History hero

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

Craig Charles and Muhammad Ali

My history heroCraig Charles chooses Muhammad Ali. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ross Kemp and Jesse Owens

My history heroRoss Kemp chooses Jesse Owens. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history heroRory Stewart chooses Thomas More. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Laura Mvulu and Thelonius Monk

My history heroLaura Mvula chooses Thelonious Monk. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jackie Weaver and Elizabeth I

History heroJackie Weaver chooses Elizabeth I. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nisha Katona and Samuel Pepys

History heroNisha Katona chooses Samuel Pepys (1633–1703). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A bust of Ashoka the Great

History heroNihal Arthanayake chooses Ashoka the Great (c304–c232 BC). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

History heroSteven Berkoff chooses Laurence Olivier (1907–89)

A colourised portrait of Anton Chekhov, from 1901

History heroWilliam Boyd chooses Anton Chekhov (1860–1904). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Eric Liddell winning the 400-metre final at the 1924 Olympic Games

History heroDan Walker chooses Eric Liddell (1902–45). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Welfare campaigner Emily Hobhouse

History heroAnita Anand chooses Emily Hobhouse (1860–1926). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Former US president Theodore Roosevelt stands on a boat with Cândido Rondon

History heroElla Al-Shamahi chooses Cândido Rondon (1865–1958). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Professor Stephen Hawking in his office at the University of Cambridge, 2003

History heroBobby Seagull chooses Stephen Hawking (1942–2018). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A c1638 oil painting of Katherine Howard, Lady Aubigny

History heroJulia Donaldson chooses Katherine Howard, Lady Aubigny (d1650). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Félix Kir in 1947, when he was the mayor of Dijon

Second World War

History heroSimon Farnaby chooses Félix Kir (1876–1968)

History heroAndrew Marr chooses Charles Darwin (1809–82). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

George Washington Carver in a laboratory

History heroGillian Burke chooses George Washington Carver (c1864–1943). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 19th-century engraving of Francis Grose

History heroSusie Dent chooses Francis Grose (1731–1791)

Young girl putting garland around Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. (Photo by Dinodia Photos/Getty Images)

History heroFergal Keane chooses Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Krystyna Skarbeck, also called Christine Granville

History heroMichael Morpurgo chooses Krystyna Skarbek (1908–1952). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mary Seacole as seen in a contemporary photo. Although she became famous for her nursing work in the Crimean War, her story subsequently became largely forgotten. (Photo by Alamy)

History heroBernardine Evaristo chooses Mary Seacole (1805–1881). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Victorian heroine Grace Darling (1815–1842) with her father, lighthouse keeper William Darling. They are rowing from the Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands off Northumberland, to rescue the passengers of the stricken ship 'SS Forfarshire'. (Photo by Nigel Dobinson/Getty Images)

History heroMiriam Stoppard chooses Grace Darling (1815–1842). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

c1935: Beatrice Shilling sits astride her Norton motorcycle. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

History heroCathy Newman chooses Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

American jazz singer Helen Forrest performing with trumpeter Harry James (1916-1983), c1945. (Photo by Metronome/Getty Images)

History heroDame Vera Lynn chooses Helen Forrest (1917–99). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Frank Gillard pictured during a 1944 rehearsal for battle reporting

History heroChris Mason chooses Frank Gillard (1908–98). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Harold Wilson in 1971, after his first period as prime minister. He would take power again in 1974. (Photo by Getty Images)

History heroJason Watkins chooses Harold Wilson (1916–95). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rosa Parks (right) riding on a bus following the Supremacial segregation on Montgomery's public transit system. (Photo by Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)

History heroGabby Logan chooses Rosa Parks (1913–2005). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sylvia Pankhurst is taken into custody

History heroEmma Barnett chooses Sylvia Pankhurst (1882–1960)

Prime Minister Harold Macmillan at Admiralty House, London

History heroMichael Heseltine chooses Harold Macmillan (1894–1986). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Oskar Schindler, who prevented hundreds of Jews from being murdered in the Holocaust

History heroSimon Reeve chooses Oskar Schindler (1908–74). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.