Great Lives

Tom Hopkinson, editor of Picture Post

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What does it take to be a great news editor? Tom Hopkinson was sacked by the proprietor of Picture Post for trying to run a true story during the 1950...

Brian Cox on Lindsay Anderson

08 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Brian Cox chooses his one-time mentor and fellow Scot, Lindsay Anderson. "His effect is still on me to this day, and I can't throw him off. He...

Spike Milligan

25 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Henry Normal thinks Spike Milligan changed his life, in particular with his 1973 poetry collection, Small Dreams of a Scorpion. Spike's other work - ...

Roma Agrawal on Mrinalini Sarabhai

18 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mrinalini Sarabhai was an Indian classical dancer specialising in Bharatanatyam and becoming the first woman to perform Kathakali. She was very succe...

Lady Hale on Lady Rhondda

11 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Judge and former President of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale, chooses to nominate the suffragette, businesswoman, and founder of Time and Tide magazine,...

William Lever, Lord Leverhulme, founder of Unilever

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

William Lever was a grocer's son who went on to make a fortune selling soap. Lifebuoy, Lux ... and eventually Unilever are just some of his creations....

Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan

28 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan was an Indian muslim princess who became an under-cover agent for the ‘SOE’ – Churchill’s Special Operational Execut...

Jeanne Baret, first woman to sail round the globe

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It all began with a small portrait in the Greenwich museum - of a sexless looking character in wide stripey trousers. Actor Nina Sosanya says she was ...

Rory Sutherland on Johnny Ramone

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Johnny Ramone is a founding member of the seminal New York punk band, the Ramones. Famed for their blisteringly short songs played at breakneck speed...

JRR Tolkien, creator of The Hobbit

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein in 1892. Orphaned before he was a teenager, he fought at the Somme in the First World War before go...

Ruth Rogers on James Baldwin

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The chef and co-founder of The River Cafe, Ruth Rogers, picks the life of the writer and activist James Baldwin.A writer, poet, playwright and activis...

Yanis Varoufakis on Hypatia

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Greek politician and economist takes us back to ancient Alexandria and the life of the first woman to make her name as a mathematician. But Hypat...

Dorothy Byrne on Catherine of Siena

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge and former Channel 4 editor champions the life of a 14th-century mystic. Like Dorothy Byrne, famou...

Peggy Seeger on her husband Ewan MacColl

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ewan MacColl sang "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" to Peggy Seeger down the phone.When they met, Peggy says, he was in the grip of his midlife cr...

Josiah Wedgwood, master potter

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When Josiah Wedgwood had part of an injured leg amputed, he encouraged his workers to celebrate the anniversary as St Amputation Day. This remarkable ...

Frantz Fanon

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Born and raised in Martinique, Frantz Fanon fought for the Free French Forces against the Nazis, and then devoted his life to the liberation of Algeri...

Althea Gibson

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Althea Gibson made sporting history in 1957 - the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon title. She also won the US Open and the French Open. ...

Yehudi Menuhin

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Yehudi Menuhin was the original child prodigy. He was born in America in 1916, and was soon playing in concert halls round the world. He also played t...

Hans Christian Andersen

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Hans Christian Andersen was 'a very strange orchid,' says Michael Booth. He was born in 1806 in Denmark, and today is still famous for so many stori...

The Surprise Lives

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Step one: invite notable guest. Step two: get them to talk about someone else."After nearly 500 episodes, Great Lives feels like a stable series, but...

Rosie Millard on Edward III

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Edward III should be much better known, Rosie tells Matthew Parris. He not only won great battles like Crecy in 1346. He also championed the flouris...

Ben Miller on William Hazlitt

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Actor, comedian and Author Ben Miller discusses the colourful, complicated and uncompromising life of William Hazlitt.Born in 1778 William Hazlitt is ...

Arlo Parks on Elliott Smith

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Singer-songwriter Arlo Parks has been nominated for three Brit Awards at just 20 years old. Her inspiration for her debut studio album is drawn from A...

Jonathan Dimbleby on Harry Hopkins

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On May 10 1940, the Germans invaded the Low Countries, Winston Churchill became prime minister, and Harry Hopkins moved in to the White House. This re...

KT Tunstall on Ivor Cutler

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ivor Cutler is hard to categorise. Whimsical and uncompromising, depressive yet joyful, childlike and curmudgeonly, an 'outsider', championed by insid...

Black and British pioneer Kenny Lynch

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kenny Lynch was born in Stepney, East London in 1938. He toured with the Beatles, wrote best-selling songs, was a champion boxer in the army, and a re...

Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown picks Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart. With archive contributions from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie...

The Talented Mr Ripley author, Patricia Highsmith

07 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Director Jonathan Kent was friends with Patricia Highsmith. He'd been playing Tom Ripley for a tv show, and staying in the hotel suite next door to he...

Rights activist Cesar Chavez nominated by Cori Crider

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1960s California, Mexican-American Civil Rights Leader, Cesar Chavez led the United Farmworkers union in a series of strikes, boycotts and semi-rel...

Caroline Catz on Delia Derbyshire

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Caroline Catz chooses Delia Derbyshire, the musician and composer best known for her work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where she realised the...

David Jonsson on Jean Michel Basquiat

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat rose to fame in the 1980's Lower East Side New York arts scene. Andy Warhol was his friend and collaborator, Madonna a one...

Rob Rinder on Jessica Mitford

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jessica Mitford was the fifth born of the notorious Mitford Sisters. Born into the aristocracy, as a child she had her own language, collected a runni...

Diane Morgan on Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian and actor Diane Morgan chooses the life of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding. Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding is best known for his role in the ...

David Spiegelhalter on Frank Ramsey

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Frank Plumpton Ramsey contributed original ideas to the fields of logic, mathematics, economics and philosophy. He was a friend and respected interloc...

The Great Lives of Great Lives

11 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Back in the late summer of 2001, a new biography series aired on Radio 4. Matthew Parris was not the first presenter, but he has chaired more editions...

Katherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In her book The Taming of the Queen, Philippa Gregory asks a simple question of her subject, Katherine Parr. Who would marry a serial killer? Katherin...

Xuanzang, Chinese monk and traveller

29 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It was an extraordinary journey, and a life that reads like a fairy tale. Xuanzang was born at the start of the seventh century in China. He studied a...

James Graham on John Maynard Keynes

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

James Graham, the award-winning playwright whose work includes the TV dramas "Brexit: The Uncivil War" and "Quiz", tells Matthew Parris why he is insp...

Sir David Adjaye on Okwui Enwezor

15 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“I was astonished by the experience of standing there, where the two oceans met. I knew at that very moment this would be my concept: the meeting of...

Tom Allen on Kenneth Williams

08 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian and presenter Tom Allen first discovered Kenneth Williams as a young boy, watching the Carry On films and listening to Round the Horne with h...

Ernie Bevin, forgotten political giant

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ernie Bevin led an extraordinary life. Born in Somerset in 1881, his father is unknown and his mother died when he was eight. He left his job as a far...

Jessie Ware on Donna Summer

25 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jessie Ware is a singer, songwriter and podcaster. Her latest, critically acclaimed, album, What's Your Pleasure?, draws inspiration from soul, funk, ...

Peter Frankopan on Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

18 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Bearded, profoundly deaf and somewhat eccentric, Tsiolkovsky's theoretical work means he is, for many, the "father of space travel". He died in 1935,...

Frida Kahlo nominated by author Jessie Burton

12 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“We’re talking here about a woman who was Mexican, dark skinned, disabled and queer, who produced art and didn’t allow her disabilities to defin...

Mussolini

04 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

September 1943, and German troops have just landed in gliders to rescue Benito Mussolini from the mountain resort where he was being held. “I knew m...

Dolly Alderton on Doris Day

02 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dolly Alderton's love of Doris Day began when she watched Calamity Jane as a young child. And for Dolly, the incandescent film star was as much of a p...

Sybille Bedford, author of Jigsaw and A Legacy

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sara Wheeler first read Sybille Bedford in her early twenties, and discovered a dazzling writer. The book she read was called A Visit to Don Otavio. I...

Billy Bremner of Leeds United

19 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe, chooses the life of infamous Leeds United Captain, Billy Bremner.Billy Bremner played for Leeds ...

Sally Phillips on Hollywood star Myrna Loy

13 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When actress Sally Phillips first saw Myrna Loy, she burst into tears. It was in a film called The Best Years of Our Lives, about three veterans retur...

Victoria Wood

05 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Actor and comedian Daniel Rigby chooses the creator of Acorn Antiques, As Seen on TV and Dinnerladies, Victoria Wood.Victoria grew up in a bungalow hi...

Maya Angelou

29 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in 1928. She was a mother, writer, dancer, director, performer, friend of presidents, and author of seven vol...

Ursula Le Guin nominated by Kate Stables

21 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ursula le Guin was born in California, USA in 1929. Her books - including A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness - have been described as ...

Frank Cottrell Boyce on Tove Jansson

14 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"One of the best things a children's writer can do is to implant sign posts in childhood to things that are good, and to the small pleasures that will...

Rick Stein on Jim Morrison

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chef , writer and presenter Rick Stein chooses the lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison.As a 21 year old man travelling the world, a young Rick Stei...

Andi Oliver on Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison

21 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Andi Oliver first read Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' she felt as though someone climbed inside her head. Morrison's books saved the chef and b...

Kurt Vonnegut

10 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"I am a German American, a pure one, dating back to when German Americans were still marrying each other." Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1...

Charlie Parker nominated by Ken Clarke

03 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From Kansas City to New York, young Charlie Parker conquered the world of jazz.. He was famous during his life, and even more famous after he died age...

Bill Bailey on his hero Alfred Russel Wallace

24 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bill Bailey has not just travelled in naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace's footsteps, he's crazy about him too. "I love him, I really do." Wallace is b...

Novelist Enid Blyton

24 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Janice Turner recently wrote a sweet, sensitive article about packing up the contents of her parent’s house. “The experience was almost unbearable...

Jeremy Paxman nominates Lord Shaftesbury

17 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What makes a brilliant politician? What should motivate them? Does having a faith help? Broadcaster and writer Jeremy Paxman chooses the seventh earl ...

Lee Miller, war photographer and model

10 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the early summer of 1945, Lee Miller sent a telegram back to London about what she had seen in the Nazi death camps. “I implore you to believe th...

Just William / Richmal Crompton proposed by Peter Oborne with Martin Jarvis

03 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

"It's absolutely joyous, one of the highlights of my career!" Peter Oborne on being joined by Martin Jarvis, the man who brings Just William to life.J...

Constance Agatha Cummings-John

07 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The author Chibundu Onuzo nominates the first elected female in Africa, Constance Agatha Cummings-John.Chibundu discovered the remarkable story of Con...

Comedian Sindhu Vee on Prince

17 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian Sindhu Vee has loved Prince ever since she was a young girl in India - when her sister gave her illicit cassettes recorded from US radio. A p...

Fiona Shaw nominates the actress Eleonora Duse

12 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Fiona Shaw - BAFTA award-winning star of BBC TV's Killing Eve - explores the life of one of history's most remarkable and forgotten actresses, Eleonor...

Philippa Perry on the Italian educator Maria Montessori

03 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Psychotherapist Philippa Perry nominates the Italian educator and doctor Maria Montessori, who revolutionised children's education. Montessori schools...

First Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald

27 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, is chosen by Shaun Ley.In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald went to see the king in order to resign. George V per...

Caroline Quentin nominates Sir John Vanbrugh

20 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From acting in TV's Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek to restoring dozens of period properties and touring India for TV, Caroline Quentin loves v...

Laura Marling on Lou Andreas-Salome

13 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Laura Marling nominates the first female psychoanalyst, Lou Andreas-Salomé.Folk singer-songwriter, Laura has been unravelling the mysteries of Russia...

Robinson Crusoe

13 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Was Robinson Crusoe real? According to the book it was 'written by himself'.To establish the facts, Matthew Parris is joined by two notable desert isl...

Ed Balls nominates Herbert Howells

12 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Former Member of Parliament Ed Balls chooses the 20th-century English composer, organist and teacher, Herbert Howells. With the biographer of Herbert ...

Kamila Shamsie chooses Asma Jahangir

28 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kamila Shamsie champions the life of the Pakistani human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir. Author of award-winning novel 'Home Fire', Kamila says she was o...

Shirley Collins on Alan Lomax

21 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The prolific and most significant of American song-hunters - Alan Lomax - is the choice of English folk singer Shirley Collins. She's joined by singer...

Jeremy Deller on The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein

15 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Turner Prize Winner Jeremy Deller believes the music entrepreneur and The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, has never been properly credited for his rol...

Caroline Criado-Perez on Jane Austen

07 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2013, Caroline Criado-Perez successfully campaigned for a woman to be featured on a banknote. The Bank of England chose Jane Austen. Caroline joins...

Kirill Gerstein on Ferruccio Busoni

01 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Pianist Kirill Gerstein chooses the conductor and composer Ferruccio Busoni. Matthew Parris presents.When Busoni died in Berlin in 1924, his pupil Kur...

Malcolm Lowry, nominated by Ian McMillan

23 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Parris meets the poet Ian McMillan to find out about the life of his literary hero Malcolm Lowry. Ian first discovered this 20th century write...

Catherine de Medici nominated by Helen Lewis

18 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Helen Lewis rehabilitates the reputation of the ‘Black Queen’ of France, Catherine de Medici. Helen and presenter Matthew Parris are jo...

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, chosen by Tom Holland

16 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

She's the most influential woman that English history forgot, says Tom Holland - Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, daughter of Alfred the Great. Livi...

Shappi Khorsandi on Emma, Lady Hamilton

02 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian and author Shappi Khorsandi has been desperate to tell the story of Emma, Lady Hamilton as she’s quite simply one of her greatest fans. Eve...

Matt Lucas on Freddie Mercury

22 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Lucas champions Freddie Mercury of the band, Queen. To what extent can a troubled childhood contribute to an adult's need to perform? Farrokh Bul...

Rohan Silva on Colin Chapman

15 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The arrival of Lotus shook up motor sport in 1960s and 70s. In Formula One, Colin Chapman made his cars lighter and quicker than anyone else, often c...

Suzanne O'Sullivan on Oliver Sacks

08 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Parris meets Suzanne O'Sullivan to discuss her medical and literary hero, Oliver Sacks. She first came across his work on a beach in Thailand...

Nikesh Shukla on the Great Gama

01 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ghulam Mohammad, or the Great Gama Pehlwan as he was more commonly known, was a Muslim wrestler born into a Kashmir family in India in 1878. When writ...

Sathnam Sanghera on Alexander Gardner

28 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Author and Journalist Sathnam Sanghera nominates a Great Life; a man dismissed as a fantasist and a liar in his own lifetime. Alexander Gardner was a ...

Mark Steel on Charlie Chaplin

25 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Steel makes the case for Charlie Chaplin being one of the most radical comedians of his time. He reckons it's sad that most see Chaplin as that b...

Tim Smit on Humphrey Jennings

19 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Smit has admired Humphrey Jennings since seeing Danny Boyle’s Olympics Opening Ceremony in 2012. Jennings was a film maker, artist, and co-found...

Russell Kane on Evelyn Waugh

11 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian Russell Kane nominates the novelist Evelyn Waugh. One of the greatest prose stylists of 20th century literature, not to mention one of the ...

Samira Ahmed on Laura Ingalls Wilder

04 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the summer of 2018, the name of Laura Ingalls Wilder was erased from a children's literary medal set up in her honour six decades ago. Readers of t...

Christina Lamb on Benazir Bhutto

25 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Benazir Bhutto made history when, aged 35, she became the first democratically elected female Prime Minister of a Muslim majority country. Her family ...

Helen Glover on Alison Hargreaves

20 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Olympic rower Helen Glover champions the life of mountaineer Alison Hargreaves. Alison's short life was defined by her love of the mountains. She bec...

Mark Carwardine on Douglas Adams

18 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

"Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, this is an interesting world I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, don't you think?"Douglas ...

Cherie Blair on Dame Rose Heilbron

11 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For Cherie Blair, leading barrister and QC, picking her great life was simple – her role model is Rose Heilbron, England's first woman judge. W...

Greg Jenner on Gene Kelly

05 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Public historian Greg Jenner has always loved Gene Kelly. "So much better than he had any right to be."Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Gene Kelly was a br...

Patricia Greene on Bess of Hardwick

21 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Actress Patricia Greene (Jill Archer in BBC Radio 4's The Archers) makes the case for Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, or Bess of Hardwick as she's ...

Simon Evans on JS Mill

14 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Towards the end of his comic rant about the descent of man, Simon Evans does something very dangerous. He starts to read out to his audience an extrac...

Erica Wagner on Roald Amundsen

08 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

"We are ready to take the Pole in any kind of weather on offer," wrote the Norwegian Roald Amundsen in December 1911. Born in 1872, Amundsen is part o...

Hanif Kureishi on David Bowie

31 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

"Suddenly this light comes into your life" - says Hanif Kureishi, referring to his hero, his great life, David Bowie. Hanif, an author, screenwriter a...

Barbara Stocking on Catherine the Great

29 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine the Great assumed power in a St Petersburg coup, extended the empire into Crimea, Ukraine and Alaska. is Russia's longest lasting female rul...

Suzy Klein on Hedy Lamarr

22 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Hedy Lamarr was described by her studio as the most beautiful woman in the world. A recent film, called Bombshell, argued that she was a brilliant inv...