Famous Personalities — Part 1 MCQs with Explanations

Euclid was a great mathematician and often called the father of geometry.

Kutty, Shankar, Laxman and Sudhir Dar all are cartoonists.

Sardar Patel is known as the iron man of India. He was a political and freedom leader in India’s freedom struggle. Sardar Patel put all his efforts to unify the fragments of princely states into the Indian union.

Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mathematician, writer and mental calculator, popularly known as the "Human Computer".

Jude Felix Sebastian (born 26 January 1965) is an Indian field hockey player. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Sarada Ukil was a Bengali actor and artist, known for his role in the movie Prem Sanyas, "The Light of Asia", under the German director Franz Osten. Sarada was the father of Shantanu Ukil, one of the early pioneers of the Bengal School of Art.

Amartya Sen is famous for his significant contributions to welfare economics (for which he was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in economics), including his development of more sophisticated measures of poverty, and for his work on the causes and prevention of famines.

Satyajit Ray, (born 2 May, 1921, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India - died 23 April, 1992, Calcutta), Bengali motion-picture director, writer, and illustrator who brought the Indian cinema to world recognition with Pather Panchali (The Song of the Road) and its two sequels, known as the Apu Trilogy.

In 1994, Dr Joon Lew (South Korea) and Dr V Ekambaram (India) received International Gandhi Award for Outstanding Contributions to Leprosy Work.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (born 9 October 1945) is an Indian classical sarod player, best known for his clear and fast ekhara taans. Khan was born into a classical musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan in 2001.

Gopi Krishna was an exponent of the Benares Gharana style of Kathak. He incorporated many elements of Kathakali and Bharatnatyam in his dance.

Bachendri Pal is an Indian mountaineer, who in 1984 became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She was awarded the third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan by Government of India in 2019.

Akkineni Nageswara Rao, widely known as ANR, was an Indian film actor and producer, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema.

Jamini Roy (11 April 1887 - 24 April 1972) was an Indian painter. He was honoured with the State award of Padma Bhushan in 1955. He was one of the most famous pupils of Abanindranath Tagore, whose artistic originality and contribution to the emergence of art in India remains unquestionable.

Achchan Maharaj was a court dancer of several states of North India, and served for a long time at Raigarh.

Pierre Cardin is a French fashion designer.

The Salar Jung family was a noble Hyderabad family under the Nizams, who ruled from 1720 to 1948. They are credited with safeguarding rare artifacts and collections, which are now at Salar Jung Museum.

Vijaya Mehta is a noted Indian Marathi film and theatre director and also an actor in many films from the Parallel Cinema. She is a founder member of Mumbai-based theatre group, Rangayan with playwright Vijay Tendulkar, and actors Arvind Deshpande and Shriram Lagoo.

Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is an Indian geneticist and administrator, known for his role in India's Green Revolution. Swaminathan has been called the "Father of Green Revolution in India" for his role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India.

Satyen Bose (22 January 1916 - 9 June 1993) was a film director from India. He has directed both Bengali and Hindi films. Among his most notable films are: Raat Aur Din, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Dosti and Jagriti. Jagriti won the Filmfare Best Movie Award in 1956 and Dosti won same award in 1964.

Charles Mark Correa was an Indian architect and urban planner. Credited with the creation of modern architecture in post-Independent India, he was celebrated for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban poor and for his use of traditional methods and materials.

In his famous speech 'Freedom at midnight', the first prime minister of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru mentioned, "The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye."

Ashok Pandit is known for his outstanding performance in shooting.

Agnivesh, referred to as Swami Agnivesh was an Indian social activist and the founder of Arya Sabha, a political party based on the principles of Arya Samaj.

Krishna Gundopant Ginde, better known as K.G. Ginde was an Indian classical singer and teacher. His guru S N Ratanjankar was his biggest influence.

Jamnalal Bajaj was an Indian industrialist, a merchant, a philanthropist, and Indian independence fighter. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in the 1920s, and the group now has 24 companies, including six that are listed on the bourses. He was also a close and beloved associate of Mahatma Gandhi, who is known to have often declared that Jamnalal was his fifth son.

Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 - 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Mewati gharana (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame, respect and numerous major awards and accolades. His legacy includes memorable performances of classical and semi-classical vocal music, classical and devotional music, albums and film soundtracks, innovations in various genres including Haveli Sangeeth and popularizing the Mewati Gharana - a school of thought in Hindustani classical music.

Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (1909 - 93) was an Indian classical vocalist from the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana. He was a disciple and son of Fida Hussain Khan and after a long and illustrious career was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1971.

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman(24 October 1921 - 26 January 2015), commonly known as R. K. Laxman, was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist.

Amiya Chandra Chakravarty (1901- 1986) was an Indian literary critic, academic, and Bengali poet. He was a close associate of Rabindranath Tagore, and edited several books of his poetry. He was also an associate of Gandhi, and an expert on the American catholic writer and monk, Thomas Merton.

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963.

Sham Lal was an Indian literary critic and journalist, who served as the editor of The Times of India. He wrote a column Life and Letters for several years for Hindustan Times and later The Times of India.

Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 1922 - 18 June 2009) was an Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod.

Malcolm Sathiyanathan Adiseshiah (18 April 1910 - 21 November 1994), was an Indian development economist and educator. In 1976 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and former glamour model.

Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 - 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. She was known for her melancholic, somber persona due to her many portrayals of tragic characters in her films and for her subtle and understated performances.

Milkha Singh, byname the Flying Sikh, (born 17 October 1935, Lyallpur [now Faisalabad], Pakistan), Indian track-and-field athlete who became the first Indian male to reach the final of an Olympic athletics event when he placed fourth in the 400-metre race at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

Ben Kingsley is associated with motion pictures.

Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra (26 January, 1924 - 7 April, 2004) was an Indian classical dancer, guru and proponent of Odissi dance, who is credited for the revival of the classical dance form in the 20th century.

Ustad Bismillah Khan (born Qamaruddin Khan, 21 March 1916 - 21 August 2006), often referred to by the title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument.