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Home , Severo Ochoa, Simone Veil, Valdas Adamkus

: PEOPLE

Europe has a great influence in the world through the work of many important people. Here is a short list of politicians, scientists, musicians, artists, writers and even sportspeople.

1. POLITICIANS (29th June 1886 – 4th September 1963) was a French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist. He was Prime Minister of twice, Minister of Finance and a Foreign Minister. Schuman is considered as one of the founders of the , the and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (France, 1888–1979). In 1945 he became responsible for the economic reconstruction of France after the war. He began to work on a project known as the Schuman Plan, that he proposed to Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, in 1949. The Schuman Plan was the basis for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) that was established in 1952. The six countries that signed the Treaty of (, France, , , the and West ) agreed to share their coal and steel resources. This was the basis for the European Economic Community (EEC). (1876-1967) was a German statesman. He was the first Chancellor of West Germany (1949–1963) and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (1950-1966). He was the oldest chancellor ever to serve Germany, beginning his first ministry at the age of 73 and leaving at the age of 87. (1901-1982) was Law Professor and since 1950 he was active in German and European politics, especially as Secretary of State in charge of Foreign Affairs in the Adenauer's Government. He was the first president of the European Economic Community (EEC) (1958-1967). (1881 – 1954) was an Italian statesman and politician and founder of the Christian . From 1945 to 1953 he was the Prime Minister of eight coalition governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics. He is considered to be one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union, along with the Frenchman Robert Schuman and the German Konrad Adenauer. Valdas Adamkus is the current President of the Republic of . It is the second time that he has served in this position. In Lithuania, the President's term lasts for five years; Adamkus' first term in office began on February 26, 1998 and ended on February 28, 2003. Adamkus ran for president and was re-elected again. Adamkus joined the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its inception in 1970 and was appointed regional administrator by President in 1981. He was responsible for all air, water, hazardous waste, and other pollution control programs in , , , , , and . He is married to Alma Adamkienė, who is involved in charitable activities in Lithuania. Margaret Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister. She served three consecutive terms in office. She is one of the dominant political figures of 20th century Britain, and the movement she founded called “Thatcherism” continues to have a huge influence. Thatcher's policies succeeded in reducing inflation, but unemployment increased dramatically. In 1984, she escaped death when the terrorist group IRA planted a bomb at the Conservative party conference in Brighton. Thatcher was nicknamed the 'Iron Lady' by the Soviets. Francois Miterrand (1916-1996) was a lawyer and French politician. He presided the French Republic for 14 years (1981-1995). He is the president who has remained longer in office. was chancellor of West Germany (1982-1990) and of the re-unified German nation (1990-1998). He presided over the integration of East Germany into West Germany in 1990. Felipe González Márquez (born 5th March 1942) is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of the Spanish government, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996. (born 20th July, 1925) is a French economist and politician. He served three terms as President of the (1985-1994). During his presidency, he oversaw important reforms of the budget and the introduction of a single market within the European Community, which came into effect on 1st January, 1993.

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Simone Veil, (born 13th July 1927) is a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Health under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the (1979–1982). She survived from the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where she lost part of her family. She was elected to the Académie française in November 2008.

