Famous people from Peru
Here is a list of famous people from Peru. Curious if anybody from Peru made it our most famous people in the world list? Read the aformentioned article in order to find out.
Claudio Pizarro
Soccer
Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio is a Peruvian football striker who plays for Bayern Munich. He is known for his scoring ability and headers. On 23 October 2010, Pizarro surpassed the 133 goals record previously reached by Giovane Élber, making him the top foreign scorer in German football history, when he scored with his team, Werder Bremen against Borussia Mönchengladbach. As of September 2013, Pizarro is the ninth most successful striker in the history of the Bundesliga with 167 goals.
Isabel Allende
Novelist
Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts, which have been commercially successful. Allende has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author". In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2010, she received Chile's National Literature Prize. Allende's novels are often based upon her personal experience and pay homage to the lives of women, while weaving together elements of myth and realism. She has lectured and toured many American colleges to teach literature. Fluent in English as a second language, Allende was granted American citizenship in 2003, having lived in California with her American husband since 1989.
Carlos Castaneda
Author
Carlos Arana Castaneda was a Peruvian-American author with a Ph.D. in anthropology. Starting with The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968, Castaneda wrote a series of books that describe his alleged training in shamanism. The books, narrated in the first person, relate his supposed experiences under the tutelage of a Yaqui "Man of Knowledge" named Don Juan Matus. His 11 books have sold more than 28 million copies in 17 languages. Critics have suggested that they are works of fiction; supporters claim the books are either true or at least valuable works of philosophy and descriptions of practices which enable an increased awareness. Castaneda withdrew from public view in 1973 to work further on his inner development, living in a large house with three women who were ready to cut their ties to family and changed their names. He founded Cleargreen, an organization that promoted tensegrity, purportedly a traditional Toltec regimen of spiritually powerful exercises.
Alberto Fujimori
Politician
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori served as President of Peru from 28 July 1990 to 17 November 2000. A controversial figure, Fujimori has been credited with the creation of Fujimorism, uprooting terrorism in Peru and restoring its macroeconomic stability. However, he was criticized for his authoritarian way of ruling the country and was accused of human rights violations. Even amid his prosecution in 2008 for crimes against humanity relating to his presidency, two-thirds of Peruvians polled voiced approval for his leadership in that period. A Peruvian of Japanese descent, Fujimori fled to Japan in 2000 amid a corruption scandal, where he attempted to resign his presidency. His resignation was rejected by the Congress of the Republic, which preferred to remove him from office by the process of impeachment. Wanted in Peru on charges of corruption and human rights abuses, Fujimori maintained a self-imposed exile until his arrest during a visit to Chile in November 2005. He was finally extradited to face criminal charges in Peru in September 2007. In December 2007, Fujimori was convicted of ordering an illegal search and seizure, and was sentenced to six years in prison. The Supreme Court upheld the decision upon his appeal.
César Vallejo
Poet
César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only three books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators of the 20th century in any language. He was always a step ahead of literary currents, and each of his books was distinct from the others, and, in its own sense, revolutionary. Thomas Merton called him "the greatest universal poet since Dante". The late British poet, critic and biographer Martin Seymour-Smith, a leading authority on world literature, called Vallejo "...the greatest twentieth-century poet in any language." He was a member of the intellectual community called North Group formed in Trujillo city. Clayton Eshleman and José Rubia Barcia's translation of The Complete Posthumous Poetry of César Vallejo won the National Book Award for translation in 1979.
Lina Medina
Woman
Lina Medina is the youngest confirmed mother in medical history, giving birth at the age of five years, seven months and 17 days. She presently lives in Lima, the capital of Peru.
Yma Súmac
Exotica Artist
Yma Sumac was a Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music. She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.
Paolo Guerrero
Soccer
José Paolo Guerrero Gonzales is a Peruvian footballer, who plays for Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and the Peruvian national team. Guerrero is known to be a skillful supporting forward who displays good hold up play and passing abilities.
Jefferson Farfán
Soccer
Jefferson Agustín Farfán Guadalupe is a Peruvian football winger, playing for FC Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.
Rose of Lima
Deceased Person
Rose of Lima, T.O.S.D., a Spanish colonist in Lima, Peru, who became known for both her life of severe asceticism and her care of the needy of the city through her own private efforts. A lay member of the Dominican Order, she was the first person born in the Americas to be canonized by the Catholic Church.
Alan García
Politician
Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez is a Peruvian lawyer, sociologist and politician. He was the President of Peru from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He is the leader of the Peruvian Aprista Party and the only party member ever to have served as President. His first term was marked by a severe economic crisis, social unrest and violence. He ran unsuccessfully for the Presidency in 2001, losing in a run-off to Alejandro Toledo. During his second term Peru averaged seven percent GDP growth a year, held inflation below three percent annually and collated Peru's foreign exchange reserves at US$47 billion; however his tenureship also resulted in increased environment damage according to critics and increased social conflict, according to the national human rights ombudsman's office.
Ollanta Humala
Politician
Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso is a Peruvian politician and the President of Peru. A former army officer, Humala lost the presidential election in 2006 but won the 2011 presidential election in a run-off vote. He was elected as President of Peru in the second round, defeating Keiko Fujimori. The son of Isaac Humala, a labour lawyer, Humala entered the Peruvian Army in 1982. In the military he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; in 1992 he fought in the internal conflict against the Shining Path and three years later he participated in the Cenepa War against Ecuador. In October 2000, Humala led an unsuccessful military revolt by 39 soldiers in the southern city of Tacna against President Alberto Fujimori; he was pardoned by the Peruvian Congress after the downfall of the Fujimori regime. In 2005 he founded the Peruvian Nationalist Party and registered to run in the 2006 presidential election. The nomination was made under the Union for Peru ticket as the Nationalist party did not achieve its electoral inscription on time. He passed the first round of the elections, held on April 9, 2006, with 30.62% of the valid votes. A runoff was held on June 4 between Humala and Alan García of the Peruvian Aprista Party. Humala lost this round with 47.47% of the valid votes versus 52.62% for García. After his defeat, Humala remained as an important figure within Peruvian politics.
