Refugees or former refugees who have achieved special status within a community due to their achievements, or because they have overcome hardship to build a new life.
This gallery features a selection of refugees who have made a difference and left a mark in the world. The list includes people, dead and living, in all walks of life. Some, like writer Milan Kundera, composer Bela Bartok, physicist Albert Einstein and actress-singer Marlene Dietrich are world famous, others have shared their gifts locally. The UN refugee agency salutes all of them for showing the potential of refugees around the world.
Mercouri, Melina
“Never on Sunday” star Melina Mercouri rose from being an actress with a worldwide following to being Greece’s most famous Minister of Culture.
Sitting Bull (Tatanka Yotanka)
Tatanka Yotanka, or “Sitting Bull”, is probably the most famous Indian Chief in American history, yet it is not widely known that he spent four years as a refugee in Canada.