2. SCIENTISTS Severo Ochoa (1905-1993) is one of the best known Spanish scientists. He studied and worked in and in other European countries. From 1940 to 1985 he worked and lived in the USA and he became an American citizen in 1956. He won the in Medicine in 1959, together with the American , for his discoveries of the mechanisms of biology synthesis of the RNA (Ribonucleic acid) and DNA (Desoxiribonucleic acid). His work has contributed to know the basic steps in the of carbohydrates and fatty acids, the use of carbon dioxide, and the biosynthesis of nucleic acids. Gerhardt Ertl is a German scientist, born in 1936. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemestry in 2007. He has dedicated his life to study the reaction of chemical components on solid surfaces, which is very important for the insdustry and nature. His discoveries help to understand the process of deterioration of the ozone layer and they are the base for the use of catalytic converters in cars. Albert Fert, French, and Peter Grünberg, German, won the in 2007. They discovered a new way of using magnetism to control electrical currents. They called it “Giant magnetoresistance”. Their discovery is applied to computers and other devices because it allows to save a lot of data in a very small space (for example in our MP3s or iPods). It is also used to help in the separation of genetic material. The Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008 was given to three Europeans. Harold Zur Hausen, German, won part of the Prize for his investigations about the human papilloma virus (HPV). This virus is responsible for the uterus cervical cancer. The other two researchers are the French and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. They discovered the HIV, human inmunodeficiency virus, which causes the epidemic illness of AIDS. , a Spanish woman scientist, born in 1938, was a student of Severo Ochoa. She was a successful scientist in a time when there were few women scientists. Her field of study has been biochemestry and : she has devoted a lot of effort to study the DNA and how genetic information is transmitted. She was the first woman to be a member of the USA National Academy of Science. She is still doing research today. In the Atapuerca Mountains (Spain), a group of antropologists works on the traces of the first humans who lived in Europe (homo antecesor). Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Carbonel co-direct the Atapuerca Project since 1982. Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909), “Cavaliere di Gran Croce” is an Italian neurologist who, together with colleague Stanley Cohen, received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Medicine () for their discovery of “nerve growth factor” (NGF). Today she is the oldest living Nobel laureate. She is a Senator for life in the Italian Senate. Carlo Rubbia (1934) is an Italian particle physicist who won the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN. His research activities are presently concentrated on the problem of energy supply for the future, with particular focus on the development of new technologies for renewable energy sources. During his term as President of ENEA (1999-2005) he developed a method for concentrating solar power at high temperatures for energy production, known as the Archimedes Project, which is presently being developed by industry for commercial use.

3. MUSICIANS The Beatles were an English rock and pop band from Liverpool that formed in 1960. The group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). They became one of the most successful bands in the history of popular music, selling over one billion records internationally. Their clothes, style and statements influenced the social and cultural revolutions of the 60s. The band broke up in 1970. Some of their most famous hits are Love me do, Help, All you need is love, Get back, Yesterday or Yellow submarine. John Lennon (1940-1980) is probably the most influential. He was controversial through his work as a peace activist with songs such as Imagine, Give peace a chance, or War is Over. He was murdered by a fan (David Chapman) in New York on 8th December 1980.

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Queen is an English rock band formed in 1971 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with the bassist John Deacon completing the lineup in 1972. The band is remarkable for their musical diversity, vocal harmonies, use of synthesizers and incorporation of audience participation into their live performances. Some of their most famous hits are We will Rock you, Bohemian Rhapsody, I want to break free, The show must go on, We are the Champions, etc. Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) was the outstanding figure in the band. He was born in the Tanzanian isle of Zanzibar, but he grew up in India, because his father worked for the British colonial office. He was a singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist but he is best known for his vocal power and theatrical performances. He was criticized for leading a controversial life, brought by his homosexual condition and denial of his roots. He died of AIDS in 1991, only one day after he acknowledged publicly that he had the disease. The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in 1962 in London. Originally formed by the multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, the pianist Ian Stewart, the vocalist Mick Jagger, and the guitarist Keith Richards. Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup. Mick Taylor replaced an incapacitated Jones shortly before his death in 1969, but he quit in 1974. He was replaced in 1975 by guitarist Ronnie Wood. Wyman left the Rolling Stones in 1992; bassist Darryl Jones, who is not an official band member, has worked with the group since 1994. The band has covered a variety of genres, from pure rock-and-roll, to American rhythm and blues. They are still active today and their mouth and tongue symbol is recognized worldwide. Some of their big hits are Satisfaction, Street fighting man, Angie, Brown Sugar, or Paint it black. U2 is a rock band from Dublin, Ireland, formed in 1976. The band consists of Bono (vocals and guitar), The Edge (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Adam Clayton (bass guitar) and Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums and percussion). Their 1987 album The Joshua Tree elevated the band's stature “from heroes to superstars”. Since 2000, U2 pursued a more conventional rock sound that retains the influence of their previous musical explorations. U2 have sold more than 145 million albums worldwide and have won 22 Grammy Awards more than any other band. Through their career they have campaigned for human rights and social justice causes. Françoise Hardy (born January 17th, 1944 in Paris) is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music style and personality in the Francophile world. In April 1962, shortly after finishing school, her first album Oh Oh Chéri appeared. Her own flip side of the record, "Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles”, became a success, with two million sales. Hardy sang in French, English, Italian, Spanish, and German. In 1963 she came fifth for Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest with "L'amour s'en va". In 1994, she collaborated with the British pop group Blur for their "La Comedie" version of To The End. Vytautas Kernagis (May 19, 1951 – March 15, 2008) was a Lithuanian singer- songwriter, bard, actor, director, and television announcer. He is considered a pioneer of Lithuanian sung poetry. Kernagis recorded his first album of sung poetry in 1978. Kernagis also took part in the first Lithuanian rock opera Velnio nuotaka, first Lithuanian musical Ugnies medžioklė su varovais (1976), and first Lithuanian musical for a puppet theatre Šokantis ir dainuojantis mergaitės vieversėlis. Vytautas Kernagis had produced 20 musical album. Kernagis suffered from gastric cancer and died March 15, 2008. He was cremated and interred in the Cemetery in . Cristóbal Halfter (, 1930) is a Spanish composer. In 1936, Halffter's family moved to Germany to escape the , but they returned to Madrid in 1939, and Halftter studied at the German School. In 1955, he was appointed conductor of the Falla orchestra. He writes music which combines a traditional Spanish element with avant-garde techniques. His Piano Concerto won the National Music Prize in 1953. Halffter's works include the opera Don Quijote (2000). Plácido Domingo (born 21st January 1941) is a Spanish tenor, known for his versatile and strong voice. He moved to Mexico with his family, who ran a zarzuela company. He made his début in a leading role as Alfredo in La Traviatta in 1961 in Monterrey. He is considered a talented and hard-working musician: in March 2008, he debuted in his 128th opera role, giving Domingo more roles than any other tenor. He is also admired for his acting ability, his musicality and musical intellect, and the number and variety of opera roles that he has mastered. He has also taken on conducting opera and concert performances, as well as serving as the General Director of the Washington National Opera in Washington, D.C. and the Los Angeles Opera in California.

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Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) is a celebrated Italian tenor, one of the most popular vocal performers in the world of opera and across musical genre. He is also noted for his award-winning charity work, raising money on behalf of refugees or the Red Cross. Pavarotti became most well-known throughout the world in 1990 when his sang Giacomo Puccini's aria, "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot, which was used as the theme song for the BBC TV coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. The aria made him a kind of pop star and it remained his trademark song. This was followed by the hugely successful Three Tenors concert with fellow tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras, which became the biggest selling classical record of all time. But he got a reputation as "The King of Cancellations" because he often cancelled performances. Pavarotti gave his last performance at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 2004 for which he received a 12-minute standing ovation. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2007.

4. ARTISTS Alfred Hitchcock was born in London. His interests in movies began in 1915 with his first job for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. He got his first chance at directing when one of the directors fell ill and Hitch completed the movie. Impressed by his work, studio chiefs gave him his first directing assignment on “Number 13” in 1922. Hitch then started to work as an assistant director for the company Gainsborough Pictures. In 1925 he directed “The Pleasure Garden”, and from then on he became the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema producing films in Europe and USA for over 50 years. He has been nominated to the Oscar awards five times and three times to the Cannes festival. He died in the USA on the 29th of April, 1980. Some of his most significant films are Strangers on a train, Rebecca, I confess, The rear window, The torn curtain, The rope, Dial M for murder, To catch a thief, The man who knew too much, Vertigo, The birds, Marnie. Pedro Almodóvar is a Spanish film director. He was born in the 50's in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real but he migrated with his family to Extremadura when he was eight. There he started going to the movies compulsively. He moved to Madrid when he was sixteen with a very specific goal: to study and make movies. After taking up several temporary jobs he gets a "serious" position in the Telephone Company and earns enough money to buy his first camera. In the 70s he writes comic scripts and stories and opinion articles for magazines. At the same time, he meets the actress Carmen Maura, and he starts a parody punk-glam-rock band. This atmosphere sets the background for his first commercial film "Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón" (1980). Other films shot with Carmen Maura are "Laberinto de Pasiones", "Entre Tinieblas", "¿Que he hecho yo para merecer esto?", "La ley del deseo" and "Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios" in 1987. This film gets up to fifty national and international awards and an Oscar nomination, breaking ticket-box records in Spain and abroad. Together with his brother Agustin they create their own production company, "El Deseo". "Todo sobre mi madre"(1999) becomes an unprecedented success in Spanish cinema, and was awarded with two Oscars: Best Original script and Best Director. François Truffaut (Paris, 1932-Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1984). He was a film director, screenwriter and French actor. Much of his work is marked by a difficult childhood and adolescence, which he reflected in his first movie, “The four hundred strokes” (1959), in which his young character, Antoine Doinel, becomes the director's alter ego. He started to write in film reviews in prestigious journals such as “Cahiers du Cinéma” and “Arts”. One of his most significant articles, "A certain tendency of French cinema” (1954), was controversial due to the criticism to the cinema establishment in his country. From then on he directed films with the intention of opening a new tendency. The above mentioned “The four hundred strokes” is one of the earliest examples of the so called “Nouvelle vague”. Among others, this film was followed by Jules et Jim, The bride was dressed in black, Little Wild, The Lover of Love and the series of autobiographical films that carried out by his alter ego Doinel, incarnated by Jean- Pierre Léaud: The love of twenty years, Stolen Kisses, The American Night, etc. Norman Foster was an important British architect. He was born on June 1st in Manchester, . He studied architecture at the University of Manchester. In 1961 he won the scholarship Henry Fellowship for a specialized course in the School of Architecture at Yale, USA. In 1962 he returned to England. Together with the two architects and sisters Wendy and Georgie Cheesman, Foster founded the study Team 4 in 1963. Later, in 1967 he created Fosters Associated together with his wife Wendy and in 1968 he met Buckminster Fuller with whom he will work until his death. He has designed buildings, private houses, bridges in Europe, the USA, and Hong Kong. Among his most known works are: the

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Stansted Airport (UK), the Millennium Tower (Tokio, Japan), the Congress Hall (San Sebastian, Spain), the Hong Kong International Airport, the New German Parliament (Berlin, Germany), Millennium Tower and Millenium Bridge (London, UK), the Prado Museum Extension (Madrid, Spain), or the National Museum (Beijing, China). Francis Bacon was a relevant Irish painter. He was born in Dublin on 28th October 1909. He was the second of five children. His father claimed to be descended from Sir Francis Bacon, the Elizabethan philosopher. The family moves to London in 1914. Francis suffers from asthma and other recurrent illnesses and rarely goes to school, being taught by private tutors. Following a series of violent disagreements with his father, due mainly to Francis' homosexuality, he is expelled. He lives for some time with his maternal grandmother who plays a more influential part in his upbringing. He decides to become a painter after viewing the Picasso exhibition "The Massacre of the Innocents". In 1946 he exhibits "Figures in a Landscape" and "Figure Study II" provoking “extreme reactions, mostly revulsion”. In 1950 he starts a series of three Pope figures after Velazquez' Pope Innocent X. From 1956 to 1961 he exhibits frequently in Paris, Turin, Milan, Rome and Sao Palo. In 1964 he meets George Dyer, the first steady partner younger than Bacon. He is badly affected by the death of George Dyer and he paints series of three large triptychs (sometimes known as the black triptychs) as well as numerous self-portraits in 1972 and 1973. He dies in Madrid, when he was visiting some friends, in April 1991, at the age of eighty-two. Ennio Morricone (1928) is an Italian Academy Award-winning composer. He has composed and arranged scores for more than 500 films and television productions. He wrote the soundtracks of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns (Once Upon a Time in the West, 1968). His more recent compositions include the scores for Once Upon A Time In America (1984), The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Cinema Paradiso (1988), Mission to Mars (2000). He has won five Anthony Asquith Awards for Film Music by BAFTA in 1979–1992. He has been nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score in 1979–2001, winning none. He received the Honorary Academy Award in 2007.

