Notable Alumni of New Sorbonne University – Paris III [Sorted List]

1. András István Türke

1980-. (aged 46)

historian security policy expert political scientist

András István Türke is a Hungarian historian, political scientist and diplomacy & security policy expert. He is assistant professor at the University of Szeged, where he teaches contemporary history and international relations. He is also Director of the Europa Varietas Institute (EUVI, Switzerland) where his focus is on European and African security issues. His prior teaching positions include the University...

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2. Dalit Lahav-Durst

1956-. (aged 70)

translator art historian

Dalit L. Durst is an author, translator, curator and art historian of both Israeli and French nationalities. Former chief curator at the M.T. Abraham Foundation and head of the Cultural Exchange and Academic Department at the Hermitage Foundation Israel, she has curated exhibitions in Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia), dedicated to the sculpture of Edgar Degas. In December 2013 she co-curated...

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3. Léopold Fakambi

1942-2021 (aged 79)

engineer research fellow nutritionist agronomist

Léopold Kocou Fakambi was a Beninese agronomist, engineer, nutritionist, and academic.

4. Alexis Michaud

1975-. (aged 51)

linguist

Alexis Michaud is a French linguist specialising in the study of Southeast Asian languages, especially Naic languages and Vietnamese. He is also known for his work on the typology of tonal languages and as a foremost proponent of Panchronic phonology. He is one of the main editors of the Pangloss Collection. He works at the LACITO research centre within Centre...

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5. Corinne Maury

film critic film director film historian university teacher

Corinne Maury is a professor in film studies at University of Poitiers as well as a film director.

6. Rama Thiaw

1978-. (aged 48)

film director screenwriter

Rama Thiaw is a Senegalese filmmaker and screenwriter. She is known for her 2009 documentary Boul Fallé, la Voie de la lutte and her most recent documentary The Revolution Won’t be Televised (2016).

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7. Nayla Tamraz

university teacher exhibition curator writer

Nayla Tamraz is a Lebanese writer, art critic, curator, researcher and professor of Literature and Art History at Saint Joseph University of Beirut. She obtained her PhD in Comparative Literature from the New Sorbonne University (Paris III) in 2004.

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8. Marie-Pascale Huglo

1961-. (aged 65)

children's writer novelist university teacher literary critic essayist

Marie-Pascale Huglo is a French-born writer and educator living in Quebec.

9. Laurence Gavron

1955-2023 (aged 68)

film director filmmaker writer film screenwriter photographer

Laurence Gavron was a French-Senegalese film director, writer, and photographer.

10. Kalthoum Bornaz

1945-2016 (aged 71)

film producer screenwriter film director

Kalthoum Bornaz was a Tunisian screenwriter, film editor, and director who belonged to the first generation of women filmmakers in Tunisia. She was born in Tunisia on 24 August 1945 and moved to France in order to continue her education abroad. She worked both in Tunisia and overseas on the development of many feature-length films as an editor and director.

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11. Yann Richard

1948-. (aged 78)

iranologist university teacher

Yann Richard, born in 1948 in Joncy, France, professor emeritus of the Sorbonne nouvelle (Paris) is a specialist of modern Shiʿism, the history of contemporary Iran as well as Persian literature.

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12. Isabel Wiseler-Santos Lima

1961-. (aged 65)

secondary school teacher politician

Isabel Wiseler-Santos Lima is a Portuguese-born Luxembourgish politician of the Christian Social People's Party (part of the European People's Party group) who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2019 European elections.

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13. Divina Frau-Meigs

1959-. (aged 67)

university teacher sociologist

Divina Frau-Meigs is a Moroccan-born sociologist of media and professor at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris III (Paris III) in France where her areas of research include, cultural diversity, dynamic identities, human/children's rights, internet governance, media education, media matrices, media in English-speaking countries, and risky content. Her research has also included media content and risk behaviors, the reception and use...

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14. René Gutman

1950-. (aged 76)

rabbi

René Gutman was Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg from 1987 to 2017.

15. Claudine Lepage

1949-. (aged 77)

politician

Claudine Lepage is a member of the Senate of France, representing the constituency of French citizens living abroad. She is a member of the Socialist Party.

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16. Jean Bessière

1943-. (aged 83)

university teacher literary critic

Jean Bessière is professor of Comparative Literature at the Sorbonne, and was educated at the École Normale Supérieure and holds a PhD (docteur d'Etat) from the Sorbonne as well as being agrégé in Modern Letters. He is the author of numerous books on Comparative Literature and is the president emeritus of the International Comparative Literature Association. His most recent works...

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17. Christophe Cognet

1966-. (aged 60)

documentary filmmaker screenwriter film director

Christophe Cognet is a French film director and documentary filmmaker.

18. Aminata Aidara

1984-. (aged 42)

journalist novelist

Aminata Aidara is an Italian-Senegalese journalist, short story writer and novelist.

19. Alexandre François

1972-. (aged 54)

linguist researcher

Alexandre François is a French linguist specialising in the description and study of the indigenous languages of Melanesia. He belongs to Lattice, a research centre of the CNRS and École Normale Supérieure dedicated to linguistics.

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20. Christine Jordis

1942-. (aged 84)

writer literary critic journalist publisher

Christine Jordis real name Marie-Christine Morel de Foucaucourt is a French writer, journalist and editor, a specialist in English literature.

21. Jean-Yves Mollier

1947-. (aged 79)

historian docent university teacher

Jean-Yves Mollier is a French contemporary history teacher.

22. André Gaudreault

1952-. (aged 74)

university teacher

André Gaudreault OC FRSC is a Canadian film historian and theorist who holds the Canada Research Chair in Film and Media Studies.

23. Athina Coustenis

1961-. (aged 65)

astrophysicist

Athena Coustenis is an astrophysicist specializing in planetology. Coustenis, a French national, is director of research, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, at LESIA (Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique), at the Paris Observatory, Meudon. She is involved in several space mission projects for the European Space Agency (ESA) and for NASA. Her focus is on gas giant planets...

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24. Pascal-Alex Vincent

1967-. (aged 59)

film director screenwriter

Pascal-Alex Vincent is a French director, author of original work, screenwriter, and voice-over.

25. Mike Downey

1959-. (aged 67)

writer theatre manager film producer screenwriter

Michael Downey OBE is an Irish-British film producer. He is the co-founder and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment and as of 2020 the Chairman of the European Film Academy.

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26. Jacques Lafaye

1930-2024 (aged 94)

anthropologist writer ethnologist historian

Jacques Lafaye was a French historian who wrote on cultural and religious Spanish and Latin American history. His most popular work is Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe written in 1974 regarding the formation of the Mexican National Consciousness and includes a prologue by Octavio Paz and is regarded as a keystone for the understanding of the contemporary Mexican culture and is regarded...

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27. Nicolas Tournadre

1959-. (aged 67)

linguist research fellow translator university teacher Tibetologist

Nicolas Tournadre is a professor at the University of Provence specializing in morphosyntax and typology. He is a member of the LACITO lab of the CNRS.

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28. Julie Wolkenstein

1968-. (aged 58)

novelist translator non-fiction writer

Julie Wolkenstein is a French writer born in 1968 in Paris. She is the daughter of academician Bertrand Poirot-Delpech and, by her mother, the granddaughter of French industrialist Maurice Jordan.

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29. Hind Meddeb

1978-. (aged 48)

film director documentarian journalist

Hind Meddeb is a French journalist and documentary film director with a North African family background. Based in Paris, France, she works both in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. In her films and journalistic writing, she has presented social protests of young people and their culture in Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan and Egypt. Documenting their social situation and political...

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30. Pierre Lory

1952-. (aged 74)

university teacher diplomat journalist arabist Islamicist

Pierre Lory is director of studies emeritus at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, and a former holder of the chair of Islamic mysticism.

31. Yair Auron

1945-. (aged 81)

historian

Yair Auron is an Israeli historian, scholar and expert specializing in Holocaust and genocide studies, racism and contemporary Jewry. Since 2005, he has served as the head of the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication of the Open University of Israel and an associate professor.

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32. Amor Ben Salem

1932-. (aged 94)

translator

Amor Ben Salem is a Tunisian Arabic writer.

33. Alain Bergala

1943-. (aged 83)

screenwriter film director film critic

Alain Bergala, is a French film critic, essayist, screenwriter and director.

34. Per Aage Brandt

1944-2021 (aged 77)

romanist linguist film actor poet jazz musician

Per Aage Brandt was a Danish writer, poet, linguist and musician, born in Buenos Aires. He got his Master of Arts in Romance Philology from the University of Copenhagen (1971) & held a Doctorate of Semiotics from the Sorbonne University (1987).

