Political figures

Ozawa Ichiro (Japanese: Ozawa Ichiro/Ozawa Ichiro, May 24, 1942 -), Japanese politician. He once served as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party, Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, Representative of the Democratic Party, and Representative of the Liberal Party. Ichiro Ozawa has been elected 19 times since 1969 and has been a member of the House of Representatives for 57 years. He was not elected for the first time until 2026. As of that time, he was the most senior member of the House of Representatives in Japan.

Obuchi Keizō (Japanese: Keizo Kozue/Obuchi , Romanized: Obuchi Keizō, June 25, 1937 - May 14, 2000), was born in Nakanojo Town, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, and is a Japanese politician. Graduated from the Faculty of Letters of Waseda University, he is the 84th Prime Minister of Japan and belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party. He is nicknamed "Uncle Heisei" in Japan because when he was the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Noboru Takeshita's cabinet, he announced the new era name "Heisei" at a press conference on the afternoon of the day Emperor Showa passed away, and respectfully displayed a cardboard with the new era name written on it. What is less known is that he is also an amateur radio player with the call sign "JI1KIT" and was the president of the Congressional Amateur Radio Club.

Shang Shuhan (May 5, 1920 - November 5, 1982) was a native of Beipo Village, Songjiazhuang Township, Xingtai County, Hebei Province. Politician of the People's Republic of China.

Chantal Mouffe (1943-), born in Charleroi, Belgium, is a political philosopher and a representative figure of post-Marxism. She has studied at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in France, the University of Essex in the UK, and the University of London in the UK. After graduation, she worked at the National University of Colombia, City University of London, University of London, Princeton University, Cornell University and other schools. She is best known for her book Hegemony and Socialist Strategies—Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, co-authored with Ernest Laclau, in which she first proposed post-Marxism. She edited and co-wrote "Gramsci and Marxist Theory" and published many articles on contemporary political thought, new social movements and feminist theory.

Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, Romanized: Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko, pronounced: [ˈjul⁽ʲ⁾ijɐ woloˈdɪmɪr⁽ʲ⁾iu̯nɐ tɪmoˈʃɛnko]; November 27, 1960 -), maiden name Khryshyan, Ukrainian tycoon and politician, current Ukrainian people's representative, twice served as Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tymoshenko was a successful but controversial female entrepreneur before entering politics. She was a natural gas oligarch and was considered one of the richest people in the country. Later he became one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution. After the revolution, she organized a coalition government twice and became the first female prime minister of Ukraine. After stepping down as prime minister, Tymoshenko lost the 2010 presidential election. In October of the following year, she was accused of abusing her power in the 2009 natural gas supply agreement between Ukraine and Russia and was sentenced to seven years in prison. She was released in February 2014 at the end of the Revolution of Dignity. She subsequently lost the presidential election in the same year and in 2019.

Richard Milhous Nixon (English: Richard Milhous Nixon, January 9, 1913 - April 22, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974. In 1974, he became the only president in American history to resign during his term of office. Nixon served as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961, and also served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from California. Born in Yorba Linda, California, Nixon graduated from Whittier College in 1934 and Duke University Law School in 1937, then returned to California to practice law. In 1942, he and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to the District of Columbia to work for the federal government, and later enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1946, Nixon was elected to represent California's 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in 1950 he was elected to the state's U.S. Senate. The Alger Hiss perjury case made him a leading figure in anti-communism and a nationally renowned politician. Nixon became Dwight Eisenhower's running mate in the 1952 U.S. presidential election and served as vice president for eight years after winning. He ran for president in 1960, but narrowly lost to John F. Kennedy, and in 1962 he ran for governor of California but still lost. In 1968, he ran for president again and won. Nixon initially increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, but then gradually withdrew its troops, ending U.S. involvement in 1973. In 1972, he visited the People's Republic of China, opening a new chapter in the diplomatic relations between the two countries. In the same year, he also signed an anti-ballistic missile treaty with the Soviet Union and implemented a détente policy. In terms of domestic policy, the administration under his leadership generally attaches great importance to state rights and focuses on delegating power to states rather than centralizing it to the center. Nixon also initiated wars on cancer and illegal drugs, instituted wage and price controls, enforced desegregation in Southern schools, pursued environmental reforms, and introduced legislation to reform Medicare and social welfare benefits. During his tenure, he presided over the Apollo moon landing program and later replaced manned space exploration with space shuttle missions. In 1972, he was re-elected in a landslide in the presidential election. During Nixon's second term as president, the Yom Kippur War broke out in the Middle East, leading to an oil embargo and the restart of the Middle East peace process. In domestic politics, the Watergate scandal continues

