# 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:** 5
**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 25, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/81 "2023-06-25T18:36:48Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Since no-one else has mentioned it, there is a game about how many famous Belgians you can name. Leaving politicians aside, there’s Jacques Brel, Georges Simenon, René Magritte (and erm…) Hergé! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/82 "2023-06-25T18:58:08Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Iceland is mentioned above - it punches well above its weight culturally - Björk, Sigur Ros, Vikingur Olafsson, Olafur Eliasson, thriller writers like Arnaldur Indridason. Halldór Laxness, Sjón, Snorri Sturluson, Magnus Magnusson, Leif Ericson, and Bobby Fischer (who moved to Iceland late in his life) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/83 "2023-06-25T20:13:16Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Eddy Merckx! [Eddy Wally](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_Wally) if you’re of a certain cultural niche. But probably not famous enough more generally for this purpose. Omar Sharif was from Egypt. And if you take fame in the Middle East as sufficiently significant, then there’s [Umm Khultum](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_Kulthum) from Egypt and [Fairuz](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairuz) from Lebanon. ---
**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 25, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/84 "2023-06-25T20:24:32Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > [Eddy Wally](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_Wally) if you’re of a certain cultural niche. But probably not famous enough more generally for this purpose. Beats me that I’ve never heard before of Eddy Wally. Even if he called himself the “Voice of Europe”, he seems to never had made it to Germany, although German TV of the seventies was full of all-European stars. THE Belgian singer of that time in Germany was the aforementioned Adamo. > **[Salvatore Adamo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Adamo)** > > Salvatore Knight Adamo (November 1, 1943) is a Belgian-Italian musician, singer and composer, who is known for his romantic ballads. Adamo was born in Comiso, Sicily, Italy, and has lived in Belgium since the age of three, which is why he has dual citizenship. By 1964, he was the world's best-selling artist behind The Beatles. Through his career, he sold more than 80 million albums and 20 million singles worldwide, making him the best-selling Belgian artist of all time, and one of the most com He... ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/85 "2023-06-25T20:29:16Z")
Well I must admit he featured a lot in anAnglo-French TV show called Eurotrash, along with the likes of [Lolo Ferrari](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolo_Ferrari). I was rather joking (it’s been discombobulatingly hot in London today). ---
**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 25, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/86 "2023-06-25T20:31:07Z")
Ok, I may never have heard of Eddy Wally, but _of course_ I know Lolo Ferrari 😆. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/87 "2023-06-25T20:37:14Z")
Estonia: Arvo Pärt. World famous ‘minimalist’ composer. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/88 "2023-06-25T20:56:49Z")
My first thought was Orly Tait from Moldova, but she hasn’t been in the news much in the last decade. A lot of the countries mentioned above are not anywhere “least-noticed” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/89 "2023-06-25T21:10:48Z")
Through his mother, Dwayne Johnson is half-Samoan, so I’d nominate him. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/90 "2023-06-26T01:14:08Z")
Except for the fact that Franz Kafka was born in Prag, then: Oesterreich-Ungarn … (today: not so much, anymore) … Augusto Pinochet, Chile ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/91 "2023-06-26T01:31:31Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > Augusto Pinochet, Chile I assume most right thinking Chileans would prefer to be remembered for Pablo Neruda rather than for that individual, sorta like the Austrians with Mozart and the other one… ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/92 "2023-06-26T02:06:12Z")
depends vastly on your definition of **“right thinking”** , I guess 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/93 "2023-06-26T02:11:22Z")
Yup, right as in correct or right as in political ideology. ---
**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 26, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/94 "2023-06-26T02:43:48Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > > [@Al128](#): > > > > Augusto Pinochet, Chile > > I assume most right thinking Chileans would prefer to be remembered for Pablo Neruda rather than for that individual, sorta like the Austrians with Mozart and the other one… Or Isabelle Allende. ---
**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 26, 2023, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/95 "2023-06-26T02:47:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Through his mother, Dwayne Johnson is half-Samoan, so I’d nominate him Born in the U.S., though. Otherwise, I’d nominate Troy Polomalu. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/96 "2023-06-26T02:50:03Z")
Isabel 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/97 "2023-06-26T04:14:04Z")
A couple of tenors internationally famous in the operatic world are Juan Diego Flores from Peru and Joseph Calleja from Malta. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/98 "2023-06-26T13:25:13Z")
Action film star Jean-Claude van Damme is also Belgian. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/99 "2023-06-26T13:29:15Z")
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin! OK, I guess you gotta be into tennis somewhat to remember those two in the early 2000s, but they were on top of the world back then, and Belgian! I loved watching those two. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986/100 "2023-06-26T13:41:27Z")
If you want to stump people with a good musical trivia question, ask them what country Freddie Mercury was born in. Tanzania [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-famous-people-from-the-least-noticed-countries/985986.md?page=6)