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The illustrious people who have changed the course of history.

Famous historical figures

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Portrait of the art historian and archaeologist Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768), influential writer and precursor of neo-classicism in Europe.

Portrait of the art historian and archaeologist Johann Winckelmann (1717-1768), 

Johann Winckelmann - The Love of Art

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in the worst place at the worst time twice over. On August 6, 1945, he was working in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb exploded over the city. Traumatised by the apocalyptic experience, he just wanted to go back home to his family. Except home was Nagasaki. 

The Lost Ones

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was traumatised by Hiroshima, and went back home as soon as he could. Except home was Nagasaki. 

Yamaguchi, Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Séraphine de Senlis is one of the most important French painters of naïve painting. She was an uneducated woman who earned a living as a cleaning lady. But one day a vision from God told her to pick up a paint brush. Entirely self-taught, from then on she painted incessantly until her mental illness took over. She died in 1942 in a mental hospital.

Séraphine de Senlis was an uneducated cleaning woman until one day a vision from God told her to start painting

Séraphine de Senlis, The Painter's Delirium

Basile Zaharoff is one of the richest people of his time. The enigmatic, unscrupulous businessman led many lives. He was a tourist guide in Constantinople, artillery officer, bank clerk in Egypt and a diplomat. But most of all, he was an arms dealer who, as Europe's merchant of death, made a killing supplying both sides with the means to kill. 

Basile Zaharoff was an arms dealer who made a killing 

Basile Zaharoff, The Merchant of Death

Alma Mahler was a central figure of the Viennese art, literature and music scene in the early 20th century. She is considered a femme fatale who charmed many of the great artists of her day. But her own art - her music composition - was forbidden by Gustav Mahler, her first husband. She complied with his edict, but abandoning music for the sake of her marriage left her bitter and twisted. 

Alma Mahler's husband forbade her to compose, so she lived the rest of her life with the void music left behind

Alma Mahler, Frustrated Conductor

In 1917, a young American journalist was sent to Russia to report on the revolution. In Petrograd, John Reed witnessed as much of the turmoil as he could and kept detailed records, which eventually become his famous book Ten Days That Shook the World. But the socialist dream turned sour, and Reed's life was as brief as it was brilliant. 

John Reed's experiences of the Russian revolution eventually become his famous book Ten Days That Shook the World

John Reed, American Witness to the Russian Revolution

Yukio Mishima is one of the most important authors of his generation. In his work, he dealt with the relationship between art and the body, and his own body's inevitable decline haunted him. At the age of 45, he committed suicide by Harakiri in front of a shocked and fascinated crowd.

Yukio Mishima is one of the most important authors of his generation

Yukio Mishima: Writer Until Death

In the First World War, a deserted French soldier pretended to be a woman for years in order to escape execution. As Suzanne, Paul Grappe led a dissolute life in Parisian cabarets during the Roaring Twenties. But eventually, his disordered life and worsening mental state caught up with him.

In the First World War, a deserted French soldier pretended to be a woman for years in order to escape execution

Paul Grappe, Trans Deserter

Leonore Heinz worked in the 1950s as a secretary at the Foreign Office in Bonn where she met the charming Heinz Sütterlin. They got married. He asked her, under the guise of being afraid of the Cold War, to smuggle documents out of her office for him to look at. She complied, suspecting nothing. But eventually the ruse was discovered: he's a KGB spy. She was devastated. 

The Foreign Office secretary Leonore Heinz unwittingly married a KGB spy and aided him in his espoinage 

Leonore Heinz, Unwitting Spy

The French naval officer Benjamin Ullmo got addicted to opium in Vietnam in the early 20th century. Back in France, he continued to indulge his addiction and to meet the demands of a lover with expensive taste. In spiralling debt, he decided to steal confidential documents to blackmail the navy with. .

Addicted to opium and overwhelmed with debt, one navy officer came up with a desperate scheme 

All videos

Johann Winckelmann - The Love of Art

Yamaguchi, Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Lost Ones

Séraphine de Senlis, The Painter's Delirium - The Lost Ones

Basile Zaharoff, The Merchant of Death - The Lost Ones

Alma Mahler, Frustrated Conductor - The Lost Ones

John Reed, American Witness to the Russian Revolution - The Lost Ones

Yukio Mishima: Writer Until Death - The Lost Ones

Paul Grappe, Trans Deserter - The Lost Ones

Leonore Heinz, Unwitting Spy - The Lost Ones

Benjamin Ullmo, The Price of Opium - The Lost Ones

HistoryFamous historical figures

All videos

Johann Winckelmann - The Love of Art

Yamaguchi, Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Lost Ones

Séraphine de Senlis, The Painter's Delirium - The Lost Ones

Basile Zaharoff, The Merchant of Death - The Lost Ones

Alma Mahler, Frustrated Conductor - The Lost Ones

John Reed, American Witness to the Russian Revolution - The Lost Ones

Yukio Mishima: Writer Until Death - The Lost Ones

Paul Grappe, Trans Deserter - The Lost Ones

Leonore Heinz, Unwitting Spy - The Lost Ones

Benjamin Ullmo, The Price of Opium - The Lost Ones

History
Famous historical figures