Nicholas II (Russian: Николай II, Romanized: Nikolay II; May 18, 1868 - July 17, 1918) was the Russian emperor who reigned from November 1, 1894 until his abdication on March 15, 1917. He was the last Russian monarch before the Russian Revolution and led the Russian Empire into World War I. In 1918, the Romanov royal family was murdered, ending the Romanov dynasty. In the early years of his reign, he witnessed the great economic rise of the Russian Empire. At the same time, he firmly believed in absolute monarchy and opposed any form of democratic reform. In 1904, troops were sent to Manchuria, triggering the Russo-Japanese War. After the failure, the "Bloody Sunday" incident triggered the Russian Revolution in 1905. In order to stabilize the domestic situation, he appointed Sergei Vitte to preside over the government and declared the implementation of a constitutional monarchy, but restricted the power and role of the Duma, causing widespread dissatisfaction. In 1906, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin was appointed to carry out land reform, but he had close associates in the court, including Grigory Rasputin and others. He led the Russian government to get involved in the Balkans issue. Therefore, when the First World War broke out, he ignored the public complaints and ordered to participate in the war, causing 9 million soldier casualties, which eventually led to the outbreak of the February Revolution and the October Revolution in 1917. During the Russian Civil War, Nicholas II was placed under house arrest by the Bolshevik revolutionary army. He was later convicted by the Bolsheviks at his residence for the crimes committed during his rule. He and his family were subsequently executed by the Bolsheviks. The last emperor of Russia and the entire Romanov dynasty perished, and the era of imperial Russia ended. Mainstream opinion holds him primarily responsible for the fall of the Russian Empire, but he remains one of the most controversial figures in Russian history.

Nirmala Sitharaman (English: Nirmala Sitharaman, Tamil: நிர்மலா சீதாராமன்; born August 18, 1959) is an Indian politician and the current Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India. She has been a member of the Union House, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, since 2014. Sitharaman was the former Defense Minister of India and was the second female Defense Minister after Indira Gandhi, the second female Finance Minister, and the first full-time female Finance Minister. She served as Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs under the Ministry of Finance and as Minister of Commerce and Industry with independent charge. Prior to this, she served as the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (Italian: Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli; May 3, 1469 - June 21, 1527) was an Italian political scientist, philosopher, historian, and diplomat. He was an important figure in the Italian Renaissance and is known as the "Father of Modern Political Science". He is a representative figure in the field of political philosophy. His book "The Prince" (also known as "The Prince") proposed a realist political theory, in which the Machiavellian thought of "political amorality" is known as "Machiavellianism". Another work, "On Livy", mentioned the theory of republicanism. His book "The Art of War" discusses the military service system, military training methods, marching, camping, combat, engineering and other military issues.

Takeshi Iwaya (Japanese: Iwaya Takeshi/Iwaya Takeshi, Romanized: Iwaya Takeshi, August 24, 1957 -), Japanese politician, member of the Liberal Democratic Party. Born in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture. He has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defense, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Administrative Officer of the Defense Agency, and Member of the Oita Prefectural Assembly (first term). Member of the House of Representatives (elected for 8 terms in total). He belongs to the Association (Aso Faction) within the Liberal Democratic Party and will withdraw from the membership in January 2024. He is currently the President of the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade (the 8th term).

