Who do you most admire in history?

[Alma]

Folliesgirl14 wrote: "This question is for all authors. Of all the people you've written about (or haven't), which historical figure(s) do you most admire and why?"

Great question! I'm afraid I tend to go for the scoundrels, the people I find interesting as opposed to admire. I suppose that comes from having worked so close to government figures for so long: you get a bit disillusioned.

The trifecta for me is Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife, Mary. Gothic + romantic + literary = bliss

[Alexandra]

For me, it's Anne Boleyn. She was such a feminist in a time when feminists weren't around...Add that to the fact that she has such a tragic and romantic backstory and well, heaven, as it would be for any seventeen year old girl. Who else I admire on the other hand...Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Elizabeth I, and the Yorkist Women from the Wars of the Roses...William Wilberforce, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Hannibal...the list goes on, really...

[Lori]

Who else I admire on the other hand...Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Elizabeth I, and the Yorkist Women from the Wars of the Roses..."

Not the Lancastrian women? Choosing sides, eh? ;)

[Karleen]

I admire Elizabeth I for her intelligence and her humanness, showing itself in vacillation that her ministers thought came with being female. Does it? I haven't written about her. Others do that job far better than me.

I admire Louise de la Valliere, first mistress of Louis XIV for the way she lived her life, again with very human failings, in the world's first Entertainment Tonight court.

I admire the queens in my books, minor characters, Maria Teresa, Catherine, and princesses, Henriette, Caroline, for the way they lived a very public life with successful, often selfish men.Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV

[Alexandra]

Lori wrote: "Who else I admire on the other hand...Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Elizabeth I, and the Yorkist Women from the Wars of the Roses..."

Not the Lancastrian women? Choosing sides, eh? ;)"

Absolutely...I have Philippa Gregory and Sharon Kay Penman to thank for that....plus my own nature...I'm a sucker for forbidden love stories....Yorkist Women are better at those... ;)

[Anne]

Folliesgirl14 wrote: "This question is for all authors. Of all the people you've written about (or haven't), which historical figure(s) do you most admire and why?"

Our present queen; Boudica; Eleanor of Aquitaine; Margaret of York and her mum, Cecily Neville; Elizabeth I; Marie Curie; and Florence Nightingale.

[Sandra]

Folliesgirl14 wrote: "This question is for all authors. Of all the people you've written about (or haven't), which historical figure(s) do you most admire and why?"

Folliesgirl114, of those I've written about during the Wars of the Roses, it's probably Richard III I admire most of all. Despite all the betrayals and tragedies of his life, he never lost his idealism. He cared about his country and his people, and did his best for them. I don't know if many here are aware that he gave us bail for the innocent, among other laws familiar to us in modern times. So you could say he's the grandfather of our democracy.

[Alexandra]

Yeah, I like Richard III too...all the more so since I read The Sunne In Splendour!

[David]

Alexandra wrote: "Yeah, I like Richard III too...all the more so since I read The Sunne In Splendour!"

Rereading it right now, as I perform in a production of Shakespeare's play. The one has nothing to do with the other, but it's a joy to revisit that fantastic novel!

[David]

While it's fun to write about the rascals and butchers, this question brought me up short. Who in history do I actually admire, rather than enjoy reading about?

My initial answer is Marcus Livius Drusus, who went from being a privileged Patrician Roman during the Republic to a champion for the rights of Italians to become Roman citizens. He changed his ways, saw injustice, and became a champion for the oppressed. Those are always the people who evoke my admiration - those who can step outside their selves, their upbringings and cultures, to see injustice, and act.

[Lisa Nicole]

Cleopatra

[Mira]

Alma wrote: "Folliesgirl14 wrote: "This question is for all authors. Of all the people you've written about (or haven't), which historical figure(s) do you most admire and why?"

Great question! I'm afraid I t..."

I agree Alma! Those scoundrels are the most interesting. Hence my love/hate relationship with Adair :).

[Suby]

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or simply Gandhi as he known to all.
This book may be looked into for chapters concerning the Great man.
Freedom at Midnight
by Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre.