# The most famous people from the least-noticed countries **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2023, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986 "2023-06-23T09:58:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/21 "2023-06-23T15:58:27Z")
At least to Americans, pro wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka is probably the most famous person from Fiji. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/22 "2023-06-23T16:06:51Z")
[deleted] ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/23 "2023-06-23T16:32:14Z")
Björk from Iceland. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/24 "2023-06-23T16:41:45Z")
[Hanni Wenzel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanni_Wenzel), from Liechtenstein, won several Olympic medals in alpine skiing. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/25 "2023-06-23T16:45:14Z")
I could list loads of folks from Wales, though what I find saddest is that the most famous ones (arguably Anthony Hopkins and Christian Bale these days) don’t speak the language. Bale doesn’t consider himself Welsh as he didn’t live there for long, though Sir Anthony has done a ton of charity work throughout the country and doesn’t shy away from his origins. Timothy Dalton was also born in Colwyn Bay (same town as Terry Jones) but with an English father and an Italian/Irish mother (how to win at trivia when the question is “Who was the Welsh James Bond?”) he doesn’t think of himself as Welsh either. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/26 "2023-06-23T16:48:40Z")
Also Dua Lipa (born in England, but an Albanian citizen). ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/27 "2023-06-23T16:53:38Z")
Lou Diamond Phillips and Manny Pacquiao are both Filipino. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/28 "2023-06-23T17:11:25Z")
Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for inventing and promoting microcredit, is from Bangladesh. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/29 "2023-06-23T17:29:31Z")
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, strongman athlete who played Gregor The Mountain Clegane on _Game of Thrones_ is from Iceland ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/30 "2023-06-23T18:25:48Z")
I find it fascinating that three currently very popular female singers are all Albanian: Dua Lipa, Rita Ora, and Bebe Rexha. A few years ago I probably would not have been able to name one famous Albanian. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/31 "2023-06-23T18:49:49Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > It’s not clear if you’re restricting yourself to living people and it’s not clear if you want to know where they currently live or were born. The science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke lived the majority of his life and died in Sri Lanka. Admittedly, this is something entirely different, but my favorite chain restaurant is Nando’s. It’s based on the food served in Mozambique by Portuguese immigrants. At this point, you’d have to say the most famous Sri Lankan is the comedian [Romesh Ranganathan.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j15YHqinxrY) Lives, works, and is culturally English, but his Sri Lankan heritage is a big part of his act. According to Wikipedia, he was born in the UK, though, so maybe he doesn’t count. > [@zimaane](#): > > Another baseball one is Jonathon Schoop, who is from Curacao. As was Braves center fielder Andruw Jones. > [@AppallingGael](#): > > Björk from Iceland. > [@zimaane](#): > > Gregor The Mountain Clegane on _Game of Thrones_ is from Iceland Perhaps now surpassed in fame by the band Of Monsters And Men? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/32 "2023-06-23T18:57:40Z")
Martina Navratilova is probably the most world-famous Czech (born in then-Czechoslovakia). Ivan Reitman was also born in Czechoslovakia, 10 years before Martina. He was born in a city now in Slovakia. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/33 "2023-06-23T19:08:18Z")
Basketball player Dikembe Mutombo is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/34 "2023-06-23T19:09:10Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Martina Navratilova is probably the most world-famous Czech (born in then-Czechoslovakia). What about Franz Kafka, Jan Hus, Vaclav Havel and Antonin Dvorak? (and a few more) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/35 "2023-06-23T19:09:32Z")
I’m not sure which country should count as hers. She was born in Skopje, now the capital of North Macedonia. Ethnically she was a Kosovar Albanian. At various times she was a subject or citizen of the Ottoman Empire, Serbia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and India. She was finally granted Albanian citizenship only about 6 years before she died. She was also an honorary US citizen. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/36 "2023-06-23T19:13:58Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > What about Franz Kafka, Jan Hus, Vaclav Havel and Antonin Dvorak? (and a few more) Maybe it’s generational? Kafka might be the most famous of all those, I suppose. I don’t know who Hus is. Havel, maybe, but he’s a political figure. It’d be like saying Bill Clinton is the most famous American or something. Dvorak, maybe, as his music lives on. I suppose by the “generational” standard, Martina wouldn’t be too super well known today. I might be showing MY generational bias. But she also might be known to the most living people today? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/37 "2023-06-23T19:15:35Z")
Leif Erikson must be one of the most famous people from Greenland, where he lived from childhood on. He must also be one of the most famous from Iceland, where he was born. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/38 "2023-06-23T19:18:52Z")
Prime Minister Bonar Law of the United Kingdom. Born in the colony of New Brunswick. Which like the protectorate of Zanzibar, no longer exists in that form. [Now I have an image of Bonar Law and Freddy Mercury hanging out together in a weird trivia afterlife.] ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/39 "2023-06-23T19:19:01Z")
I never heard of Snuka, but I know who Vijay Singh is. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/40 "2023-06-23T19:19:21Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Maybe it’s generational? Kafka might be the most famous of all those, I suppose. I don’t know who Hus is. Havel, maybe, but he’s a political figure. It’d be like saying Bill Clinton is the most famous American or something. Dvorak, maybe, as his music lives on. Jan Hus is an early Church reformator who lived in the 15th century and was burnt at the stake. A very important predecessor of Martin Luther. And Havel is about the same generation as Navratilova, and has a special place in history as a writer who lead a successful and peaceful revolution. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986.md?page=3)