Egyptian Sheikh Muhammad Ayyad al-Tantawi, one of the youngest teachers of Arabic studies in Egypt (at that time the Ottoman Empire), traveled to and worked in Russia. During his residence in Russia, he was the first to compile an Arabic grammar manual in the Russian … Read MoreSheikh Muhammad Ayyad al-Tantawi (1810-1861)
American basketball player Brittney Yevette Griner was born on October 18, 1990, to Sandra Griner and Raymond Griner in Houston, Texas. She attended Chester W. Nimitz Senior High School in Houston, where she played for the school basketball and volleyball teams. During her sophomore year, … Read MoreBrittney Yevette Griner (1990- )
Antonio Agostinho Neto, fondly honored by Angolans as the “Father of Modern Angola” served as the first president of independent Angola. Not only was he a remarkable politician, but Neto was also a noted physician and famous poet. Antonio Agostinho Neto was born on September … Read MoreAgostinho Neto (1922-1979)
Négritude cinema director, activist, feminist Sarah Maldoror was born Sarah Ducados on July 19, 1929, in Condom, France, of emigrant parents from the Francophone Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe. She later selected her name after the hero of the Comte de Lautréamont’s novel Les Chants de … Read MoreSarah Maldoror (1929-2020)
The details of the birth and appearance of Russian shipbuilder and military Gen. Mikhail M. Egypteos remain uncertain. There are two competing stories: One is that as a teenager from an aristocratic Ethiopian family he was taken, perhaps by force, to the Russian Empire by … Read MoreMikhail Milhailovich Egypteos (1861-1932)
It took nearly a century for Philip Jordan to receive proper recognition as a first-hand observer and informal reporter on the Russian Revolution of 1917. Believed to be the son of a slave, Jordan was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1868. He spent his … Read MorePhilip Jordan (1868-1941)
Arabella Fields was a singer and actress known as “The Black Nightingale” and had a storied career performing in Europe. She was born on January 31, 1879, as Sarah Arabella Middleton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Early reports state she was performing at the young age of … Read MoreArabella Fields (1879-1933)
Lydia Fedorovna Arkhipova was a prolific painter who achieved fame in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and abroad. She also developed her original style which challenged the major trends in Soviet-era art. Arkhipova’s father was Frederick Bruce Thomas, widely known before the Russian Revolution … Read MoreLydia Fedorovna Arkhipova (1914-1997)
Louise Alone Thompson Patterson, civil rights activist, communist, and educator, was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 9, 1901 to Lulu (Louise) F. Brown Toles and William J. Toles. After her parents 1904 separation, Thompson lived in Seattle, Washington as well as Utah, Nevada, Idaho, … Read MoreLouise Thompson Patterson (1901-1999)
Dominga de la Cruz-Becerril, socialist, lecturer, poet, and declamadora, was born April 22, 1909 in Bueno Aires, Ponce, Puerto Rico (PR) to Catalina Becerril of Fajardo and Domingo Clarillo Cruz of Ponce. Reared in Mayagüez, both parents and godparents died while she was a pre-teen. … Read MoreDominga Cruz-Becerril (1909-1981)