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35. André Gattolin

1960-. (aged 66)

docent ecologist politician

André Gattolin is a French ecologist politician and Senator for Hauts-de-Seine from 2011 to 2023.

36. Léonor Serraille

1986-. (aged 40)

film director screenwriter

Léonor Serraille is a French screenwriter and director.

37. Meherzia Labidi Maïza

1963-2021 (aged 58)

teacher translator politician

Meherzia Labidi Maïza was a Tunisian politician and professional translator and interpreter. She became the first deputy speaker of the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia.

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38. Nedim Gürsel

1951-. (aged 75)

writer university teacher

Nedim Gürsel is a Turkish writer. In the late 1960s, he published novellas and essays in Turkish magazines. After graduating from Galatasaray High School in 1970, he studied at the Sorbonne. In 1974, he graduated from the Sorbonne's Department of Modern French Literature. In 1979, he received his doctorate in comparative literature after completing his dissertation on Louis Aragon and...

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39. Miro Kovač

1968-. (aged 58)

diplomat politician

Miro Kovač is a Croatian historian, diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the Cabinet of Tihomir Orešković from 22 January 2016 until 19 October 2016. He is member of the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.

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40. Jean-Christophe Attias

1958-. (aged 68)

historian Hebraist philosopher director of studies

Jean-Christophe Attias is a French Jewish historian and scholar.

41. Mathieu Riboulet

1960-2018 (aged 58)

screenwriter director film director writer actor

Mathieu Riboulet was a French writer and film director.

42. Louis-Philippe Dalembert

1962-. (aged 64)

novelist short story writer writer non-fiction writer poet

Louis-Philippe Dalembert is a Haitian poet and novelist. He writes in both French and Haitian creole. His works have been translated into several languages. He was awarded the Goncourt Prize for poetry for his body of work. He now divides his home between Paris, France, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

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43. Mireille Guiliano

1946-. (aged 80)

writer interpreter non-fiction writer opinion journalist

Mireille Guiliano is a French-American author, painter, and former corporate executive at LVMH.

44. Fawzia Zouari

1955-. (aged 71)

novelist non-fiction writer journalist

Fawzia Zouari, born 10 September 1955 in Dahmani, is a Tunisian writer and journalist.

45. Jacques Aumont

1942-. (aged 84)

university teacher film theorist film critic

Jacques Aumont is a French academic and writer on film theory.

46. Katerina Moutsatsou

1972-. (aged 54)

activist film director film producer actor

Katerina Moutsatsou or Moutsatsos is a Los Angeles-based Greek actress, producer, writer, and activist. She is the author and producer of experimental films, videos, and animation series, which focus mainly on subjects related to her country of origin, Greece. She is vocal on the area of politics, and cultural identity. Her political animation series Sara and Mara Greek: Η Σάρα...

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47. Youssef Seddik

1943-. (aged 83)

anthropologist journalist philosopher historian

Youssef Seddik is a noted Tunisian philosopher and anthropologist specializing in Ancient Greece and the anthropology of the Qur'an.

48. Mariem Ben Chaabane

1983-. (aged 43)

actor

Mariem Ben Chaabane is a Tunisian actress. She is especially known for her roles in the Tunisian series Casting and Machair.

49. Laïla Marrakchi

1975-. (aged 51)

film director screenwriter

Laila Marrakchi is a Moroccan film maker most famous for the film Marock. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. She is married to film director Alexandre Aja. She grew up in the upper class Casablanca milieu that is portrayed in Marock.

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50. Agnès Hurstel

screenwriter film director actor comedian

Agnès Hurstel is a French actress, comedian and radio columnist. She is co-creator, co-writer and lead actress of the series Jeune et Golri (2021–present), which won the award for best French series at Series Mania in August 2021.

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51. Dina Bousselham

1990-. (aged 36)

political adviser political scientist association football player politician

Dina Bousselham is a Moroccan political advisor, candidate, and political scientist affiliated with the Spanish political party Podemos, and the director of the online newspaper La Última Hora! As a political science student at the Complutense University of Madrid she took classes with Pablo Iglesias Turrión, who was a lecturer there. When Iglesias founded Podemos in 2014 and won election...

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52. Candice Parise

1987-. (aged 39)

singer actor

Candice Parise is a French actress and singer.

53. Lilith Verstrynge

1992-. (aged 34)

politician

Lilith Verstrynge Revuelta is a Spanish former politician. The daughter of Jorge Verstrynge, with whom she shared membership of Podemos, she served in the Congress of Deputies for six months up to January 2024, and was Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda from July 2022 to November 2023.

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54. Burhan Ghalioun

1945-. (aged 81)

university teacher sociologist politician

Burhan Ghalioun is a French-Syrian professor of sociology at the Université de Paris III Sorbonne University in Paris, and the first chairman of the Syrian National Council (SNC). He was named chairman on 29 August 2011. His chairmanship was criticized for his perceived closeness to the Muslim Brotherhood, his early reluctance to arm opposition forces, and what opponents called the...

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55. Ghassan Salamé

1951-. (aged 75)

university teacher political scientist politician

Ghassan Salamé is a Lebanese academic who currently serves as the Minister of Culture since February 2025. He previously served in the same position from 2000 to 2003. He was the Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) and professor of International Relations at Sciences Po. Salamé served as the head of the United Nations Support Mission in...

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56. Arthur Dupont

1985-. (aged 41)

actor film actor

Arthur Dupont is a French actor. He was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France.

57. Elizabeth Duval

2000-. (aged 26)

novelist writer critic philosopher poet

Elizabeth Duval is a Spanish novelist, poet, philosopher, philologist, critic, and trans rights activist. She has been current secretary of communication for the electoral alliance Sumar between 2023 and 2025.

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58. Esther Benbassa

1950-. (aged 76)

Judaic scholar university teacher writer historian politician

Esther Benbassa-Dudonney is a Turkish-Israeli-French historian and politician. She specializes in the history of Jews and other minorities. Between 2011 and 2023, Benbassa served as a French senator, representing Paris (2017–2023) and Val-de-Marne (2011–2017).

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59. Delphine O

1985-. (aged 41)

politician entrepreneur administrator

Delphine O is a French politician and a former member of the French National Assembly, who represented Paris. She is the Secretary General of the Generation Equality Forum 2021.

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60. Marie-Hélène Lafon

1962-. (aged 64)

professeur agrégé writer

Marie-Hélène Lafon is a French educator and award-winning writer.

61. Elias Khoury

1948-2024 (aged 76)

playwright writer editing staff university teacher journalist

Elias Khoury was a Lebanese novelist and advocate of the Palestinian cause. His novels and literary criticism have been translated into several languages. In 2000, he won the Prize of Palestine for his book Gate of the Sun, and he won the Al Owais Award for fiction writing in 2007. Khoury also wrote three plays and two screenplays.

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62. Marie de Hennezel

1946-. (aged 80)

psychoanalyst writer non-fiction writer psychologist psychotherapist

Marie de Hennezel is a French psychologist, psychotherapist and writer. She is known for her commitment to improving conditions at the end of life. Her books, her two reports to the government, and her speeches on the subject have contributed to the evolution of the image of aging and old age in society.

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63. Zineb El Rhazoui

1982-. (aged 44)

journalist

Zineb El Rhazoui, known mononymously as Zineb, is a French journalist. She was a columnist for the Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo from 2011 to 2017, but was in Morocco during the Charlie Hebdo shooting on 7 January 2015.

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64. Christian Lacroix

1951-. (aged 75)

designer interior designer postage stamp designer grand couturier fashion designer

Christian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. The name also refers to the company he founded.

65. Kim Chapiron

1980-. (aged 46)

screenwriter composer film director

Kim Chapiron is a French film director, screenwriter, and musician of Vietnamese descent.

66. Arnaud Desplechin

1960-. (aged 66)

actor screenwriter cinematographer director film director

Arnaud Desplechin is a French film director and screenwriter.

67. Maryse Condé

1934-2024 (aged 90)

playwright writer university teacher children's writer literary scholar

Maryse Condé was a French novelist, critic, and playwright from the French Overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. She was also an academic, whose teaching career took her to West Africa and North America, as well as the Caribbean and Europe. As a writer, Condé is best known for her novel Ségou (1984–1985).

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68. Cédric Klapisch

1961-. (aged 65)

screenwriter film director film producer actor film actor

Cédric Klapisch is a French film director, screenwriter and film producer.

69. Jean-Pierre Thiollet

1956-. (aged 70)

journalist writer

Jean-Pierre Thiollet is a French writer and journalist. He is also affiliated with the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, a European trade union.