5. WRITERS Harold Pinter was a British writer born October 10th, 1930, in London. He was the son of Eastern European who had immigrated to the United Kingdom from . He studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1950 he published several poems and began working as a professional actor. His early plays were rooted in the absurdism that became the major theatrical paradigm on the European stage in the third quarter of the 20th century, after the horrors of the war and . His famous plays are “The homecoming” and “No man´s land”. In 1960 Pinter became a screenwriter and he was twice nominated for the Academy Award. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, and he died in 2008. José Saramago was born on November 16th, 1922 in Mora (Ribatejo), Portugal. In 1924 he moved to Lisbon with his family. In 1966 he published his first book of poetry, Os Poemas Possíveis. He collaborated as a literary critic in the journal Seara Nova. In 1969 he joined the Portuguese Communist Party. In 1984 he publishes O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis, and achieves the prize of the Portuguese PEN Club. In 1991 he publishes O Evangelho second Jesus Christ and he was awarded the Grand Prize for Novel of the Portuguese Association of Writers and the Award Bracati (Zafferana, Italy). In 1993 he moved to Lanzarote, Spain. He published his fourth play, In Nomine Dei, which gets the Grand Prix Association of Theater of the Portuguese Writers. In 1995 he publishes Ensaio Cegueira and the second volume of Cadernos de Lanzarote. He won the Camões Prize and was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Manchester. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 2000 published his latest book, "The Cave". Eugenio Montale (1896 - 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize for Literature. The Mediterranean landscape of Montale's native Liguria was a strong presence in his first poem “Ossi di seppia”. A very important role in his poetry was played by T. S. Eliot. “La bufera e altro” ("The Storm and Other Things"), published in 1956, marks the end of Montale's most acclaimed poetry. Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (September 22 [O.S. September 10] 1875 in Old Varėna—April 10 [O.S. March 28] 1911 in Pustelnik (Marki) near Warsaw) was a Lithuanian painter and composer and perhaps the most famous Lithuanian artist of all time. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch.

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During his short life he composed about 250 pieces of music and created about 300 paintings. The majority of his paintings are housed in the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum in , Lithuania. His Memorial Museum is in Druskininkai.

6. SPORTPEOPLE Michael Schumacher is a German sportsman. He is recognised as the world’s best racing driver. He was the youngest double Formula 1 World Champion (in 1994 and 1995). He also won the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 World Champion. He has beaten several records such as most races wins, most points in a season, most consecutive world championships, or fastest laps. Rafael Nadal is a famous Spanish tennis player. He was born in Mallorca, Spain, the 3rd June 1986. Nowadays he is number 1 tennis player worldwide. He has won Roland Garros championship four times, Wimbledon, or Australian Open. He also got a gold medal in the Pekin Olympic Games in 2008. He is the Spanish tennis player with a higher number of individual victories (33). Arvydas Romas Sabonis (born December 19, 1964 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a retired Lithuanian and Soviet professional basketball player and entrepreneur. At 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in) Sabonis played as a center for the Portland Trail Blazers for 8 seasons. In 1981, Sabonis joined the League pro club Žalgiris Kaunas and he led them to three consecutive Soviet League titles. He have played basketball in NBA for 17years. In 2003, Sabonis returned to Lithuania and bought a major stake in his old club Žalgiris. He also played for Žalgiris in the 2003-04 season, winning the MVP award in both the regular-season and Top 16 phases of the Euroleague, and being named to the All-Euroleague First Team. He retired as a player after the 2004-05 season. Paolo Rossi (1956) is an Italian former football striker. In 1982, he led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball. He is the only player to have won all three honours at a single tournament. He is listed among Pelé's 125 all-time greatest footballers.

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