15 Nations Global Tour Wrap-Up

Profile manager: David Randall [send private message]

History of the Tour

On 1 January 2023, in celebration of WikiTree's 15th Anniversary, a team of venturous WikiTreers set out on a year-long expedition in which they travelled virtually to 15 different nations across the globe, which had been historically underrepresented on WikiTree. At each stop, they were introduced to 15 notable individuals from that country who were not yet connected to the Global Tree. The team's mission was to properly develop the profiles of each of these Notables, then add as many family profiles as possible until a connection to the global Tree could be made. Along the way the group encountered numerous challenges including foreign languages, unfamiliar alphabets, diverse naming practices, boundary changes, lost and destroyed records, and even nations where written records were often never created in the first place. It wasn't always easy, but the rewards were well worth the effort.

Our Itinerary

Here are the links to the 15 nations we visited on our expedition...

1. India
2. Argentina
3. Ukraine
4. Kenya
5. Haiti
6. Malaysia
7. Egypt
8. Panama
9. Cameroon
10. Estonia
11. Syria
12. Greece
13. Luxembourg
14. South Korea
15. Nigeria

Our Notables

On each stop of our 15 Nations Tour, we were introduced to 15 different Notables - individuals of significant fame within their own country, and often worldwide. That works out to 225 Notables we came to know on our journey. These Notables included royals and politicians, writers, activists, sports figures, entertainers, scientist, explorers, and quite a few offbeat characters. We met a renowned yoga master in India, an Argentine nurse who survived three shipwrecks (including the Titanic), a Luxembourgian who won an Olympic gold medal in sculpting and another who invented the spark plug, an American marine who became king of a Haitian island, and a South Korea movie star who was kidnapped and forced to make movies in North Korea before she was able to escape back to the South more than a decade later.

Our Successful Connections

Check here for a list of the 87 notables we able to successfully connect to the Global Tree: 15 Nations Global Tour: Connected Profiles

Unconnected Notables

The following Notables who were featured in 2023's 15 Nations Global Tour, have yet to be connected to the Global Tree. If you are able to make a connection, please leave a comment below so that we can update the table.

CC7s are up-to-date as of 15 Nov 2023.

Current World Leaders

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	1953	LIVING	Current Vice President of Argentina		Argentina	20
Paul Biya	1933	LIVING	Current President of Cameroon		Cameroon	2
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi	1954	LIVING	Current President of Egypt		Egypt	4
Alar Karis	1958	LIVING	Current President of Estonia		Estonia	5
Kaja Kallis	1977	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of Estonia		Estonia	19
Katerina Sakellaropoulou	1956	LIVING	Current President of Greece		Greece	2
Ariel Henry	1949	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of Haiti		Haiti	11
Droupadi Murmu	1958	LIVING	Current President of India		India	4
Narendra Modi	1950	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of India		India	6
William Ruto	1966	LIVING	Current President of Kenya		Kenya	3
Anwar bin Ibrahim	1947	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of Malaysia		Malaysia	2
Bola Tinubu	1952	LIVING	Current President of Nigeria		Nigeria	0
Laurentino Cortiz	1953	LIVING	Current President of Panama		Panama	3
Yoon Suk Yeol	1960	LIVING	Current President of South Korea		South Korea	3
Han Duk-soo	1949	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of South Korea		South Korea	0
Bashar al-Assad	1965	LIVING	Current President of Syria		Syria	16
Volodymyr Zelenskyy	1978	LIVING	Current President of Ukraine		Ukraine	10
Denys Shmyhal	1975	LIVING	Current Prime Minister of the Ukraine		Ukraine	1

Activists and Reformers

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Nana Asma'u	1793	1864	Fula princess, poet & teacher		Nigeria	18
Izz al-Din al-Qassam	1882	1935	Nationalist Reformer		Syria	16
Sardar Patel	1875	1950	Independence Leader		India	16
Babasaheb Ambedkar	1891	1956	Father of the Indian Republic		India	6
Yu Gwan-sun	1902	1920	Social Activist		South Korea	0
Dedan Kimathi	1920	1957	Mau Mau Rebellion leader		Kenya	5
Omar Torrijos Herrera	1929	1981	Leader of the Panamanian Revolution		Panama	4
Tom Mboya	1930	1969	Independence Leader		Kenya	10
Wangari Maathai	1940	2011	1st African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize		Kenya	2

Artists

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Hector Hyppolite	1894	1948	"Grand Master of Haitian Art"		Haiti	1
Na Hye-sok	1896	1948	feminist writer and painter		South Korea	2
Jean Carzou	1907	2000	Artist and Illustrator		Syria	4
Maqbool Husain	1915	2011	Artist		India	9
Volodymyr Dakhno	1932	2006	Animator		Ukraine	1
Quino	1932	2020	Cartoonist		Argentina	3

Business Leaders

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Lee Byung-chul	1910	1987	Samsung Founder		South Korea	14

Entertainers

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Nacisco Garay	1876	1953	Violinist, composer and diplomat		Panama	8
Nikos Kazantzakis	1883	1957	Author of Zorba the Greek, The Last Temptation of Christ		Greece	2
Alexander Vertinsky	1889	1957	Cabaret artist and actor		Ukraine	30
Sayed Darvish	1892	1923	Father of Modern Arab Music		Egypt	4
Katina Paxinou	1900	1973	Academy Award Winning Actress		Greece	4
Libertad Lamarque	1908	2000	Actress		Argentina	20
Satyjit Ray	1921	1992	Film Maker		India	29
Ester Mägi	1922	2021	First Lady of Estonian Music		Estonia	2
Dilip Kumar	1922	2021	Actor		India	44
Mikis Theodorakis	1925	2021	Composer who scored Zorba the Greek, Z, and Serpico		Greece	11
Youssef Chahine	1926	2008	Filmmaker		Egypt	1
Choi Eun-hee	1926	2018	Actress		South Korea	1
Francis Bebey	1929	2001	Musician and Writer		Cameroon	0
Hind Rostom	1929	2011	Film Actress		Egypt	2
Manu Dibango	1930	2020	Saxophonist		Cameroon	1
Oleksandr Bilash	1931	2003	Composer		Ukraine	5
Sabah Fakhri	1933	2021	Tenor		Syria	0
Mercedes Sosa	1935	2009	Folk Singer		Argentina	12
Theo Angelopoulos	1935	2012	Internationally acclaimed Filmmaker		Greece	1
Daniel Owino Misiani	1940	2006	Musician		Kenya	2
Tony Allen	1940	2020	Afrobeat Musician		Nigeria	0
Bhodan Stupka	1941	2012	Actor		Ukrain	6
Vangelis	1943	2022	Film Composer: Chariots of Fire		Greece	3
Lidiya Belozyorova	1945	2022	Actress		Ukraine	0
Ahmed Zaki	1949	2015	Film Actor		Egypt	4
Nazariy Yaremchuk	1951	1995	Singer		Ukraine	19
Sudirman Arshad	1954	1992	Singer		Malaysia	2
Sidede Onyulo	1955	2008	Actor		Kenya	2
Yasmin Ahmad	1958	2009	Filmmaker		Malaysia	2
Kim Ki-duk	1960	2020	Film Director		South Korea	0
Richard Bona	1967	LIVING	Multi-instrumentalist and singer		Cameroon	0
Wyclef Jean	1969	LIVING	Musician and Activist		Haiti	4
Shuba Jay	1976	2014	Actress lost on Malaysia Flight 17 over Ukraine		Malaysia	1

Political Leaders

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Henri I	1767	1820	King of Haiti		Haiti	22
Shukri al-Quwatli	1891	1967	First President of Post-Independence Syria		Syria	9
Mohamed Naguib	1901	1984	1st President of Egypt		Egypt	8
Seidou Njimoluh Njoya	1902	1992	Ruler of the Bamum people of Cameroon		Cameroon	9
Nnamdi Azikiwe	1904	1996	Independence leader and 1st ceremonial president		Nigeria	13
Ho Jong-suk	1908	1991	Government Official		South Korea	2
Adib al-Shishakli	1909	1964	Military Dictator		Syria	0
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa	1912	1966	Nigeria's first and only Prime Minister		Nigeria	3
Gamal Abdel Nasser	1918	1970	2nd President of Egypt		Egypt	19
Boutros Boutros-Ghail	1922	2016	United Nations General Secretary		Egypt	7
Ahmadou Ahidjo	1924	1989	First President of Cameroon		Cameroon	1
Daniel arap Moi	1924	2020	2nd President of Kenya		Kenya	3
Shehu Shagari	1925	2018	First democratically-elected President of Nigeria		Nigeria	2
Nureddin al-Atassi	1929	1992	Deposed President of Syria		Syria	0
Lennart Meri	1929	2006	1st President of Post-Soviet Estonia		Estonia	3
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	1931	2015	President of India / Rocket Scientist		India	7
Mwai Kibaki	1931	2022	3rd President of Kenya		Kenya	3
Odumegwu Ojukwu	1933	2011	President of Biafra'		Nigeria	8
Manuel Noriega	1934	2017	Panamanian Dictator and Drug Kingpin		Panama	3
Jovenel Moise	1968	2021	Recently Assassinated President of Haiti		Haiti	4

Scientists and Explorers

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Adm. Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen	1778	1852	Cartographer and Explorer		Estonia	7
Georgios Papanikolaou	1883	1962	Physician who invented the Pap smear		Greece	1
Khaled al-Assad	1932	2015	Archeologist and head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra		Syria	0
Ahmed Zewail	1946	2016	Nobel Chemist		Egypt	5
Patrick Baudry	1946	LIVING	CNES Space Shuttle Astronaut		Cameroon	0
Leonid Kadenyuk	1951	2018	Astronaut		Ukraine	6
Gen. Muhammed Faris	1951	LIVING	Cosmonaut		Syria	0
Dr. Kalpana Chawla	1962	2003	Astronaut		India	4
Dr. Shiekh Mustapha Shukor	1972	LIVING	Astronaut		Malaysia	3

Spiritual Leaders

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Andrew Kim Taegon	1821	1846	Religious Martyr		South Korea	3
Michel Aflaq	1910	1989	Philosopher, founder of Ba'athist thought		Syria	0
Dr. B.K.S. Iyengar	1918	2014	Yoga Master		India	12
Anthony Soter Fernandez	1930	2020	1st Roman Catholic Cardinal from Malaysia		Malaysia	0
Christian Tumi	1930	2021	1st Roman Catholic Cardinal from Cameroon		Cameroon	0
Max Beauvoir	1936	2015	"The Pope of Vodou"		Haiti	3

Sports Figures

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Evangelos Zappas	1800	1865	Founder of the Modern Olympic Games		Greece	5
Spyridon Louis	1873	1940	Winner of the first modern-day Olympic marathon		Greece	3
Lyudmila Rudenko	1904	1986	Chess Player		Ukraine	4
Dhyan Chand	1905	1979	Field Hockey Player		India	7
Nam Sung-yong	1912	2001	Olympic Athlete		South Korea	0
Mas Oyama	1923	1994	Matial Artist		South Korea	5
Tamara Press	1937	2021	Olympic Athlete		Ukraine	3
Valeriy Lobanovsky	1939	2002	Footballer		Ukraine	6
Louis Pilot	1940	2016	Champion Footballer		Luxembourg	0
Naftali Temu	1945	2003	Kenya's 1st Olympic Gold Medalist		Kenya	0
Tan Aik Mong	1950	2020	Badminton Player		Malaysia	2
Mokhtar Dahari	1953	1991	Footballer		Malaysia	2
Roberto Duran	1951	LIVING	Boxer		Panama	14
Rashidi Yekini	1963	2012	Footballer		Nigeria	0
Sunday Bada	1969	2011	Olympic Sprinter		Nigeria	0
Marc-Vivian Foé	1975	2003	Professional Footballer		Cameroon	0
Françoise Mbango Etone	1976	LIVING	Olympic gold medal track and field athlete		Cameroon	0
Emiliano Sala	1990	2019	Footballer		Argentina	2
Joel Embiid	1994	LIVING	Professional Basketball Player		Cameroon	3

Writers and Journalist

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Nation	CC7
Munshi Abdullah	1796	1859	The "father" of modern Malay literature.		Malaysia	9
Friedrick Reinhold Kreutzwald	1803	1882	Author		Estonia	5
Amelia Denis de Icaza	1836	1911	First female poet of Panama		Panama	4
Mykhailo Hrushevsky	1866	1934	Poet, Playwright, Activist		Ukraine	24
A.H. Tammsaare	1878	1940	Writer		Estonia	8
Marie Under	1883	1980	Poet		Estonia	11
Taha Hussein	1889	1973	Writer and Intellectual		Egypt	64
R.K. Narayan	1906	2001	Writer		India	8
Odysseas Alepoudellis	1911	1996	Nobel Prize Winning Poet		Greece	5
Amos Tutuola	1920	1997	Writer who wrote books based in part on Yoruba folk-tales.		Nigeria	2
Pavlo Zahrebelnyi	1924	2009	Novelist		Ukraine	1
Chinua Achebe	1930	2013	Author known as the "Father of Modern African Literature"		Nigeria	4
Flora Nwapa	1931	1993	Author known as the "Mother of Modern African Literature"		Nigeria	2
Mongo Beti	1932	2001	Novelist		Cameroon	1
Mohammed Amin	1943	1996	Photojournalist		Kenya	1
Buchi Emecheta	1944	2017	Novelist and Children's Author		Nigeria	2