Kishi Nobusuke (Japanese: Kishi Nobusuke/Kishi Nobusuke, Romanized: Kishi Nobusuke (November 13, 1896 - August 7, 1987), nee Sato, was a Japanese politician who was born in Yamaguchi Town, Yoshiki County, Yamaguchi Prefecture (now Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture). He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Minister), Prime Minister (Prime Minister), and President of the Liberal Democratic Party. He was known as the "Yōkai of Showa" (Yōkai of Showa) and the "Yōkai of Manchuria" (Demon of Yoshu). Nobusuke Kishi graduated from the Faculty of Law of Tokyo Imperial University in 1917. In the same year, he entered the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and served as a clerk in the Provincial Documentary Division, Temporary Industrial Bureau and other departments. After 1925, he successively served as the director of the Public Works, Clerical and Statistics Section of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and was promoted to the Director of Public Works in 1935. He once served as Director-General of the General Affairs Department of the Ministry of Industry of Manchukuo, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Industry and Deputy Director of the General Affairs Department. Together with Kwantung Army Chief of Staff Hideki Tojo, Manchukuo General Affairs Department Director Hoshino Naoki, Manchukuo Railway President Matsuoka Yosuke, and Manchuria Heavy Industries Development Co., Ltd. President Nagawa Yoshisuke, they are known as the "Manchuria Big Five". Nobusuke Kishi later served as Minister of Commerce and Industry in Tojo Hideki's cabinet in 1942, and countersigned Emperor Showa's edict declaring war on the United States. After Japan surrendered in World War II in 1945, Nobusuke Kishi was imprisoned for three years as a "Class A war criminal" suspect by the US-led General Headquarters Allied Forces in Japan (GHQ) for his exploitative policies in Manchukuo and his participation in Tojo Hideki's cabinet. However, in the end, GHQ did not prosecute him, so there was no trial. Release him; at that time, the communist forces represented by the Soviet Union spread to the Far East and kicked off the Cold War with the Western world; Japan naturally became the front line to contain the red ideology. Because of Kishi Nobusuke's strong pro-American and anti-communist tendencies, the U.S. government regarded him as a candidate suitable to lead post-war Japan. Nobusuke Kishi consolidated the right-wing conservative camp with the support of the United States to resist the spread of the left-wing ideological trend of the Japanese Socialist Party. In 1955, he united other conservative parties to merge into the Liberal Democratic Party. He was the founder of the 55-year system, which firmly established the conservatives as the largest party in Japanese politics for the next thirty years. From 1957 to 1960, when Nobusuke Kishi was prime minister, the Japanese government signed the "U.S.-Japan Security Treaty". Later, he resigned due to his improper response to demonstrations.

Nobuo Kishi (Japanese: Kishi Nobuo/Kishi Nobuo, Romanized: Kishi Nobuo; April 1, 1959 -), a politician from the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, served as the Minister of Defense and the Assistant to the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. He served as a member of the Senate (2 terms) from 2004 to 2012, and as a member of the House of Representatives (4 terms) from 2012 to 2023. Within the Liberal Democratic Party, he belongs to the Seiwa Policy Research Association (Abe faction). His real surname is Abe, his biological father is Shintaro Abe, and his brother is Shinzo Abe. He changed his surname to Kishi because he was adopted by his uncle, Nobuka Kishi.

Cui Yitian (1906-1989), male, from Jinxi, Liaoning Province, was a political figure in the People's Republic of China.

Cui Weiping (1956-), female, born in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, is a public intellectual, translator and social critic. She once served as a professor in the Basic Department of Beijing Film Academy. Her main research fields include political philosophy, literary theory and criticism, and contemporary Central and Eastern European thought and culture.

Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (Spanish: Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; July 12, 1904 - September 23, 1973), pen name Pablo Neruda, was a Chilean poet, diplomat, winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature, and a Chilean Communist Party politician. Neruda became famous as a poet at the age of 13. His creations cover a wide range of works, including surrealist poetry, historical epics, political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and widely circulated love poems, such as the collection of poems "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair". Neruda served as a diplomat in many countries and served as a senator on behalf of the Communist Party of Chile. In 1948, the anti-communist Chilean President Gabriel González Videla signed an arrest warrant against Neruda. Neruda had to hide in the basement of a friend's house in Valparaiso for several months, and then fled Argentina via the Andes Mountains the following year, and did not return to the country until three years later. Neruda was a close advisor to pro-communist President Salvador Allende. After winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, he was invited by Allende to recite poetry in front of 70,000 people at the National Stadium. In 1973, Neruda was diagnosed with cancer. At the same time, Augusto Pinochet staged a coup with US support to overthrow the pro-communist Chilean government. Neruda died on September 23, 1973. Although Neruda was long thought to have died of heart failure, recent evidence has cast doubt on this theory. Neruda is often considered Chile's national poet, and his works are read and loved by people around the world. Colombian writer García Márquez called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century", and literary critic Harold Bloom included Neruda among the core writers of the Western tradition in his work "The Western Canon".

Barnett Frank (English: Barnett Frank, March 31, 1940 - May 19, 2026) was an American politician. Barney Frank served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Massachusetts' 4th District from 1981 to 2013. His party affiliation is the Democratic Party. Barney Frank was born and raised in New Jersey. In 2015, Frank published his autobiography.

Badai (June 5, 1930 - March 26, 2022), formerly known as Hao Badai, pen name Hong Yin'erqi, was a Mongolian nationality and a native of Hejing County, Xinjiang. Political figure, writer and poet of the People's Republic of China. Representative to the 13th and 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Representative to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth National People's Congress, deputy director of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the sixth National People's Congress; member of the seventh National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, member of the Standing Committee of the eighth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and member of the Religious Committee of the ninth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Ba Jin (November 25, 1904 - October 17, 2005), formerly known as Li Yaotang and courtesy name Fu Gan, was a Han nationality, a native of Chengdu, Sichuan, and his ancestral home was Jiaxing, Zhejiang. He was a modern Chinese writer, publisher, translator, and anarchist. His works were translated into many languages, and no novels were published after 1949. His wife, Xiao Shan, married Ba Jin in Huaxi in May 1944. Since March 1983, Ba Jin has been elected vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for five consecutive times, serving until his death. Yu Feng described Ba Jin as "the conscience of the nation". He was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and his wife Xiao Shan was persecuted to death in 1972. In his later years, he proposed to establish a Museum of Modern Chinese Literature and a Museum of the Cultural Revolution, but the latter did not materialize.

Baruch de Spinoza (Ladino: Baruch de Spinoza, Latin: Benedictus de Spinoza, November 24, 1632 - February 21, 1677) was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Together with Descartes and Leibniz, he was the pioneer of rationalism in the 17th century, the founder of the Enlightenment era and modern biblical criticism. His works guided the modern understanding of the self and the universe, so he is considered "one of the most important philosophers in modern times." Spinoza inherited the ideas of René Descartes and was the leader of philosophy in the Dutch Golden Age. Spinoza's name, Baruch, means "blessed" and is written differently in different languages. In Hebrew his name is written ברוך שפינוזה, and among modern Jewish groups his name is written "Bento" (Portuguese for "blessed"). In Spinoza's Latin works he used the name Benedict de Spinoza. Spinoza was born into the Spanish-Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam. The Portuguese synagogue issued a denunciation order against him, and the 23-year-old Spinoza (including his family) was excommunicated because of his highly controversial views on the authenticity and divine nature of the Hebrew Bible. Shortly after Spinoza's death, his works were banned by the Catholic Church. Spinoza was often called an "atheist" by his contemporaries, although Spinoza never doubted the existence of God in his works. Spinoza lived a simple life and made a living by polishing lenses. He once participated in the production of telescopes designed by the Huygens brothers. Spinoza declined offers of funding and awards and declined honorary teaching positions. Perhaps due to inhaling excessive dust from polishing lenses all year round, Spinoza died of lung disease in 1677 at the age of 44. He was buried in the Neue Cathedral Cemetery in The Hague. Spinoza's philosophical research covers almost all fields, including metaphysics, epistemology, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. Therefore, Spinoza is generally regarded as one of the most important philosophers of the 17th century. His philosophical thoughts are mainly reflected in two works, "Theological Politics" and "Ethics". The remaining works are either early ideas or unfinished works in which the theory is covered in both of the aforementioned works (such as the Politics), or are not the focus of Spinoza's philosophy (such as Descartes' Principia and the Hebrew Grammar)

