Notable orphans and foundlings include world leaders, celebrated writers, entertainment greats, figures in science and business, as well as innumerable fictional characters in literature and comics. While the exact definition of orphan and foundlings varies, one legal definition is a child bereft through "death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents".[ 1] United Nations , the definition of an orphan is anyone that loses one parent, either through death or abandonment.[dubious discuss
Tiradentes
Figures from classical history and religious scripture [ edit ] Oedipus Aristotle , Greek philosopher and scientist, orphaned in early childhoodMarcus Aurelius , Emperor of RomeBritannicus , son of the Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina Caligula , Roman emperor in AD 37–41Cato the Younger , Roman Republic, left an orphan and raised by his uncleHadrian , Roman emperorJuba II , king of Numidia and then later moved to Mauretania and his wife Cleopatra Selene II Julian , Roman Emperor and philosopherOedipus , mythical Greek king, abandoned on a mountainPancras , Roman religious figureGalla Placidia , major force in Roman politicsRomulus and Remus , traditional founders of Ancient Rome , orphaned in infancyLucius Verus , Roman Emperor
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Nelson Mandela Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah , sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam Jean-Hilaire Aubame , Gabonese politician active during both the colonial and independence periodsJean-Bédel Bokassa , military officer and the head of state of the Central African Republic and Emperor of Central AfricaPiet Joubert , military leader in South African Republic Jomo Kenyatta , Kenyan politician and the first President of Kenya Nelson Mandela , president of South Africa, raised as a wardMenelik II , Emperor of Ethiopia Mobutu Sese Seko , military dictator and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Haile Selassie , Emperor of Ethiopia Genghis Khan Saddam Hussein Taixu Abbas , 5th Shah of Safavid dynasty of IranAkbar , rulers of the Mughal Dynasty in IndiaYasser Arafat , Palestinian leaderChulalongkorn , monarch of Siam Sayajirao Gaekwad III , Maharaja of Baroda State Go-Momozono , Emperor of Japan Go-Sakuramachi , Emperor of JapanGo-Toba , Emperor of JapanHongwu , Chinese emperorHuineng , Buddhist monk who is one of the most important figures in Chan Buddhism Saddam Hussein , 5th President of Iraq Hu Jintao , Chinese politician and the paramount leader of ChinaChiang Kai-shek , Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China Genghis Khan , Mongol leaderEmperor Meiji , 122nd Emperor of Japan Mohammad Mosaddegh , Iranian politician, head of a democratically elected government and Prime Minister of IranMuhammad , religious leader, orphaned at age 6Nripendra Narayan , Maharaja of the princely state of Koch Bihar Saparmurat Niyazov , 1st President of TurkmenistanLi Peng , Chinese politicianYitzhak Rabin , Israeli politician, statesman and general and the fifth Prime Minister of Israel Madho Singh II , Maharajadhiraja of Jaipur Seiwa , Emperor of JapanNader Shah , Iranian rulersReza Shah , Shah of Iran (Persia)Adi Shankaracharya , scholar, philosopher, reformer, Advaita Vedanta non-dualism Taixu , Buddhist modernist, activist and thinker who advocated the reform and renewal of Chinese Buddhism Theodora , empress of the Byzantine Empire Bal Gangadhar Tilak , Indian nationalist , teacher , lawyer and an independence activistMinamoto no Yoritomo , founder and the first shōgun Kamakura shogunate of Japan Zhu Rongji , premier of ChinaAnne of Brittany Adolf Hitler Ivan the Terrible Louis XIV Olof Palme Pope Adrian VI Alfred the Great , King of Wessex from 871 to 899Yuri Andropov , Chairman of the KGB and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Anna of Russia , Empress of Russia Anne of Brittany , French queenAnne, Queen of Great Britain , Queen of England, Scotland, and IrelandEleanor of Aquitaine , member of the Ramnulfid dynasty and one of the most powerful women in the High Middle Ages Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, author, and the founding father of the Republic of TurkeyManuel Azaña , second Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic August Bebel , German socialist politician, writer, and oratorErnest Bevin , British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour politicianHans Böckler , German politician and trade union leaderCharles V , ruler of both the Spanish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire Charles X , king of FranceCharlotte , wife of George III , King of England Albert Chmielowski , Polish nobleman, noted painter, disabled veteran of the Uprising of 1863 John Church , clergyman, found as a toddlerPope Clement VII Clovis I , first King of the Franks Gaspard II de Coligny , Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion , nobleman and Admiral of France Saints Cyril , Byzantine Christian theologian and missionary Edward VI , King of England, orphaned at age 9Elizabeth I , Queen of EnglandElizabeth of Russia , Empress of RussiaFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor , Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , Hungary , and Croatia , and Archduke of Austria Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor , medieval monarchHans-Dietrich Genscher , Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice Chancellor of GermanyCountess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg , Landgravine consort and Regent of Hesse-Kassel Henry VI , King of England and FranceAdolf Hitler , Fuhrer of Germany, orphaned