The atlas / People
The people behind the ideas.
Meet the leaders, thinkers, and activists who shaped political life. Explore their perspectives—and the ideas, places, and people closest to them.
449 profiles
Twelve dimensions in every profileSearch and filter the whole collection →
- Politics
Vladimir Putin
Russia's leader for over 25 years, Putin crushed all real opposition, nationalized strategic sectors under patrimonial state capitalism, pushes anti-LGBT and traditional-values laws with the Orthodox Church, restricts Central Asian immigration, wages war on Ukraine, and censors the internet via AI in the name of digital sovereignty.
- Politics
Vladimir the Great
Grand Prince of Kyiv from 980 to 1015, Vladimir the Great unified and expanded Kievan Rus', ended paganism by adopting Byzantine Orthodox Christianity in 988, married the Byzantine princess Anna and had his people baptized in the Dnieper.
- Politics
Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukraine's president, Zelensky went from actor to statesman and became a symbol of national resistance to the Russian invasion, defending democracy, sovereignty, and his country's rapprochement with the West.
- Philosophy
Voltaire
A French Enlightenment writer and philosopher, he attacked religious fanaticism and the Church ("crush the infamous thing"), championed free speech and tolerance in the Calas affair, but favored enlightened monarchy over popular democracy. Deist, author of Candide.
- Politics
Walter Ulbricht
German communist leader who ruled East Germany under tight Soviet control, building the Berlin Wall in 1961, collectivizing the economy, and repressing dissent under Stasi surveillance and single-party rule.
- Business
Warren Buffett
The investor behind Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett popularised value investing, argues for higher taxes on the very rich and pledged to give away nearly his whole fortune, criticising the inequality the system produces.
- Politics
Wilhelm II of Germany
Last German emperor and king of Prussia (1888–1918), Wilhelm II dismissed Bismarck, pursued Weltpolitik with the High Seas Fleet, militarism and colonial expansion, led Germany into the First World War and abdicated in 1918, going into exile in the Netherlands.
- Economics
William Beveridge
A British economist, Beveridge designed the United Kingdom's welfare state, proposing universal social security against poverty, disease, and unemployment as a basis for social liberalism.
- Intellectual life
William F. Buckley Jr.
An American intellectual, Buckley articulated modern conservatism in the United States, uniting free markets, anti-communism, and traditional Christian values into a coherent, influential political and cultural force.
- Politics
William of Orange
A Lutheran-born noble who converted to Catholicism and later Calvinism, William led the Dutch Revolt against Philip II of Spain, championed relative religious tolerance, and was assassinated in 1584 by a Spanish agent, becoming the "father of the fatherland."
- Politics
Winston Churchill
British prime minister who led the United Kingdom against Nazi Germany in World War II, Churchill combined staunch defense of the British Empire and liberal capitalism with fervent anti-communist rhetoric, and was also the author of controversial colonial and wartime decisions.
- Politics
Woodrow Wilson
President of the United States (1913–1921), Wilson pursued progressive domestic reforms, led the country into World War I in the name of liberal democracy, and championed national self-determination and the creation of the League of Nations, despite maintaining segregationist policies at home.
- Politics
Xi Jinping
China's leader, Xi Jinping concentrated power like no successor of Mao, reinforcing the Communist Party's control, nationalism, and the country's global projection through technology and economic influence.
- Politics
Yamandú Orsi
History teacher, Mujica's political heir in the MPP and president of Uruguay for the Broad Front since 2025. A moderate, consensus-seeking leftist, he pairs stronger social programs and policing with fiscal prudence and no new taxes, and signed a euthanasia law.
- Activism
Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Leader of Revisionist Zionism, Jabotinsky championed an assertive Jewish nationalism, an independent military force, and a Jewish-majority state, becoming an inspiration for the contemporary Israeli right.
- Politics
Zohran Mamdani
Mayor of New York City and Uganda-born democratic socialist, Mamdani champions rent freezes, city-owned grocery stores, free buses, and sanctuary-city protections for immigrants, while moderating in office by keeping the police commissioner in place.
- Activism
Zumbi dos Palmares
The last great leader of Palmares, the largest settlement of escaped slaves in the Americas, Zumbi resisted colonial expeditions for decades in defense of freedom for thousands of enslaved Africans and their descendants, becoming a foremost symbol of anti-slavery resistance.
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