Baron Kijuro Shitahara (Japanese: Kijuro Shitahara/Shidera Kijurou, September 13, 1872 - March 10, 1951) was a Japanese politician, diplomat, and the 44th Prime Minister of the Cabinet. He served successively as Japan's Ambassador to the Netherlands, Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Ichikawa Fuangeda (Japanese: Ichikawa Fuangeda/Ichikawa Fusae, May 15, 1893 - February 11, 1981) was a Japanese feminist, politician and leader of the women's suffrage movement. Ichikawa was an important supporter of Japanese women's suffrage, and her activism played a role in extending the right to vote to women in 1945.

Sheila Jackson Lee (English: Sheila Jackson Lee, maiden name: Jackson, January 12, 1950 - July 19, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 18th Congressional District of Texas from 1995 until her death.

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (English: Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, October 26, 1947 -) is an American Democratic politician, lawyer, and writer. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from Wellesley College and Yale Law School. She is currently the chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a professor at Columbia University, and the honorary founding chairman of the Institute for Women, Peace, and Security at Georgetown University. Served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and First Lady of the United States. Her husband is former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and she has served as the first lady of Arkansas and the United States along with her husband's career changes. In 2001, he was elected as a U.S. Senator from New York State. In 2008, he participated in the Democratic presidential primary for the first time. Although he led Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Obama in the popular vote, he ultimately lost to Obama in the party delegate vote. After Obama was elected president, she was appointed as the third female Secretary of State in the history of the United States. She is also the first and only First Lady of the United States to serve as a cabinet minister. In 2016, she once again participated in the Democratic presidential primary and won, becoming the first female presidential candidate of a major political party in the history of the United States. At the end of the same year, she led Republican opponent Donald Trump by nearly 2.87 million popular votes in the presidential election, but Trump held more than half of the electoral votes and she lost the election. On March 5, 2019, Hillary Clinton stated in an interview with News12 that she would not run for the 2020 US presidential election. Since 2014, the Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards have been established in her name and are awarded annually at Georgetown University to recognize outstanding women who promote women's rights and contribute to world security and peace.

Shirin Ebādi (Persian: شيرين عبادى, Romanized: Širin Ebādi; born June 21, 1947) is an Iranian female lawyer and human rights activist, founder of the Center for Human Rights Defenders. On October 10, 2003, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially the rights and asylum rights of women and children, becoming the first Iranian and Muslim woman to win the award. On November 26, 2009, Shirin Ebadi was suddenly forced to confiscate his Nobel Peace Prize by the Iranian government. This move was unprecedented since the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded and showed that the Iranian government cracked down on those who opposed speeches. Ebadi lives in Tehran but has been living in exile in the UK since June 2009 due to increased persecution of citizens critical of the current regime in Iran. In 2004, she was named to Forbes magazine's list of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women." She was also named to the "100 Most Influential Women" list. In November 2022, Shirin Ebadi said regarding the Amini demonstrations, "On the one hand, I feel optimistic and hopeful to see the young generation standing up to the dictator so bravely. On the other hand, I am very sad to see young people being arrested or killed. The people's demands are no longer anti-hijab. The killing of Amini was the trigger. Now people do not want the Islamic Republic and want to overthrow the regime."