Juan Manuel Vargas
Soccer Midfielder
Juan Manuel Vargas Risco is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a winger for Serie A club Fiorentina. His previous clubs include Universitario, Colón and Catania. He has represented Peru at international level.
Henry Ian Cusick
Actor
Henry Ian Cusick Chávez is a Scottish-Peruvian stage, television, and film actor. He is well known for his role as Desmond Hume on the U.S. television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He starred in the ABC drama Scandal, as Stephen Finch, but did not return for the second season.
Túpac Amaru II
Deceased Person
José Gabriel Túpac Amaru — known as Túpac Amaru II — was a leader of an indigenous uprising in 1780 against the Spanish in Peru. Although unsuccessful, he later became a mythical figure in the Peruvian struggle for independence and indigenous rights movement and an inspiration to a myriad of causes in Peru. Túpac Amaru II was born José Gabriel Condorcanqui in Surimana, Tungasuca, in the province of Cuzco, and received a Jesuit education at the San Francisco de Borja School, although he maintained a strong identification with the indigenous population. He was a mestizo who claimed to be a direct descendant of the last Inca ruler Túpac Amaru. He had been honored by the Spanish authorities of Peru with the title of Marquis of Oropesa, a position that allowed him some voice and political leverage during Spanish rule. Between 1741 and 1780 Amaru II went into litigation with the Betancur family over the right of succession of the Marquisate of Oropesa and lost the case. In 1760, he married Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua of Afro-Peruvian and indigenous descent. Condorcanqui inherited the caciqueship, or hereditary chiefdom of Tungasuca and Pampamarca from his older brother, governing on behalf of the Spanish governor.
Sanath Jayasuriya
Cricket Bowler
Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a current member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya was an all-rounder, who had an international cricket career that spread over two decades. He is the only player to score over 12,000 runs and capture more than 300 wickets in One Day Internationals, and hence regarded as one of the best all rounders in the history of Limited overs cricket. He was named the Most Valuable Player of 1996 Cricket World Cup and Wisden Cricketers' Almanack broke an age old tradition by naming him one of Five Cricketers’ of the Year 1997 despite not playing the previous season in England. Jayasuriya was also the captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1999 to 2003. He retired from test cricket in December 2007 and from limited overs cricket in June 2011.Sanath Jayasuriya has the distinction of playing in third most ODI matches in which his team was on winning side,just behind Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. Sri Lanka Cricket appointed him as the chairman of cricket selecting committee on 28 January 2013. Jayasuriya ran for public office at the 2010 Sri Lankan general elections and was elected to the parliament from his native Matara District. He topped the UPFA parliamentary election list for Matara district by obtaining 74,352 preferential votes.
Alejandro Toledo
Politician
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique is a politician who was President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in April 2001, defeating former President Alan García. Toledo came to international prominence after leading the opposition against President Alberto Fujimori, who held the presidency from 1990 to 2000.
Garcilaso de la Vega
Historian
Garcilaso de la Vega, born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa and known as El Inca, was a chronicler and writer from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. The son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman, he is recognized primarily for his contributions to Inca history, culture, and society. Although not all scholars agree, many consider Garcilaso's accounts the most complete and accurate available.
Christian Meier
Actor
Christian Dietrich Meier Zender is a well-known Peruvian actor and singer in Latin America, the US Hispanic market, and around the Spanish speaking world.
Nathalie Kelley
Actor
Nathalie Kelley is an Actor.
Gianmarco Zignago
Pop Artist
Gian Marco Javier Zignago Alcóver is a Peruvian singer-songwriter. He has won the Latin Grammy Award to the Best Singer-Songwriter Album three times. First in 2005 for his Album "Resucitar", in 2011 for his Album "Días Nuevos", and in 2012 for his Album "20 Años". Gian Marco was named UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in Peru. His mother is the well-known Peruvian actress and singer María Regina Alcóver Ureta, and his father was the late Peruvian composer and singer Javier Óscar Florencio Zignago Viñas, known in the musical world as Joe Danova.
Martin de Porres
Deceased Person
Martin de Porres, O.P., was a lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony. He was noted for work on behalf of the poor, establishing an orphanage and a children's hospital. He maintained an austere lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat. Among the many miracles attributed to him were those of levitation, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and an ability to communicate with animals.
Mario Testino
Photographer
Mario Testino is a Peruvian fashion photographer. His work has been featured in magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. His career highpoint came when he was chosen by Diana, Princess of Wales, for her Vanity Fair photoshoot in 1997. Testino has been regularly employed by the British royal family ever since. Aaron Hicklin of The Observer described him as "the world's most prolific magazine and fashion trade photographer". His persistence in shooting Gisele Bündchen is widely credited with elevating her to supermodel status.
Laura Chinchilla
Politician
Laura Chinchilla Miranda is a Costa Rican politician and the first female President of Costa Rica. She was one of Óscar Arias Sánchez's two Vice-Presidents and his administration's Minister of Justice. She was the governing PLN candidate for President in the 2010 general election, where she won with 46.76% of the vote. She is the sixth woman to be elected president of a Latin American country and the first woman to become president of Costa Rica. She was sworn in as president of Costa Rica on May 8, 2010.
