878.
Sir Peter Lely was a Dutch born painter. He was born in 1618 and died in 1680. He came to England in 1641 as a portrait painter.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian revolutionary. He was born in 1870 at Simbirsk and died in 1924.
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian artist and scientist. He was born in 1452, dying in 1519. He recorded scientific studies in unpublished note books. He designed the first helicopter (on paper) and recorded anatomical details after carrying out dissections.
Ruggiero Leoncavallo was an Italian composer. He was born in 1858, dying in 1919. He composed the opera pagliacci.
Leonidas was the King of Sparta when Greece was invaded by Xerxes in 480bc. He was killed in battle at thermopylae.
Leper is a term given to a person suffering from the disease leprosy.
Leucippus was a Greek philosopher. He lived around 430BC.
The Levellers were a Puritan group led by John Lilburne who fought for equality in social and religious matters.
Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist. He was born in 1885 and died in 1951.
Li Po was a Chinese poet born in 700bc. He died by drowning.
Otto Lilienthal was a German inventor. He was born in 1848 at Auklam and died in 1896. He was one of the founders of the science of flight and conducted important work into gliding.
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the USA. He was born in 1809 at Kentucky and died in 1865 when he was assassinated at a theatre by John Wilkes Booth.
Charles A. Lindbergh is an American airman. He was born in 1902 at Minnesota. He made the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris in 1927.
Carl von Linne Linnaeus was a Swedish naturalist. He was born in 1707 at Rashut and died in 1778. He invented the modern system of naming plants with two words, rather than long descriptive latin phrases which was previously used.
Fra Filippo Lippi was an Italian painter. He was born at Florence in 1406. He died in 1469. He painted the frescoes in the prato cathedral.
Joseph Lister was an English doctor. He was born at Upton (Essex) in 1827. He died in 1912. He introduced carbolic acid to prevent infection.
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer born at Dobr'jan in 1811. He died in 1886. He was also a pianist.
A Lithuanian is a member of the majority ethnic group living in Lithuania, comprising 80% of the population.
David Livingstone was a Scottish explorer. Between 1852 and 1873 he discovered the course of the zambesi, victoria falls and lake nyasa.
Livy was a Roman historian. He was born in 59BC at Padua and died in 17.
David Lloyd-George was an English MP. He was born in 1863 at Manchester and died in 1945. He was elected to Parliament in 1890. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1908.
Lobachevski was a Russian mathematician. He was born in 1793 and died in 1856. He pioneered the study of non-Euclidean geometry.
John Locke was an English political author. He was born in 1632 at Wrington and died in 1704.
Matthew Locke was an English composer. He was born in 1630 at Exeter and died in 1677.
Jack London was an American writer. He was born in 1876 at San Francisco and died in 1916. He wrote The Call of the Wild and White Fang.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet. He was born in 1807 at Portland and died in 1882.
Federico Garcia Lorca was a Spanish poet and dramatist. He was born in 1899 and died in 1936 when he was shot for supporting the Republican Government by Franco's troops.
Hendrick Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch scientist. He was born in 1853 and died in 1928. He shared the Nobel prize for physics in 1902.
Louis IX was King of France. He was born in 1214, dying in 1270 whilst on crusade.
Louis XIV was King of France. He was born in 1638, dying in 1715.
Louis XV was King of France. He was born in 1710, dying in 1774.
Louis XVI was King of France. He was born in 1754, dying in 1793 when he was executed during the French revolution.
Richard Lovelace was an Englsh poet and lyricist. He was born in 1618 and died in 1657.
Lucretius was a Roman poet. He was born in 99BC and died in 55BC.
Jean Baptiste Lully was a French composer. He was born in 1632 at Florence and died in 1687.
The Luo are the second-largest ethnic group of Kenya, living in the Lake Victoria region and in 1987 numbering some 2,650,000.
The Luo traditionally live by farming livestock. The Luo language is of the Nilo-Saharan family.
Martin Luther was a German Protestant Reformer and translator of the bible. He was born in 1483 at Saxony and died in 1546.
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) was lead singer with the punk rock group the Sex Pistols, and then after they split up with Public Image Ltd.
Edward George Bulwer Lytton was an English writer and statesman. He was born in 1803 at London and died in 1873. He wrote The Last Days Of Pompeii.