Portraits

portraits

Jean Eustache: the outsider who reshaped French cinema

The filmmaker Jean Eustache's interest in la France profonde, his sense of national history and his sardonic scepticism about the May ’68 ideologues mark him out from his Nouvelle ..

Muriel Zagha October 30, 2023

portraits

Eunus, the slave who would be king

In the second century BC, Eunus led the biggest slave uprising Rome was to see until Spartacus’ rebellion sixty years later. His story is of the power of charisma and the tragedy o..

Orlando Gibbs October 17, 2023

portraits

Paolo Sarpi: opponent of papal power

Though little-known today, the Venetian friar, theologian and state propagandist for the Serene Republic shaped the political debate of the turbulent seventeenth century.

Eloise Davies October 3, 2023

portraits

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin — the first and only British woman to win a Nobel Prize in science

The chemist and crystallographer made pioneering discoveries, including determining the structure of insulin in 1969 after 35 years of work.

Patricia Fara June 22, 2023

portraits

Quintus Fabius Cunctator: a general who stands askew in the pantheon of Roman heroes

He may have failed to gain a decisive victory over Hannibal but the consul, nicknamed ‘the hesitator,’ is proof that watchful waiting sometimes pays off.

James Darnton June 8, 2023

portraits

Cyprian Ekwensi: Lagos life in the raw

Today, more than half of Africans live in cities. The Nigerian writer Cyprian Ekwensi became the first, and arguably the best, chronicler of their difficult, glamorous and twisted ..

Richard Assheton May 3, 2023

portraits

Antonio Greppi — architect of enlightened absolutism

Antonio Greppi took a leading role in the reform of taxation under the Habsburg monarchy. He changed the system from within, improving the lives of his fellow citizens.

Guido G. Beduschi April 13, 2023

portraits

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca – conquistador brawler turned defender of Indigenous American Rights

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a hopeless conquistador but he became one of the most notable European advocates for Indigenous peoples.

Andrea Valentino March 16, 2023

portraits

Simon Leys — the cosmopolitan scholar who broke the rules of Sinology

The spiritedly rebellious work of the scholar and aesthete remains an invaluable guide to the politics of China half a century after he first challenged the bland orthodoxies of Si..

Michael Sheridan March 3, 2023