at 18Salvador of Horta , Spanish Franciscan lay brother from the region of Catalonia in Spain Ivan IV , Russian ruler, orphaned at age 8Joan II of Navarre , Queen of NavarreJohn I , King of Portugal and the Algarve Konstantinos Kanaris , Greek Prime Minister , admiral and politician , freedom fighter in the Greek War of Independence Rudolf Kirchschläger , Austrian diplomat, politician, judge and the eighth President of Austria Pope Leo X David Lloyd George , Welsh statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922Louis XIV , King of France or the Sun KingLouis XV , King of FranceLouis XVI , King of FranceLouis XVII , titular King of FranceLouis XVIII , King of FranceMaria II , Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves Mary of Burgundy , Duchess of Burgundy , reigned over the Burgundian State , now mainly in France and the Low Countries Mary, Queen of Scots , and of FranceCatherine de' Medici , Queen of FrancePhilip Melanchthon , German Lutheran reformerAngela Merici , Italian religious educatorLouise Otto-Peters , German suffragist and women's rights movement activist who wrote novels, poetry, essays, and librettiOlof Palme , Swedish politician, statesman and Prime Minister of Sweden Peter the Great , Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire Peter II of Russia , Emperor of RussiaPeter III of Russia , Emperor of RussiaPhilip IV , king of France, called the Fair or the Iron KingMaximilien Robespierre , French politician during the French Revolution , orphaned at age 6Baal Shem Tov , Jewish mystic and healer from PolandAlbrecht von Wallenstein , Bohemian military & political leaderWenceslaus IV of Bohemia , King of Bohemia from 1363 until his death and King of GermanyWilhelm I , King of Prussia and the first German emperorAlexander Hamilton Jefferson Davis Eleanor Roosevelt William Bradford , colonial governor, orphaned at age 7George Clymer , early American politicianJefferson Davis , American politician, and President of the Confederate States Frederick Douglass , African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator , writer, and statesman Peter Francisco , soldier, found on a Virginia dock as a young childMariano Gálvez , Guatemalan politician, foundling adopted and raised by Gálvez familyAlexander Hamilton , American politician, orphaned at age 13John Hancock , American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American RevolutionBen W. Hooper , governor of Tennessee, raised in an orphanageHerbert Hoover , U.S. president, orphaned at age 9Andrew Jackson , U.S. president, orphaned at age 14Benito Juarez , Mexican president, orphaned at age 3George F. Kennan , American diplomat and historianEdward Langworthy , American politician, raised in an orphanageMoctezuma II , ninth tlatoani Tenochtitlan Malcolm X , politician and civil rights activist, raised in an orphanage and foster careChristopher G. Memminger , German American politician, raised in an orphanageJames Monroe , fifth President of the United StatesEleanor Roosevelt , U.S. First Lady & activist, orphaned at age 10Joseph F. Smith , American religious leader, orphaned at age 13Tenskwatawa , Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribePancho Villa , Mexican revolutionary general and one of the most prominent figures of the Mexican Revolution Tom Vilsack , American politician, adopted at birthYasunari Kawabata Kobayashi Issa , Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priestYasunari Kawabata , Japanese novelist and subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968Kenzaburō Ōe , Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994Natsume Sōseki , Japanese novelistOuyang Xiu , Chinese essayist, historian, poet, calligrapher , politician, and epigrapher of the Song dynasty Thomas Bracken , Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politicianDante The Brontë Sisters J. R. R. Tolkien Leo Tolstoy Dante Alighieri , simply called Dante, major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages Alfred Andersch , German writer, publisher, and radio editorHans Christian Andersen , Danish authorAchim von Arnim , German poet, novelist and a leading figure of German Romanticism Bettina von Arnim , German writer and novelistGustavo Adolfo Bécquer , post-romanticist poet and writerThomas Bernhard , Austrian novelist, playwright and poetHayim Nahman Bialik , Jewish poetArrigo Boito , Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composerAnthony Burgess , English writer and composerThe Brontë Sisters , English poets and novelistsAlbert Camus , French-Algerian philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalistJoseph Conrad , Polish-British author, orphaned at age 11Hedwig Courths-Mahler , German writer of formula fiction romantic novelsFyodor Dostoyevsky , Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopherJean Genet , French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwrightNikolai Gogol , Russian/ Ukrainian novelist, short story writer and playwrightYvan Goll , French-German poetMaxim Gorky , Russian and Soviet writer, a founder of the socialist realism literary method and a political activistKaroline von Günderrode , German Romantic poetJacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , German anthropologist, philologist, jurist, and folkloristAlfred Grosser , German-French writer, sociologist, and political scientist Friedrich Hölderlin , German poet and philosopherJoris-Karl Huysmans , French novelist and art criticAttila József , Hungarian poetJohn Keats , English Romantic poet, orphaned at age 14 and raised partly by his grandmotherFriedrich Maximilian von Klinger , German dramatist and novelistEugen Kogon , Historian and Nazi concentration camp survivorJules Laforgue , Franco-Uruguayan poet, often referred to as a Symbolist poet.Hugh Leonard , Irish dramatist, television writer and essayist, abandoned as an infantMikhail Lermontov , Russian Romantic writer, poet and painterThomas Mann , German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and Nobel Prize in Literature laureateHarry Martinson , Swedish author, poet and former sailor , He was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in Literature.W. Somerset Maugham , British playwright, novelist and short story writer, orphaned at age 10Andy McNab , English soldier and novelist, found as a baby on the steps of hospitalMontesquieu , French man of letters , political philosopher and judge Eduard Mörike , German writerGérard de Nerval , was the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translatorSeán O'Casey , Irish dramatist and memoiristGeorges Perec , French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayistFernando Pessoa , was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher, and philosopherAbbé Prévost , French author and novelistAnatoly Pristavkin , Russian writer and public figureJean Racine , French playwright, orphaned at age 4Bertrand Russell , British philosopher, logician , writer and Nobel Prize for Literature laureateGeorge Sand , French novelist and memoiristAlbertine Sarrazin , French authorArno Schmidt , German author and translatorTorquato Tasso , Italian poet of the 16th centuryJ. R. R. Tolkien , English writer, poet, philologist and university professor, orphaned at age 12Leo Tolstoy , Russian author, orphaned at age 9William Wordsworth , English Romantic poet, orphaned at age 12Edgar Allan Poe Edward Albee , American playwright, adopted as an infantElizabeth Bishop , North American poet and short story writer. Effectively orphaned during early childhood, she lived with her maternal grandparents on a farm in Great Village, Nova Scotia.[ 4] Neal Cassady , was a major figure and muse of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic and counterculture movements of the 1960sGregory Corso , was an American poet and a key member of the Beat movementJan Kerouac , was an American writer and the only child of beat generation author Jack Kerouac and Joan Haverty KerouacMary McCarthy , American novelist, critic and political activistHerman Melville , American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance periodJames A. Michener , American author, abandoned as an infantSylvia Plath , poet, novelist, and short-story writerJuan Rulfo , Mexican writer, screenwriter and photographerEdgar Allan Poe , author, orphaned at age 2Theodore Roethke , an American poetWilliam Saroyan , Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writerHenry Morton Stanley , Welsh-American journalist and explorer, raised in a workhouseGertrude Stein , American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collectorDale Wasserman , American playwright, orphaned at age 9Pete Wells , American food critic, adopted as an infant
Musicians and singers [ edit ] Emmanuel Jal Johann Sebastian Bach John Lennon Johann Sebastian Bach , German composer, orphaned at age 9Béla Bartók , Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist Ludwig van Beethoven , German composer and pianist . Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music;Alban Berg , Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School Anton Bruckner , Austrian composer known for his symphonies , masses , and motets Josquin des Prez , French composer and singer of the Renaissance Christoph Eschenbach , German-born musicianPaul Gerhardt , German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodistGeorge Frideric Handel , German-born Baroque composer becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi and organ concertosJohn Koukouzelis , Albanian Orthodox Christian composerJohn Lennon , English singer, raised by aunt and uncleJohn Lundvik , Swedish singer, songwriter, and former sprinterAnni-Frid Lyngstad , Swedish pop and jazz singerHenry Purcell , English composerMstislav Rostropovich , Soviet and Russian cellist and conductorAntonio Salieri , Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacherFranz Schubert , Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic erasKarlheinz Stockhausen , German composerWilhelm Richard Wagner , was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist , and conductorLouis Armstrong Tina Turner Louis Armstrong , American musician, raised in an orphanage and by his grandmotherHank Ballard , American rhythm and blues singer and songwriterJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie , was an American jazz trumpeter , bandleader, composer, educator and singer.Charles Bradley , was an American singerChester Arthur Burnet t, better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf , was a blues singer and guitarist, regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time.Ray Charles , American singer, orphaned at age 15Ibrahim Ferrer , Afro-Cuban musicianElla Fitzgerald , American jazz singer, orphaned in childhoodKirk Franklin , American gospel musicianJames Hetfield , American singer, orphaned by cancer at 16Faith Hill , American singer, adopted as an infantBillie Holiday , American jazz singer, intermittently abandoned in childhoodCurtis Jackson , American rapper, raised by grandparents after mother's death at age 8Al Jolson , American singer, comedian, and actorB. B. King , American blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producerEartha Kitt , American singer, actress, activist and voice actressJenkins Orphanage , American band in USMims , American hip hop recording artist, orphaned at age 13Sonny Moore , American electronic dance music producer, adopted as an infantThat Mexican OT , American hip-hop artist. Orphaned at age 8.Trent Reznor , American singer, abandoned by parents at age 5 and raised by grandparentsJimmie Rodgers , American country singer John Rzeznik , American musician, orphaned at age 15Bessie Smith , American blues singer, orphaned at age 9Tina Turner , American singer, intermittently abandoned in childhoodTom Waits , American musician, composer, songwriter and actor. His father left when he was 10Muddy Waters , American blues musicianJimmy Wayne , American country music singer, homeless foster teen taken in by a couple in their 70sZ-Ro , American hip-hop artist. Orphaned at age 6.Víctor Jara , Chilean poet, singer-songwriter, teacher, theatre director and political activistMilton Nascimento , Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist
[ edit ] Charlize Theron Preity Zinta Rajesh Khanna , Bollywood actorNadech Kugimiya , Thai model and actorI. M. Pei , Chinese-American architectBianca Umali , Filipino Teen actress, commercial model and recurring dancer, orphaned at 7Preity Zinta , Indian film actressTracy Perez , Filipino model, industrial engineer, and beauty pageant titleholderCate Blanchett Naomi Watts Leon Battista Alberti , Italian humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist , philosopher and cryptographer Max Beckmann , German painter, draftsman , printmaker , sculptor , and writerIngrid Bergman , Swedish actress, orphaned at age 12Sarah Bernhardt born Henriette-Rosine Bernard ; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actressRoger Bissière , French artist. He designed stained glass windows for Metz cathedral and several other churches.Gustave Boulanger , French painter, abandoned at the age of 14Rosa Bonheur , French artist, an animalière (painter of animals) and sculptorLord Byron , English peer , who was a poet and politician Caravaggio , Italian painter Charlie Chaplin , English entertainerCoco Chanel , French fashion designer and entrepreneur Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau , a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic.His father, a lawyer and amateur painter, committed suicide when Cocteau was nine.Salvador Dalí , Spanish surrealist painterJacques-Louis David , was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the eraDaniel Day-Lewis , English actorEdgar Degas , French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawingsEugène Delacroix , was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic schoolNarcisse-Virgilio Díaz de la Peña , was a French painter of the Barbizon school Marlene Dietrich , German actress and singerJuliette Drouet , French actress, orphaned in childhoodAnthony van Dyck , Flemish Baroque artistAlbert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt was a Finnish-Swedish painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art. His father died while he was young.Barry Evans , English actor, abandoned as an infant, raised in an orphanageCaspar David Friedrich , German Romantic landscape painterMiloš Forman , Czech-American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before immigrating to the USA in 1968Greta Garbo , Swedish-born American film actressPaul Gauguin , French post-Impressionist artistArtemisia Gentileschi , Italian Baroque painterAnne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson also known as Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson or simply Girodet was a French painter and pupil of Jacques-Louis David Francoise Hardy , French singer and songwriterAndré Heller , Austrian artist, author, poet, singer, songwriter and actorAlfred Hitchcock , English film director, producer, and screenwriterHape Kerkeling , German actor, presenter and comedianDeborah Kerr , Scottish-born film, theatre and television actressGeorg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff , German painter and architect in PrussiaIsaac Levitan , was a classical Russian landscape painter who advanced the genre of the "mood landscape"Adolf Loos , Austrian and Czechoslovak architect and influential European theorist of Modern architecture Peter Lorre , Austro-Hungarian-American actorAndrea Mantegna , Italian Renaissance painterIan McKellen , English actorMichelangelo , Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance Molière , French playwright and actor who and one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literatureLola Montez , Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan , and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria Armin Mueller-Stahl , German film actor, painter and authorEdvard Munch , Norwegian painter and printmakerGabriele Münter , German expressionist painterFriederike Caroline Neuber , German actress and theatre directorDavid Niven , English actor and novelistEdward Okuń , was a Polish Art Nouveau painterLaurence Olivier , English actorParmigianino , Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker Francis Picabia , French avant-garde painter, poet and typographistRoman Polanski , French-Polish film director, producer, writer, and actorOleg Popov , Russian clown and circus artistNeo Rauch , German painterRaphael , Italian painter and architect of the High RenaissanceAlan Rickman , English actor and directorGéza Röhrig , Hungarian actor and poet, raised in an orphanagePeter Paul Rubens , Flemish Baroque painter Heinz Rühmann , German film actorMargaret Rutherford , English actressEgon Schiele , Austrian painterKarl Friedrich Schinkel , Prussian architect, city planner, and painterOskar Schlemmer , German painter , sculptor , designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus schoolRudolf Schlichter , was a German painter, engraver and writer. He was one of the most important representatives of the critical-realistic style of verismJoseph Edward Southall , English painter associated with the Arts and Crafts movement.Nicolas de Staël , French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting Guillaume Taraval , French-born Swedish painterJoaquín Torres-García , was a Uruguayan-Spanish artistMargarethe von Trotta , German film director Marie Tussaud , French artist known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussauds Ellen von Unwerth , German photographer and director, specializing in erotic femininity Liv Ullmann , Norwegian actress and film directorLesser Ury , was a German Impressionist painter and printmaker , associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting Roger Vadim , French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actorGerardus "Geer" van Velde , was a Dutch painter Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun , French painterNaomi Watts , English actress and film producerStanisław Wyspiański , was a Polish playwright , painter and poet , as well as interior and furniture designer.Franco Zeffirelli , Italian director and producer of operas, films and televisionVeronica Lake Marilyn Monroe Kelly Preston Julia Roberts Lana Turner Tallulah Bankhead , American actress, orphaned as an infantBuffalo Bill , American frontier figureCharles Bronson , Lithuanian-American film and television actorHazel Brooks , was an American actress.Carol Burnett , American actress, comedian, singer and writer, raised by her grandmotherMary Cassatt , American painter and printmakerWilliam Castle , American film figure, orphaned at age 11Henry Darger , American writer and artist (whose work focused on orphans), orphaned at age 13.Tommy Davidson , American comedian, orphaned as infantJames Dean , American actorBenicio del Toro , Puerto Rican actorCecil B. DeMille , American filmmakerWilliam C. DeMille , American screenwriter and directorJane Fonda , American actress, writer, political activist and fitness guru Peter Fonda , American actor, director, and screenwriterClark Gable , American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood" or just simply as "The King"Ava Gardner , American actress and singerJohn Garfield , American actorJudy Garland , American actress, singer and vaudevillianBill Graham , German-American impresario and rock concert promoterD. W. Griffith , American film director, writer, and producerGene Hackman , American actor and novelistOliver Hardy , American actor of Laurel and Hardy Mariska Hargitay , American actressIce-T , American musician and actor, orphaned at age 13Brian Jungen , Dene-Zaa artistDanny Kaye , American actor, singer, dancer, comedian, and musicianAlan Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer.Veronica Lake , American film, stage, and television actressArt Linkletter , Canadian-born American radio and television personality and entertainer, abandoned as an infantRay Liotta , American actor, film producer and voice actor, adopted at 6 monthsGeorge Lopez , American comedian, raised by a grandmotherMyrna Loy , American film, television and stage actressLee Majors , American film, television and voice actor, orphaned at age 2 & raised by aunt and uncleJayne Mansfield , American actress in film, theatre, television and Playboy PlaymatesJayne Marie Mansfield , Playboy nude modelFrances McDormand , American actress, adopted as an infantMarilyn Monroe , entertainer, raised in foster careEddie Murphy , American comedian, actor, writer, singer and producerMary Pickford , Canadian-American film actress, writer, director, and producerPriscilla Presley , American actress and entrepreneurKelly Preston , American actressAnthony Quinn , Mexican -born American actor, painter and writerJulia Roberts , American actress and producerJane Russell , American film actress and one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols Gene Siskel , American film critic, orphaned at age 9 & raised by aunt and uncleBarbara Stanwyck , American actress, raised in foster homes from age 2Barbra Streisand , American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmakerLana Turner , American actressAndy Warhol , American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art Orson Welles , American actor and director, orphaned at age 15Jeffrey Wright is an American actor whose father died when he was a childDarryl F. Zanuck , American film producer, abandoned at age 13Eusebio Garry Kasparov Aaron Hernandez Jacques Villeneuve Alberto Ascari , Italian racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion Oksana Baiul , Ukrainian former competitive figure skater , World and Olympic championFranco Baresi , Italian professional football player and coachJohan Cruyff , Dutch professional football player and coachMoritz Fürste , German field hockey player, Olympic champion 2008 and 2012Sepp Herberger , German football player and manager of the West German national team which won the 1954 FIFA World Cup finalJames Mason , Irish-born chess player, journalist and writerDeclan McCormick, English Junior and British Youth Weightlifting Champion
Paavo Nurmi , Finnish middle- and long-distance runner Jochen Rindt , racing driver, the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One Daley Thompson , English former decathlete , Olympic, World- and European championWalter Tull , English professional footballer and British Army officer of Afro-Caribbean descentSimone Biles , American Olympic gymnast, adopted by her grandparentsSteve Van Buren , professional American football halfback Nicholas Delpopolo , American judokaÉdouard Fabre , Canadian marathon runnerScott Hamilton , figure skater, adopted as an infantAaron Hernandez , American football tight end and convicted murderer Morgan Hurd , American gymnast, adopted as an infantCarlin Isles , American rugby star, adopted at age 8Colin Kaepernick , American civil rights activist and American football quarterback Kevin Levrone . American IFBB pro bodybuilder & Mr Olympia competitorLopez Lomong , U.S. Olympic track star, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan Greg Louganis , American Olympic diver, adopted as an infantKarl Malone , American basketball playerBilly Mills , American Olympic runner, orphaned at age 12Babe Ruth , American baseball star, raised in an orphanageGunboat Smith , Irish-American Boxer, grew up in orphanages around the Philadelphia areaJim Thorpe , American multi-sport Olympic and professional athlete, orphaned as a teenJacques Villeneuve , Canadian professional auto racing driver
Scientists and scholars [ edit ] Maud Chifamba , the youngest university student in Africa, orphaned at age 14Ibn Khaldun , North African Arab historiographer and historian lost both of his parents aged 17Charles Darwin Marie Curie Irène Joliot-Curie Jean le Rond d'Alembert , French mathematician, abandoned as an infantLou Andreas-Salomé , Russian-born psychoanalyst and a well-traveled author, narrator, and essayistJöns Jacob Berzelius , Swedish chemist and one of the founders of modern chemistry Elizabeth Blackwell , British-born physicianSabina Baldoncelli , Italian pharmacistLudwig Boltzmann , Austrian physicist and philosopherRobert Boyle , Anglo-Irish natural philosopher , chemist, physicist and inventorHenry Cavendish , British natural philosopher, scientist, and an important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicistNicolaus Copernicus , Polish Renaissance mathematician and astronomerBenedetto Croce , Italian idealist philosopher, historian and politicianMarie Curie , Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize , and the only one to win two.Charles Darwin , English naturalist, geologist and biologistRené Descartes , French philosopher and polymathArthur Eddington , English astronomer, physicist, and mathematicianWillem Einthoven , Dutch doctor , physiologist and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Lodovico Ferrari , Italian mathematicianAlexander Fleming , Scottish biologist , pharmacologist and botanist Joseph von Fraunhofer , German optician Hans-Georg Gadamer , German philosopher of the continental tradition Fritz Haber , German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in ChemistryGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , German philosopher and an important figure of German idealism Alexander von Humboldt , Prussian polymathWilhelm von Humboldt , Prussian philosopher and public figureDavid Hume , Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayistJames Hutton , Scottish geologist, physician, chemical manufacturer, naturalist, and experimental agriculturalistEdward Jenner , English physician and scientist, who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine , the world's first vaccine Irène Joliot-Curie , French scientist second woman to win a Nobel Prize Immanuel Kant , German philosopher who is considered the central figure of modern philosophy Johannes Kepler , German scientist, raised by grandmotherAntoine Lavoisier , French chemist and father of modern chemistry Antonie van Leeuwenhoek , Dutch tradesman and scientistGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , German polymath and philosopherHendrik Lorentz , Dutch physicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics Ada Lovelace , English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage 's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine James Clerk Maxwell , Scottish scientist in the field of mathematical physics John McDouall Stuart , Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorersDmitri Mendeleev , Russian chemist and inventorGerardus Mercator , Geographer, cosmographer and cartographerMaria Sibylla Merian , German-born naturalist and scientific illustratorGustav Nachtigal , German explorer of Central and West AfricaIsaac Newton , English physicist and mathematician George Washington Carver Linus Pauling Friedrich Nietzsche , German philosopher, writer, and linguistRichard Owen , English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist Blaise Pascal , French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher André Patry , French astronomer and discoverer of 9 minor planets in the late 1930sEmmi Pikler , Hungarian pediatrician and infant-education theoristPaul Ricœur , French philosopher, for combining phenomenological description with hermeneutics Jean-Jacques Rousseau , French philosopher, raised by aunt and uncleArthur Rudolph , German rocket engineerBertrand Russell , British philosopher , orphaned at age 3Jean-Paul Sartre , French philosopher, writer, and activistArthur Schopenhauer , German philosopherGeorg Simmel , German sociologist, philosopher, and criticAdam Smith , Scottish moral philosopher and pioneer of political economy Baruch Spinoza , Dutch philosopher of Sephardi /Portuguese originVoltaire , French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher Wilhelm Wundt , German physician, physiologist, philosopher, and professorJohn Bardeen , American physicist and electrical engineer George Washington Carver , American scientist, inventor, orphaned while a slaveStephanie Kwolek , American chemistLinus Pauling , American chemist , biochemist , peace activist , author, and educatorPercy Spencer , American inventor, orphaned in childhoodRobert Taylor , American internet pioneer, adopted at age 28 daysBlake R. Van Leer , President of Georgia Tech , engineer and United States Army officerMario Draghi Christine Lagarde Roman Abramovich , Russian businessman and politicianGianni Agnelli , Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of FiatAnthony Bacon , British iron pioneerKarl Benz , German engine designer and automobile engineerAndré Citroën , French industrialist and freemason Thomas Cook , English founded the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son Mario Draghi , Italian economist and central banker who served as President of the European Central Bank Jakob Fugger , German major merchant, mining entrepreneur and banker of EuropeAlfred Krupp , German steel manufacturer and inventor, nickname "The Cannon King"Christine Lagarde , French Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund Wilhelm Maybach , German engine designer and industrialistRudolf August Oetker , German entrepreneurAristotle Onassis , Greek shipping magnateMary Portas , English retail consultant, and broadcaster, orphaned at age 18Vidal Sassoon , British beauty products magnate, placed in an orphanage at age 7Hugo Stinnes , German industrialistHans Wilsdorf , German-born British founder of noted watch brands Rolex and Tudor Ferdinand von Zeppelin , German general and aircraft manufacturerJenna Jameson Steve Jobs Arthur E. Andersen , American accounting firm founder, orphaned as a teenL.L. Bean , American retail catalog magnate, orphaned at age 12William Boeing , American aviation pioneer who founded The Boeing Company Adolph Coors , German American brewer who founded the Adolph Coors Company August Duesenberg and Fred Duesenberg , German-born American automobile pioneers, designers, manufacturers and sportsmenHenry Ford , American founder of Ford Motor Company Samuel Goldwyn , American film mogul, raised by relativesJohn Hancock , American merchant, statesman and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution Howard Hughes , American entrepreneur Jenna Jameson , American entrepreneur , webcam model and former pornographic film actress Steve Jobs , American Apple Computer founder, adopted as infantHoward Lutnick , American CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald , orphaned as a teenJohn Molson , 18th century Canadian brewerTom Monaghan , American Domino's Pizza founder, partially raised in an orphanageColonel Sanders , American businessman, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken Carlos Slim , Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropistHenry E. Steinway , German-American piano makerLevi Strauss , American Jewish businessmanDave Thomas , American Wendy's entrepreneur adoption advocate, adopted as an infantMadam C. J. Walker , American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activistJerry Yang , Taiwanese American Internet entrepreneur and programmer
Kanō Jigorō Kanō Jigorō , Japanese educator and athlete, the founder of Judo Oda Nobunaga , powerful daimyō Japan Swami Rama , Indian yógī Natalya Stroeva , Russian model and beauty pageant titleholderKazuo Taoka , one of the most prominent yakuza godfathers Minamoto no Yoshitomo , head of the Minamoto clan and a general of Japanese history Minamoto no Yoshitsune , nobleman and military commander of the Minamoto clan of JapanLu Yu , ancient author of The Classic of Tea Osama bin Laden , founder of al-Qaeda Truganini Mata Hari Horatio Nelson Grigori Rasputin Valentina Tereshkova John F. Kennedy Jr. Annie Oakley Roald Amundsen , Norwegian polar explorer Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell , British Army officer, founder and first Chief Scout of The Boy Scouts Association William Blackstone , English jurist and political figureZofia Potocka , Greek slave courtesan and a Russian agent, later a Polish nobleGeorge Blake , British spy who worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union William Bligh , British Royal Navy, command of HMS Bounty , Governor of New South Wales in Australia and a colonial administratorMartin Bormann , prominent official in Nazi Germany as head of the Nazi Party Chancellery Johann Friedrich Böttger , German alchemist and the first European to discover the secret of the creation of hard-paste porcelain Guy Burgess , British radio producer, intelligence officer and Foreign Office officialWilliam Dampier , Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia and pirateKarl Dönitz , German admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II Adolf Eichmann , German Nazi SS -Obersturmbannführer lieutenant colonel ) and one of the major organisers of the Holocaust Prince Eugene of Savoy , general of the Imperial Army and one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history Guy Fawkes , known as Guido Fawkes, member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot Antoine Galland , French orientalist and archaeologist , most famous as the first European translator of One Thousand and One Nights Hermann Gmeiner , Austrian philanthropist and the founder of SOS Children's Villages Adam Griffith , American football player from PolandMata Hari , Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War IKaspar Hauser , German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cellRudolf Höss , Nazi German SS -Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) and the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp in World War IIWilhelm Keitel , German field marshal who served as chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht Otto Lilienthal , German pioneer of aviation Luigi Lucheni , Italian anarchist who assassinated the Austrian Empress , Elisabeth Louis Philippe II , Colonel General (France) and member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon Ferdinand Magellan , Portuguese explorerJohn McDouall Stuart , Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorersErich Mielke , head of the East German Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staatsicherheit ), better known as the Stasi Fridtjof Nansen , Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson , British flag officer in the Royal Navy Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi , Swiss pedagogue and educational reformerElisabeth Petznek , nicknamed "The Red Archduchess"Albert Pierrepoint , hangman in EnglandGrigory Potemkin , Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman and favourite of Catherine the Great Joseph Priestley , English theologian, English Dissenters clergyman, multi-subject educatorGrigori Rasputin , Russian peasant and mystical faith healer Johann Philipp Reis , German scientist and inventor, he constructed the first make-and-break telephoneSalvatore Riina , chief of the Sicilian Mafia Hartmann Schedel , German physician, humanist, historian, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing pressHeinrich Schliemann , German archaeologist Richard Sorge , Soviet military intelligence officer during World War II Valentina Tereshkova , Russian cosmonaut and the first woman to have flown in spaceFriedrich von der Trenck , Prussian officer, adventurer, and authorVictor of Aveyron , French feral child Minik Wallace , Inuk anthropology subjectRaoul Wallenberg , Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarianArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , Field Marshal Roy Benavidez , Veteran from the Vietnam war who was awarded the medal of honorJohn Wilkes Booth , American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham LincolnNikolas Cruz , perpetrator of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Dieter Dengler , United States Navy aviator Genie , pseudonym for a feral child who was a victim of severe abuse , neglect , and social isolation Peggy Guggenheim , American art collector and bohemian socialiteCalamity Jane , American frontierswoman and professional scou]Caroline Kennedy , American author, attorney, diplomat and her brother John F. Kennedy Jr. , American lawyer and journalistBilly the Kid , American Old West gunfighter who participated in New Mexico's Lincoln County War Robert E. Lee , American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War Jim Lovell , former NASA astronaut and a retired captain in the United States NavyMarisol Malaret , Puerto Rican TV Host, model and beauty queenJames Naismith , Canadian-American, inventor of basketball Annie Oakley , American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter Lee Harvey Oswald , American former U.S. Marine who assassinated President John F. Kennedy Bonnie Parker , American criminalRobert Peary , American explorer who claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole Sager orphans , twice-orphaned American settlersRaphael Semmes , officer in the Confederate navy during the American Civil War William Tecumseh Sherman , American soldier, businessman, educator and authorJames West , Scouting leader, raised in an orphanagePaul R. Williams , American architectAileen Wuornos , American serial killer Pancho Villa , Mexican Revolutionary general and one of the most prominent figures of the Mexican Revolution
Fictional characters [ edit ] Heidi Pippi Longstocking Mowgli Baron Munchausen Quasimodo The Star Money Tarzan See also Category:Fictional orphans
Amelia, The Star Money
several characters in the American Girl
Frodo Baggins , The Lord of the Rings Bambi Banner, Bannertail
Captain America Curious George Violet , Klaus , and Sunny Baudelaire , A Series of Unfortunate Events James Bond Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo/Hawkeye , Leatherstocking Tales Cinderella David Copperfield Cosette , Les Misérables Sodapop, Darrel and Ponyboy Curtis, The Outsiders
Eragon , Inheritance Cycle Esmeralda Rosa Esposto , The Lady of the Wheel Jane Eyre Huckleberry Finn Moll Flanders Dorothy Gale , Wonderful Wizard of Oz Heathcliff , Wuthering Heights Heidi Tom Jones Kim Krabat A Little Princess Pippi Longstocking Stephen Maturin , Master and Commander Momo Mowgli Baron Munchausen Pip , Great Expectations Pollyanna Harry Potter Quasimodo Tom Sawyer Anne Shirley , Anne of Green Gables Snow White The Little Prince Daenerys Targaryen , A Song of Ice and Fire Tarzan Oliver Twist Lord Voldemort Doctor Zhivago Spider-Man Admiral General Aladeen , The Dictator Allen Walker , D.Gray-man Alvin and the Chipmunks Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric , Fullmetal Alchemist Batman and Robin Bayman , Dead or Alive Erin Hannon , The Office Evey Hammond , V for Vendetta Finn the Human , Adventure Time Fox McCloud , Star Fox video games Goku , Dragon Ball James Bond Kenshiro , Fist of the North Star Po , Kung Fu Panda Lex Luthor Little Orphan Annie Magneto , X-Men Jann Lee , Dead or Alive Naruto Uzumaki , Naruto NiCO , Dead or Alive Paddington Bear Pi Patel , Life of Pi Punky Brewster Raiden , Metal Gear Sailor Jupiter , Sailor Moon Shazam Snow White Sookie Stackhouse Spider-Man Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker , Star Wars Superman Will Hunting See also Category:Adoptees for lists of notable people who have been adopted (including by step-parents): many adoptees are neither orphans nor foundlings.
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