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List of orphans and foundlings

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Notable orphans and foundlings include world leaders, celebrated writers, entertainment greats, figures in science and business, as well as innumerable fictional characters in literature and comics. While the exact definition of orphan and foundlings varies, one legal definition is a child bereft through "death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents".[1] According to the United Nations, the definition of an orphan is anyone that loses one parent, either through death or abandonment.[dubiousdiscuss]

Tiradentes

Figures from classical history and religious scripture

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Africa

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Asia

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Europe

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Oedipus

Political, civic and religious leaders

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Nelson Mandela

Africa

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Asia

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Genghis Khan
Saddam Hussein
Taixu

Australia/Oceania

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Europe

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Anne of Brittany
Adolf Hitler
Ivan the Terrible
Louis XIV of France
Olof Palme

North America

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Alexander Hamilton
Jefferson Davis
Eleanor Roosevelt

South America

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Writers

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Africa

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Yasunari Kawabata

Asia

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Australia/Oceania

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  • Thomas Bracken, Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politician

Europe

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Dante
The Brontë Sisters
J. R. R. Tolkien
Leo Tolstoy

North America

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Edgar Allan Poe

Musicians and singers

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Emmanuel Jal

Africa

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Asia

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Australia/Oceania

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Europe

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Johann Sebastian Bach
John Lennon

North America

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Louis Armstrong
Tina Turner

South America

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  • Víctor Jara, Chilean poet, singer-songwriter, teacher, theatre director and political activist
  • Milton Nascimento, Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist

Artists, actors, and entertainers

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Africa

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Charlize Theron

Asia

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Preity Zinta

Australia/Oceania

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Cate Blanchett

Europe

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Naomi Watts

North America

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Veronica Lake
Monroe is posing for photographers, wearing a white halterneck dress, whose hem is blown up by air from a subway grate on which she is standing.
Marilyn Monroe
Kelly Preston
Julia Roberts
Lana Turner

South America

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Athletes

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Eusebio
Garry Kasparov
Aaron Hernandez
Jacques Villeneuve

Africa

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Asia

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Australia/Oceania

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Europe

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North America

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South America

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Scientists and scholars

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Africa

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  • Maud Chifamba, the youngest university student in Africa, orphaned at age 14
  • Ibn Khaldun, North African Arab historiographer and historian lost both of his parents aged 17

Europe

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Charles Darwin
Marie Curie
Irène Joliot-Curie
George Washington Carver
Linus Pauling

North America

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Business people

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Asia

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Europe

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Mario Draghi
Christine Lagarde
Jenna Jameson
Steve Jobs

North America

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Otherwise notables

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Kanō Jigorō

Asia

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Truganini

Australia/Oceania

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Europe

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Mata Hari
Horatio Nelson
Grigori Rasputin
Valentina Tereshkova
John F. Kennedy Jr.
Annie Oakley

North America

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South America

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Fictional characters

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Heidi
Pippi Longstocking
Mowgli
Baron Munchausen
Quasimodo
The Star Money
Tarzan

See also Category:Fictional orphans

In literature

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Spider-Man
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See also Category:Adoptees for lists of notable people who have been adopted (including by step-parents): many adoptees are neither orphans nor foundlings.

References

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  1. ^ Iii. Eligibility For Immigration Benefits As An Orphan Archived 2009-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Likeable Rascal of House". The New Zealand Herald. 26 April 1980. p. 3.
  3. ^ "Elizabeth Bishop".
  4. ^ McMahon, J. F. (1988). "Archibald John Shaw (1872–1916)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 11.