Juan Diego Flórez
Singer
Juan Diego Flórez Salom is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú.
Alexis Amore
Pornographic actor
Alexis Amore is the stage name of a Peruvian-born pornographic actress, erotic dancer and model. She moved to the United States when she was nine, and speaks and writes fluent Spanish. She says she is the second most Googled person in Peru, after the president. In January 2003, she re-entered the industry after a short break, and signed exclusively with Jill Kelly Productions and began in February 2003. She eventually left the company and, in June 2004 she signed an acting and directing deal with Anabolic Video under which she would direct eight to ten movies and star in six films a year. This made her Anabolic's first 'contract girl'. Her family is aware of her career and support it. In 2005 she became the Video Team spokeswoman and exclusive contract performer. Alexis Amore is also known as the “Peruvian Princess,”. She was to be the central talent for Video Team's Ethnicity Films line, which specialized in Latin, African-American and interracial titles. She is to represent Video Team at press events, signings and meet-and-greet shows with fans. At this time she had over 300 films to credit in the adult industry. Since early 2006, Amore has infrequently written for AVN Insider, is a contract girl for Metro/Video Team, and has a sex-toys contract with California Exotic Novelties.
Jaime Bayly
Journalist
Jaime Bayly Letts is a Peruvian writer, journalist and television personality. He is the third of 10 children and is known as "el niño terrible". He has won the Emmy Award 3 times and 2 of his books have been adapted into international movies.
Hans Gildemeister
Tennis Player
Hans Gildemeister Bohner, is a former Chilean tennis player of German ancestry, who won four singles and 23 doubles titles during his professional career. He is the brother of Heinz and Fritz Gildemeister, who are also tennis players. The right-hander reached his highest singles ATP ranking on February 22, 1980, when he became World No. 12. He is the current captain of the Chilean Davis Cup team.
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Diplomat
Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully against Alberto Fujimori for President of Peru. He was President of the Council of Ministers, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2000 until July 2001, during the turbulent period following Fujimori's resignation over corruption charges. In September 2004, he stepped down from his position as Peru's Ambassador to France, where he formerly resided. With the death of Kurt Waldheim in June 2007, he became the oldest former Secretary General of the United Nations. He is also a member of the Club de Madrid, a group of more than 80 former Presidents and Prime Ministers of democratic countries, which works to strengthen democracy worldwide.
Fernando Belaúnde Terry
Politician
Fernando Belaúnde Terry was President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms. Deposed by a military coup in 1968, he was re-elected in 1980 after eleven years of military rule. He was recognized for his personal integrity and his commitment to the democratic process.
Andrés Avelino Cáceres
Military Commander
Andrés Avelino Cáceres Dorregaray was three times President of Peru during the 19th century, from 1884 to 1885, then from 1886 to 1890, and again from 1894 to 1895. In Peru, he is considered a national hero for leading the resistance to Chilean occupation during the War of the Pacific, where he fought as a General in the Peruvian Army.
Juan Velasco Alvarado
Politician
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado was a left- wing Peruvian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government."
Boris Vallejo
Illustrator
Boris Vallejo is a Peruvian-born American painter. He immigrated to the United States in 1964, and he currently resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He frequently works with Julie Bell, his wife, painter, and model. Vallejo works almost exclusively in the fantasy and erotica genres. His hyper-representational paintings have graced the covers of dozens of science fiction paperbacks and are featured in a series of best-selling glossy calendars. Subjects of his paintings are typically Sword and sorcery gods, monsters, and well-muscled male and female barbarians engaged in battle. Some of his male figures were modeled by Vallejo himself, and many of his later female characters were modeled by his wife. His latest works still retain heavy fantasy elements, but lean more towards the erotic rather than pure fantasy themes.
Rinaldo Cruzado
Soccer Midfielder
Paulo Rinaldo Cruzado Durand is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Argentinian Primera División club Newell's Old Boys and the Peruvian national team.
Nolberto Solano
Soccer Midfielder
Nolberto Albino "Ñol" Solano Todco, commonly known as Nobby Solano, is a retired Peruvian professional footballer, and former manager of Peruvian Primera División club Universitario de Deportes. He has spent much of his playing career in the English Premier League and also played 95 times for Peru between 1994 and 2009. He is a popular figure in his native Peru, where he is seen as one of the most famous Peruvians, appearing on telephone cards and having his wedding televised live. His talents in football range from accurate crosses to accomplished dead-ball skills and he has traditionally played either on the right side of midfield, or as a right back during his career. He is the first choice player to take corner and direct free kicks. Solano is the first Peruvian to play in the Premier League and the FA Cup Final. He is also an accomplished trumpet player and has set up his own Salsa band, The Geordie Latinos. He has described himself as an "adopted Geordie."
José Carlos Mariátegui
Author
José Carlos Mariátegui La Chira was a Peruvian journalist, political philosopher, and activist. A prolific writer before his early death at age 35, he is considered one of the most influential Latin American socialists of the 20th century. Mariátegui's most famous work, Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality, is still widely read in South America. An avowed, self-taught Marxist, he insisted that a socialist revolution should evolve organically in Latin America on the basis of local conditions and practices, not the result of mechanically applying a European formula.
Abimael Guzmán
Organization founder
Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reynoso, also known by the nom de guerre Presidente Gonzalo, a former professor of philosophy, was the leader of the Shining Path during the Maoist insurgency known as the internal conflict in Peru. Shining Path had been active in Peru since the late 1970s and began what it called "the armed struggle" on 17 May 1980. Wanted on charges of terrorism and treason, Guzmán was captured by the Peruvian government in 1992 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is currently incarcerated at the Callao naval base, near the city of Lima, Peru. While the activity of the insurgency increased shortly after Guzmán's capture, it has declined in the years following. It has been criticized for its violence against peasants, trade union organizers, and elected officials, which were deemed by the group to be collaborating with the Peruvian state. Shining Path is on the U.S. Department of State's "Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations" list. The European Union, and Peru likewise describe Shining Path as a terrorist group and prohibit providing funding or other financial support.
Ricardo Palma
Author
Manuel Ricardo Palma Soriano was a Peruvian author, scholar, librarian and politician. His magnum opus is the Tradiciones peruanas.
Luis Horna
Tennis Player
Luis Horna Biscari is a former tour professional tennis player from Peru, who turned professional in 1998. Horna plays right-handed, he has a strong serve for a relatively short player and the forehand is his best stroke. He uses a single-handed backhand and his favourite surface is clay, which he won his 2 career singles titles on. He was the Men's Doubles champion of the 2008 French Open with his Uruguayan teammate Pablo Cuevas.
Teófilo Cubillas
Soccer Midfielder
Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga is a Peruvian former footballer. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50. He is one of only two players to have scored five goals in two different FIFA World Cups. Nicknamed El Nene, he was part of the Peru national team that won the 1975 Copa América. He helped Peru reach the quarter finals at the 1970 FIFA World Cup and again at the 1978 World Cup and was elected the South American Footballer of the Year in 1972. He is the all-time leading scorer for his country, with 26 goals in 81 matches.In 2004 Pelé selected Cubillas as one of the FIFA 100, a list of 125 footballing greats. In February 2008, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Brazilian World Cup victory, he was selected in the All-Star First Team of South America of the past 50 years.
Susana Baca
Singer
Susana Esther Baca de la Colina is a prominent Peruvian singer-songwriter; two-times Latin Grammy Award winner. She has been a key figure in the revival of Afro-Peruvian music. In July 2011, she was named Peru's Minister of Culture in the Ollanta Humala government. becoming the second Afro-Peruvian cabinet minister in the history of independent Peru. In November 2011 she was elected for the OAS to be the President of the Commission of Culture for the period 2011 - 2013.
Miguel Grau Seminario
Military Commander
Miguel María Grau Seminario was a renowned Peruvian naval officer and hero of the Naval Battle of Angamos during the War of the Pacific. He was known as el Caballero de los Mares for his chivalry and is esteemed by both Peruvians and Chileans. He is an iconic figure for the Peruvian Navy, and one of the most famous merchant marine and naval military leaders of America.
Daniel Hannan
Politician
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party. He is also the Secretary-General of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists. An advocate of localism and a Eurosceptic, Hannan earned worldwide fame for making a speech in the European Parliament criticising Gordon Brown. After stints as a speech-writer for Michael Howard and William Hague, Hannan was elected to the European Parliament at the 1999 election. He led the campaign to withdraw the Conservative Party from the EPP–ED, and was expelled from the group in 2008. Hannan joined the European Conservatives and Reformists with his Conservative colleagues when it was formed in 2009 and became Secretary-General of its sister Europarty, the AECR. He currently serves on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. He is also President of the Young Britons' Foundation and a patron of Reading University Conservative Association. Hannan's ideology is localism, and he has written several books arguing for democratic reform. He is a Eurosceptic and is strongly critical of European integration. Besides politics, Hannan is a journalist, having written leaders and currently authoring a blog for The Daily Telegraph and several books on both the EU and localism. Having been born in Peru, Hannan speaks Spanish and French fluently. He occasionally delivers speeches to the European Parliament in Spanish.
Vladimiro Montesinos
Politician
Vladimiro Ilich Montesinos Torres was the long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional, under President Alberto Fujimori. In 2000, secret videos, which he had recorded, were televised that showed his bribing an elected congressman to leave the opposition and join the Fujimorist side of Congress. The ensuing scandal caused Montesinos to flee the country and hastened the resignation of Fujimori. Subsequent investigations revealed Montesinos to be at the centre of a vast web of illegal activities, including embezzlement, graft, gunrunning, and drug trafficking. He has been tried, convicted and sentenced for numerous charges. Montesinos had strong connections with the CIA, the United States international intelligence Agency, and was said to have received $10 million from the agency for his government's anti-terrorist activities. Montesinos is cousin of the incarcerated terrorist leader Óscar Ramírez Durand, a.k.a "Feliciano".
José María Arguedas
Novelist
José María Arguedas Altamirano was a Peruvian novelist, poet, and anthropologist. Arguedas was a mestizo of Spanish and Quechua descent who wrote novels, short stories, and poems in both Spanish and Quechua . Generally remembered as one of the most notable figures of 20th-century Peruvian literature, Arguedas is especially recognized for his intimate portrayals of indigenous Andean culture. Key in his desire to depict indigenous expression and perspective more authentically was his creation of a new language that blended Spanish and Quechua and premiered in his debut novel Yawar Fiesta.
Teodoro Fernández
Soccer
Teodoro Fernández Meyzán, nicknamed "Lolo", was a Peruvian football striker. Arguably one of Peru's two most important football players, he was part of the Peruvian squad that reached quarter-finals in the 1936 Olympic Games and won the 1939 Copa America, a tournament in which he emerged as the top scorer. He was captain of the Peruvian national team between 1935 and 1947. Fernández is the most emblematic player in the history of club Universitario de Deportes for which he played his whole career, winning six times the Peruvian league. Known as "El Cañonero", due to his excellence as a centre-forward and his strong shooting, Fernández was the Peruvian league's top-scorer seven times.
Laura Bozzo
Lawyer
Laura Bozzo is a Peruvian talk show host and lawyer, best known for her Spanish-language talk show Laura that is being broadcast in the United States on the Televisa television network. Bozzo has hosted other talk shows under her name, including Laura en América, back in the 1990s to early 2000s. Her talk shows have been compared to the American English-language Jerry Springer Show due to the fights that regularly occur as well as the sensitive subject matter routinely discussed. In 2008, a scandal erupted when it was discovered by the Peruvian press, led by important figures such as Jaime Bayly, that some of the shows provided by Laura Bozzo were fake and therefore did not show the true society of Peru.
Augusto B. Leguía
Politician
Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo was a Peruvian politician who twice occupied the Presidency of Peru, from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930.
Leslie Shaw
Pop rock Artist
Leslie Ann Shaw Thays musically known as "Shaw" is a Peruvian model, singer, dancer and actress. She is best known for representing Peru in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival and being the Runner-Up on the first season of El Gran Show 2011.
Julio Lores
Football player
Julio Lores Colán was a Peruvian football forward who played for Peru in the 1930 FIFA World Cup. He also played for Ciclista Lima Association. Later, he played for the mexican club Necaxa and he was part of “los once hermanos”.
Pedro Suárez Vértiz
Pop rock Artist
Pedro Martín José María Suárez-Vértiz Alva is a Peruvian singer-songwriter-guitarist. He founded the popular rock band Arena Hash with his brother Patricio, Arturo Pomar and Christian Meier in 1987; a few years later, the band broke up and Vértiz began his solo career. He is the winner of Orgullosamente Latino 2004 and winner of the Best Latin Soloist of the Year in Mexico. He is well known for his multitudinous concerts, his vocal rhythm, his extensive guitar collection, his null alcohol and tobacco intake, his philanthropy and his personality.
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre
Politician
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre was a Peruvian political leader who founded the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance political movement. He was considered the most important Peruvian intellectual of 20th century in his country.
Manuel A. Odría
Politician
Manuel Arturo Odría Amoretti was the President of Peru from 1948 to 1956. Manuel Odría was born in 1896 in Tarma, a city in the central Andes just east of Lima. He graduated first in his class from the Chorillos Military Academy in 1915. He joined the army and as a Lieutenant Colonel was a war hero in the 1941 Ecuadorian-Peruvian war. He soon achieved the rank of Major General. In 1945, José Bustamante had attained the presidency with the help of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance. Soon, major disagreements arose between Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, the founder of APRA, and President Bustamante. The President disbanded his Aprista cabinet and replaced it with a mostly military one. Odría, a fierce opponent of APRA, was appointed Minister of Government and Police. In 1948, Odría and other right-wing elements urged Bustamante to ban APRA. When the President refused, Odría resigned his post. On October 27, 1948, he led a successful military coup against the government and took over as president. After two years, he resigned and had one of his colleagues, Zenón Noriega, take office as a puppet president so he could run for president as a civilian. He was duly elected a month later as the only candidate.
Yordy Reyna
Soccer Midfielder
Yordy Reyna is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a striker for Red Bull Salzburg, in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Manco Inca Yupanqui
Deceased Person
Manco Inca Yupanqui was one of the Incas of Vilcabamba. He was also known as "Manco II" and "Manco Cápac II". Born in 1516, he was one of the sons of Huayna Cápac. Túpac Huallpa was a puppet ruler crowned by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro. Manco Inca then approached Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro in Cajamarca to negotiate a pact to rule the Inca peoples and Peru since all of the royal nobles were dead. The conquistadors agreed, and in 1534 Manco was crowned the ruler of the Inca in Cuzco by Francisco Pizarro, and allowed to rule his people. He did not realize that he too was being used by Pizarro as a puppet ruler for the Spanish conquistadors, who planned to conquer his country and its people. At first, Manco cooperated with the Spanish, befriending them and offering them gold treasures and women as gifts. However, when Pizarro and de Almagro left Cuzco to explore the northern and southern parts of Peru, he left his younger brothers Gonzalo Pizarro, Juan Pizarro and Hernando Pizarro as garrisons in the city of Cuzco. The Pizarro brothers so mistreated Manco Inca that he ultimately tried to escape in December 1535. He failed, was captured and imprisoned but released two months later by the Spaniards, to please their Inca subjects, dismayed by the fact that their de jure leader was imprisoned. Under the pretense of performing religious ceremonies in the nearby Yucay valley and recovering golden artifacts for the Spanish occupants, Manco was able to escape from Cuzco on April 18, this time with success.
Karina
Latin pop Artist
Karina is a Venezuelan Latin pop music singer, songwriter, and actress. Her first major appearance was singing one of the roles in the play entitled El Taller Del Orfebre, a Venezuelan musical adaption of Karol Wojtyla's play entitled The Jeweller's Shop. Karina sang the song, "Zapatos De Tacón Alto". Other well-known singers who were part of this production included Guillermo Dávila, Melissa, and Guillermo Carrasco.
Ciro Alegría
Novelist
Ciro Alegría Bazán was a Peruvian journalist, politician, and novelist.
Alberto Vargas
Painting Artist
Alberto Vargas was a noted Peruvian painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists. Numerous Vargas paintings have sold and continue to sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Vivien Thomas
Surgeon
Vivien Theodore Thomas was an African-American surgical technician who developed the procedures used to treat blue baby syndrome in the 1940s. He was an assistant to surgeon Alfred Blalock in Blalock's experimental animal laboratory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and later at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Without any education past high school, Thomas rose above poverty and racism to become a cardiac surgery pioneer and a teacher of operative techniques to many of the country's most prominent surgeons. Vivien Thomas was the first African American without a doctorate to perform open heart surgery on a white patient in the United States. There is a television film based on his life entitled Something The Lord Made and it premiered in May 2004 on HBO.
Alex Acuña
Jazz fusion Artist
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style. Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved to Puerto Rico. In 1974 Acuña moved to Las Vegas, working with artists such as Elvis Presley and Diana Ross, and the following year he joined the jazz-fusion group Weather Report, appearing on the albums Black Market and Heavy Weather. Acuña left Weather Report in 1978, and became a session musician in California, recording and playing live with Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, Jim Walker, Chick Corea, Whitney Houston, Plácido Domingo, Phil Keaggy, Sergeant Petter, Sam Phillips, former Weather Report bandmates Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Beck, Roberta Flack, U2, Al Jarreau and Don Moen. He can be found on recordings by musicians as culturally diverse as Javier Malosetti, Lee Ritenour, Peter Gabriel, Johnny Clegg, Robbie Robertson, Jackson Browne and Flavio Sala. In the 1980s Acuña also recorded and toured with the Christian jazz band Koinonia, which featured session musicians Abraham Laboriel, Justo Almario, Hadley Hockensmith, Harlan Rogers, and Bill Maxwell. He played on Willy DeVille's Crow Jane Alley album and in 1987 he teamed up with Elvis Presley's TCB Band for the Roy Orbison TV special "A Black and White Night". He played percussion on Blondie's number one hit "The Tide Is High".
Francisco Bolognesi
Deceased Person
Francisco Bolognesi Cervantes was a Peruvian military hero. He is considered national hero in Peru and was declared patron of the Army of Peru by the government of Peru on January 2 of 1951.
Nicolás de Piérola
Politician
H.E. Don Jose Nicolás Baltasar Fernández de Piérola y Villena was a prominent Peruvian politician, the Finance Minister and twice President of the Republic of Peru.
Carlos Zambrano
Soccer
Carlos Augusto Zambrano Ochandarte is a Peruvian footballer who plays for Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt. He is known for his strong tackle and excellent defensive capabilities, being a centre-back he had scored numerous goals in his youth career as well as in senior career.
Rajesh Hamal
Actor
Rajesh Hamal is a Nepalese actor. He has received many awards for his acting including the National Film Awards For "Best Actor Debut" in 1989 for Yug Dekhi Yug Samma and other 12 National Film Awards in "Best Actor" category. He has also been nominated for National Film Awards For "Best Supporting Actor" in 1994 film "Paribhasa" and National Film Awards For "Best Actor Award In Comic Role" for 1998 film "Mr Ram Krishne" and 2010 film Hath Ma Lagyo Sunya. Among these, he had been Honoured by Nepal Government, Nepal Film Association and also by KTV Film Awards for his contribution for Nepali films. And he is often called as "Maha-Nayak" for his contribution to Nepali Cinema.
Gaston Acurio
Businessperson
Gastón Acurio Jaramillo is a Peruvian chef and ambassador of Peruvian cuisine. He is owner of restaurants in several countries and is the author of several books. In Peru he is the host of his own television program and contributes to a few magazines.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Priest
Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, O.P., is a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as the founder of Liberation Theology. He holds the John Cardinal O'Hara Professorship of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He began studying in the faculty of medicine of the National University of San Marcos in Peru in order to become a psychiatrist, then he realized he wanted to become a priest. He has been professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a visiting professor at many major universities in North America and Europe. Gutiérrez is also a member of the Peruvian Academy of Language, and in 1993 he was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for his tireless work. In 2002 Gutiérrez was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2003 he received the prestigious Príncipe de Asturias award. He has also published in and been a member of the board of directors of the international journal, Concilium. Gutierrez spent much of his life living and working among the poor and oppressed of Lima. He has studied medicine and literature, psychology and philosophy, and obtained a doctorate at the Institut Pastoral d'Etudes Religieuses, Université Catholique in Lyon.
José Santos Chocano
Author
José Santos Chocano Gastañodi was a Peruvian poet and political activist, whose work was widely praised across Europe and Latin America. Chocano interacted with major Spanish poets, as well as statesmen from many different regimes, where he was treated as a poet laureate. He claimed to have rediscovered Latin America through verse in his 1906 collection 'Alma América', which carried an introduction by the distinguished philosopher-poet Miguel de Unamuno. Chocano was involved in many violent feuds with other intellectuals, and was jailed for shooting a journalist who had criticised him. In his turn, Chocano was stabbed to death on a tram in Santiago de Chile by an unknown assailant.
Agustín Gamarra
Soldier
Agustín Gamarra Messia was a Peruvian soldier and politician, becoming twice President of Peru from 1829 to 1833 and from 1838 to 1841. Gamarra was a Mestizo, being of mixed Spanish and Quechua descent. He had a military life since childhood, battling against the royalist forces. He then joined the cause of Independence as second in command after Andrés de Santa Cruz. He also participated in the Battle of Ayacucho, and was later named Chief of State. After the invasion of Bolivia in 1828, he was named a mariscal, a highly-esteemed military officer. After the defeat of José de la Mar in Gran Colombia, Gamarra urged his overthrow and assumed the presidency for a brief period after Antonio Gutiérrez de la Fuente. The peace treaty with Gran Colombia was also signed during Gamarra's government.
Tania Libertad
Singer
Tania Libertad de Souza Zúñiga, better known as Tania Libertad, is a Peruvian singer who has lived in Mexico since 1978. Considered as one of the greatest singers in Latin America today, she has been named an Ambassador for Peace by UNESCO, Comendadora by the Peruvian government, and a member of the Order of Rio Branco by the Brazilian government. In 2009, she received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for musical excellence to honor her outstanding career. She has recorded 38 albums and has sold over 40 million copies. In early 2012, she began celebrating 50 years as a performer with two sold-out performances at the Palacio de Bellas Artes-Mexico City's most prestigious concert hall-and began an extensive tour throughout Latin America.
Valentín Paniagua
Politician
Valentín Paniagua Corazao was a Peruvian politician and former Interim President of Peru. Paniagua was elected by the Peruvian Congress to serve as interim president of the country after Alberto Fujimori was ousted from office by Congress in November 2000. As Interim President, his main task was to organize new elections, after which, in July 2001, he stood down from the presidency. Paniagua was a longtime member and served as Secretary General of Acción Popular.
Chabuca Granda
Singer-songwriter
María Isabel Granda Larco, better known as Chabuca Granda, was a Peruvian singer and composer. She created and interpreted a vast number of Criollo waltzes with Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Her best known song is "La flor de la canela".
José del Solar
Soccer Midfielder
José Guillermo del Solar Alvarez-Calderón is a Peruvian retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and a current coach. During his playing career, spent in four different countries – namely in Spain, where he collected 148 La Liga appearances in six seasons – he was nicknamed Chemo.
Keiko Fujimori
Politician
Keiko Fujimori is a Peruvian Fujimorista politician, daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and Susana Higuchi. She served as First Lady, from 1994 to 2000, after her parents divorced, becoming the youngest First Lady in the history of the Americas. She then became a member of the Peruvian legislature. Fujimori leads the right-wing party Fuerza 2011, and lost her bid for the presidency in the 2011 Peruvian election runoff of June 5, 2011.
María Julia Mantilla
Award competitor
María Julia “Maju” Mantilla García is a Peruvian beauty queen who became the second woman from Peru to be crowned Miss World.
Julio C. Tello
Deceased Person
Julio César Tello was a Peruvian archaeologist. Tello is considered the "father of Peruvian archeology" and was America's first indigenous archaeologist. He made the major discoveries of the prehistoric Paracas culture and founded a national museum of archeology.
Hernán Rengifo
Soccer
Hernán Rengifo Trigoso is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a striker in the Turkish Süper Lig for Sivasspor.
Raúl Fernández
Soccer
Raúl Fernández Valverde is a professional Peruvian football goalkeeper. He started to play for the youth team of Universitario de Deportes and made his way to the first-team. He is currently playing for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer. He is noted for his great dexterity and reflexes. He is also goalkeeper of the Peru national football team.
Hugo Sotil
Soccer Midfielder
Hugo Alejandro Sotil Yerén is a Peruvian former professional football player. Nicknamed El Cholo, he played as a striker or midfielder. Together with Teófilo Cubillas and Héctor Chumpitaz, he was one of Peru's most recognized football players of the 1970s. He also was a popular player in Peru, and a biopic on his life was released in that decade. He was part of the Peruvian squad that won the Copa América 1975. He also played for Peru at the 1970 and 1978 FIFA World Cups. He won the 1973–74 La Liga title with FC Barcelona, with Johan Cruyff as a teammate. He became famous for his great passing qualities and excellent dribbling, but various personal problems curtailed his playing career.
Jorge Aravena
TV Actor
Jorge Aravena is Peruvian-Venezuelan telenovela actor. He has starred in Girasoles Para Lucia, La Revancha, Secreto de Amor, Mi Vida Eres Tu and Querida Enemiga.
Manuel Prado Ugarteche
Politician
Manuel Prado y Ugarteche was a Peruvian banker and political figure. Son of former president, Mariano Ignacio Prado, he was born in Lima and served as the President of Peru twice, from 1939 until 1945 and again between 1956 and 1962. His brother, Leoncio Prado Gutiérrez, was a military hero. As a young army officer, Prado was a key player in the coup that overthrew Peruvian President Guillermo Billinghurst in 1914. He became President of the Central Reserve Bank in 1934. Manuel Prado, a conservative patriarch of a wealthy and powerful family, reached the Presidency of Peru with the help of the left-wing Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana party. Prado announced that "one of the first acts of my government will be to declare a general political amnesty and put an end to the proscription of political parties." During Prado's second presidency, the only significant proscribed party was the APRA, which was thrown out of power and outlawed in 1948 by President Manuel Odría. Prado announced that he would submit to the newly elected Congress a bill to legalize APRA once again. The bill was later passed and the APRA's famed founder, Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, returned from foreign exile.
Karen Schwarz
Woman
Karen Susana Schwarz Espinoza is a TV hostess and beauty pageant titleholder, who represented her country in Miss Universe 2009 that was held in Nassau, Bahamas on August 23, 2009. She currently co-leads Yo Soy.
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro
Politician
Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro was a high-ranking Peruvian army officer and President of Peru from 1931 to 1933. On August 22, 1930, as a lieutenant-colonel, he overturned the eleven-year dictatorship of Augusto B. Leguía after a coup d'état in Arequipa. Following Leguía's resignation, Manuel Ponce was interim president until Sánchez was chosen on August 27. The new president flew to Lima and himself served as provisional president until the military with whom he had effected the coup forced him into exile after six months in office.
Andrés Mendoza
Soccer
Andrés Augusto Mendoza Azevedo is a Peruvian footballer who currently plays for Pacífico FC in the Peruvian Primera División.
Francisco Morales Bermúdez
Politician
Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti is a Peruvian general who came to power in Peru in 1975 after deposing his predecessor, General Juan Velasco. His grandfather and all his original family were from the old Peruvian department of Tarapacá, which is now part of the Chilean territory. Unable to control the political and economic troubles that the nation faced, he was forced to return power to civilian rule, marking the end of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces, installed by a coup d'etat on October 3, 1968.
La Tigresa del Oriente
Singer
Juana Judith Bustos Ahuite is best known as La Tigresa del Oriente is an singer, hairdresser and makeup artist. Due to the popularity of her videos on YouTube, she has become an internet meme and reached some international fame. La Tigresa is known for her leopard garb, makeup and appearance, and for the choreographies staged by her dancing troupe, which includes three women and one man. Her first single "Nuevo amanecer" became an Internet meme in Latin America. Her videos for her first recording are unique, if low in budget, and were filmed in the Peruvian jungle with her "exotic" dancers. Other singles from Bustos include: "Mi canoa", "Carnaval en Iquitos", "Trabaja flojo trabaja", "Anaconda", "Tránsfuga de mi amor", "Hombre de Madera", and "Homenaje al Papa Juan Pablo II." In 2011, she released her second record label plate Fiesta Felina, and later that same year took the English version of «Nuevo amanecer», entitled «New brighter day».
Juliane Koepcke
Film Actor
Juliane Diller is a German biologist, born in Peru to German emigrants who is best known for being the sole survivor of 93 passengers and crew in the 24 December 1971, crash of LANSA Flight 508 in the Peruvian rainforest. After her airliner broke up in midair, she survived after falling about 3 km still strapped to her airliner seat, before the seat crashed through the rainforest canopy and came to rest on the forest floor.
Gisela Valcárcel
Presenter
Sonia Mercedes Gisela Valcárcel Álvarez is a Peruvian television hostess, actress, and businesswoman.
Early Doucet
American Football Wide receiver
Early Joseph Doucet III is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana State.
José Bustamante y Rivero
Politician
José Luis Bustamante y Rivero was a lawyer, writer, politician, diplomat, President of Peru from 1945 to 1948 and President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague from 1967 to 1969.
José de la Riva Agüero
Politician
José Mariano de la Riva Agüero y Sánchez Boquete Marquess De Montealegre de Aulestia was a Peruvian soldier, politician, historian and twice President of Peru. Riva Agüero was son of José De la Riva Aguero y Basso della Rovere, a Spanish aristocrat of Italian origin, member of the Della Rovere family, and the criolla María Josefa Sánchez Boquete Román de Aulestia Marquess De Montealegre de Aulestia, was married with the Belgian princess Caroline Arnoldine Looz Corswarem, spent his childhood and youth in Spain, where was educated and later participated in the wars against the Napoleonic invasion. In 1809 he returned to Lima and participated in the independence cause. José de San Martín named him prefect of Lima in 1822. Upon the departure of San Martín and the ensuing social instability in the country, Andrés de Santa Cruz revolted against the Peruvian Congress on February 26, 1823 and forced it to elect Riva Agüero as President. Riva Agüero proclaimed himself "President of Peru", the first to use such title. During his short government, he suffered the entry of Spanish troops into the capital and the departure of the government towards a new installation at the port of Callao. Under this situation, Riva Agüero lost all support of the Peruvian Congress, which awaited anxiously the arrival of Simón Bolivar. He was later deposed by Antonio José de Sucre. Sucre was succeeded by José Bernardo de Torre Tagle until the arrival of Simón Bolívar. Congress had been waiting for the Venezuelan "Liberator" to come to Peru and help to consolidate the Independence of the country, and was more than willing to grant him all necessary powers.
Óscar R. Benavides
Politician
Óscar Raymundo Benavides Larrea, prominent Peruvian field marshal, diplomat and politician, and was the President of Peru from 1914 to 1915 and from 1933 to 1939.
André Carrillo
Soccer Midfielder
André Martín Carrillo Díaz is a Peruvian footballer who plays in the Primeira Liga for Sporting Clube de Portugal. He plays primarily as a winger or a second striker. He began his senior career in 2009 with Peruvian side Alianza Lima, and in May 2011 he was signed by Sporting Clube de Portugal for a reported 1.5 million euros. He is also a member of the Peru national team, making his senior debut in 2011.
Yoshimar Yotún
Soccer Midfielder
Victor Yoshimar Yotún Flores is a Peruvian footballer who currently plays for Vasco da Gama, on loan club Sporting Cristal and the Peru national team, as a left back or left winger.
Mariano Ignacio Prado
Politician
Mariano Ignacio Prado Ochoa was twice the President of Peru, from 1865 to 1868 and 1876 to 1879.
Alfredo Bryce
Author
Alfredo Bryce Echenique is a Peruvian writer born in Lima. He has written several books and short stories.
Julio Ramón Ribeyro
Author
Julio Ramón Ribeyro Zúñiga was a Peruvian writer best known for his short stories. He was also successful in other genres: novel, essay, theater, diary and aphorism. In the year of his death, he was awarded the US$100,000 Premio Juan Rulfo de literatura latinoamericana y del Caribe. His work has been translated into numerous languages, including English. The characters in his stories, often autobiographical and usually written in simple but ironic language, tend to end up with their hopes cruelly dashed. But despite its apparent pessimism, Ribeyro's work is often comic, its humor springing from both the author's sense of irony and the accidents that befall his protagonists. The collective work of his short stories is published under the title La palabra del mudo. Ribeyro studied literature and law in Universidad Católica in Lima. In 1960 he immigrated to Paris where he worked as a journalist in France Presse and then as cultural advisor and ambassador to UNESCO. He was an avid smoker, as described in his short story ¨Sólo para fumadores¨ and he died as a result of his addiction.
Beto Benites
Actor
Beto Benites is an actor, casting director and film producer.