[1] Famous French author, Honoré de Balzac (original name Honoré Balssa) was born on 20 May 1799 at Tours, France. He is considered as one of the greatest fiction writers of all time. He produced a vast collection of novels and short stories collectively called La Comédie humaine (The Human Comedy). He died on 18 August 1850 in Paris. One of his famous quotes: “Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell you solitude is fine.”
[2] Malcom X was a black militant leader who expressed concepts of race pride and Black Nationalism in the early 1960s. His original name was Malcolm Little, Muslim name El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. He was born on 19 May 1925 at Omaha, Nebraska, US. Black Nationalism was a political and social movement in the pursuit of economic power and seeking to instill a sense of community and group belonging among blacks. He was assassinated on 21 February 1965 in New York.
[3] Ho Chi Minh was President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from 1945 to 1969. He was born on 19 May 1890 at Hoang Tru in Vietnam, known as French Indochina. He died on 2 September 1969 in Hanoi. His original name was Nguyen Sinh Cung, also called Nguyen Tat Thanh or Nguyen Ai Quoc. He was the founder of the Indochina Communist Party in 1930.
[4] Napoleon I was born on 15 August 1769 at Ajaccio, Corsica. His full French name was Napoléon Bonaparte. His original Italian name was Napoleone Buonaparte. His Italian byname was the Corsican or the Little Corporal. His Fench byname was Le Corse or Le Petit Caporal. He was French General from 1799 to1804 and Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814/15. He revolutionized military organization and training, sponsored the Napoleonic Code and reorganized education. He created the Legion of Honour, the premier order of the French Republic, on 19 May 1803. He died on 5 May 1821 at St Helena Island.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Mauritian residing in Rodrigues, Amanoola Khayrattee (pen name Alfa King) is contributing writer and journalist to La Gazette Mag de l’océan indien and This Week News Mauritius.
Retired, former meteorological cadre, trade unionist and OSH consultant, Amanoola has written for in-house union and other journals, publications and magazines. He runs two blogs since 2007: “Alfa King Memories”, and “Le Journal d’Alfa King”. When he is not reading or writing, he is on a 10+ km daily hike in anticipation of his monthly trails.
Amanoola may be reached at [email protected].