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70. Youssoupha

1979-. (aged 47)

lyricist rapper singer music executive

Youssoupha Mabiki, better known by his nickname Youssoupha is a French and Congolese rapper.

71. Chiara Mastroianni

1972-. (aged 54)

singer actor film actor musician

Chiara Charlotte Mastroianni is a French actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve.

72. Claude Lelouch

1937-. (aged 89)

cinematographer writer film editor film producer actor

Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical acclaim for his 1966 romantic melodrama film A Man and A Woman. At the 39th Academy Awards in 1967, A Man and a Woman won Best...

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73. Lisa Eckhart

1992-. (aged 34)

germanist poet writer novelist cabaret performer

Lisa Eckhart is an Austrian poetry slammer, comedian, and cabaret artist.

74. Julie Gayet

1972-. (aged 54)

director film director film producer actor film actor

Julie Gayet is a French actress and film producer. She is also known for being the wife of the former President of France, François Hollande.

75. Géraldine Nakache

1980-. (aged 46)

screenwriter film director actor film actor

Géraldine Nakache is a French actress, director and screenwriter.

76. Anaïs Demoustier

1987-. (aged 39)

film actor actor stage actor

Anaïs Aude Marie Michèle Demoustier is a French actress. She was nominated for Most Promising Actress twice at the César Awards, in 2009 for Les Grandes Personnes and in 2011 for Living on Love Alone. In 2020, she won the César for Best Actress for her performance in the film Alice and the Mayor.

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77. Olivier Assayas

1955-. (aged 71)

screenwriter film director film critic

Olivier Assayas is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his eclectic filmography, consisting of slow-burning period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs, and comedies. He has directed French, Spanish, and English-language films with international casts. The son of filmmaker Jacques Rémy, Assayas began his career as a critic for Cahiers du Cinéma. There he wrote about...

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78. Alan Stivell

1944-. (aged 82)

activist songwriter music arranger harpist recording artist

Alan Stivell is a French Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp from Brittany.

79. Marlène Schiappa

1982-. (aged 44)

writer opinion journalist women's rights activist politician

Marlène Schiappa is a French writer and politician who served as State Secretary for the Social and Solidarity Economy and Associative Life, attached to the Prime Minister, in the Borne government (2022–2023), as Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship, attached to the Minister of the Interior, in the government of Prime Minister Jean Castex (2020–2022) and as Secretary of State...

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80. Predrag Matvejević

1932-2017 (aged 85)

opinion journalist university teacher literary historian essayist translator

Predrag Matvejević was a Bosnian and Croatian writer and scholar. A literature scholar who taught at universities in Zagreb, Paris and Rome, he is best known for his 1987 non-fiction book Mediterranean: A Cultural Landscape, a seminal work of cultural history of the Mediterranean region which has been translated into more than 20 languages.

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81. Mirela Kumbaro

1966-. (aged 60)

translator romanist university teacher politician

Mirela Kumbaro Furxhi, is an Albanian politician currently serving as the Minister of Education of Albania since 19 September 2025. Previously she has served as the Minister of Tourism and Environment from 2021 to 2025 and as the Minister of Culture from 2013 to 2019.

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82. Alan García

1949-2019 (aged 70)

politician lawyer writer jurist sociologist

Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms, from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), and its only member to serve as president. Mentored by the APRA's founder, Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, he...

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83. Nadine Heredia

1976-. (aged 50)

politician sociologist

Nadine Heredia Alarcón de Humala is a Peruvian politician. As the wife of President of Peru Ollanta Humala, she served as the First Lady of Peru from 2011 to 2016. The President of the Peruvian Nationalist Party (PNP), which formed the Peru Wins electoral alliance in 2011, Heredia is seen as a highly influential figure in Peruvian politics. She has...

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84. Pedro Paulet

1874-1945 (aged 71)

diplomat engineer physicist

Pedro Eleodoro Paulet Mostajo was a Peruvian diplomat and engineer. Some early rocket experts described him as a pioneer in aeronautics, saying that he was the first person to build a liquid-propellant rocket engine and modern rocket propulsion system, but his experiments were never independently verified.

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85. Verónika Mendoza

1980-. (aged 46)

psychologist anthropologist politician

Verónika Fanny Mendoza Frisch is a Peruvian-French psychologist, educator, and politician. She is the founder and current leader of the New Peru movement.

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