wing of the archive
The Modern Era
The industrial and imperial centuries: inventors, statesmen, artists, and the makers of the modern world.
Modern era
Ange-Félix Patassé
January 25, 1937 – April 5, 2011
Former President of the Central African Republic (1937-2011)
Modern era
Hissène Habré
August 13, 1942 – August 24, 2021
5th president of Chad
Modern era
Goukouni Oueddei
b. 1942
Chadian politician
Modern era
Lol Mahamat Choua
June 15, 1939 – September 15, 2019
Chadian politician (1939-2019)
Modern era
François Tombalbaye
June 15, 1918 – April 13, 1975
President of Chad (1918–1975)
Modern era
Ricardo Lagos
b. March 2, 1938
Chilean politician, president of Chile from 2000 to 2006
Modern era
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
b. June 24, 1942
President of Chile from 1994 to 2000
Modern era
Óscar Arias Sánchez
b. September 13, 1941
President of Costa Rica (1986–1990, 2006–2010)
Modern era
Abel Pacheco
b. December 22, 1933
President of Costa Rica (2002-2006)
Modern era
Stjepan Mesić
b. December 24, 1934
2nd President of the Republic of Croatia
Modern era
Vlatko Pavletić
December 2, 1930 – September 19, 2007
Croatian politician (1930–2007)
Modern era
Ivica Račan
February 24, 1944 – April 29, 2007
7th Prime Minister of Croatia (1944–2007)
Modern era
Raúl Castro
b. June 3, 1931
Former First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba
Modern era
Osvaldo Dorticós
April 17, 1919 – June 23, 1983
President of Cuba (1919–1983)
Modern era
Manuel Urrutia Lleó
December 8, 1901 – July 5, 1981
President of Cuba (1901-1981)
Modern era
Carlos Manuel Piedra
1895 – 1988
Judge of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, appointed President of the Republic but not sworn in
Modern era
Anselmo Alliegro y Milá
March 16, 1899 – November 22, 1961
Prime Minister of Cuba (1899-1961)
Modern era
Gonzalo Güell
February 16, 1895 – September 2, 1985
Cuban politician (1895-1985)
Modern era
Tassos Papadopoulos
January 7, 1934 – December 12, 2008
5th President of the Republic of Cyprus (2003-2008)
Modern era
Glafcos Clerides
April 24, 1919 – November 15, 2013
Cypriot lawyer and politician (1919–2013), President of Cyprus from 1993 to 2003
Modern era
Giorgos Vasiliou
May 20, 1931 – January 13, 2026
3rd President of the Republic of Cyprus (1988-1993)
Modern era
Miloš Zeman
b. September 28, 1944
Czech politician, president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023
Modern era
Václav Klaus
b. June 19, 1941
President of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013
Modern era
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
November 27, 1939 – January 16, 2001
Former President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1939-2001)
Modern era
Mobutu Sese Seko
October 14, 1930 – September 7, 1997
Congolese politician and military officer, the first and only president of Zaire from 1971 to 1997 (1930 – 1997)
Modern era
Joseph Kasa-Vubu
1910 – March 24, 1969
Congolese politician
Modern era
Hassan Gouled Aptidon
October 15, 1916 – November 21, 2006
President of Djibouti (1916-2006)
Modern era
Barkat Gourad Hamadou
January 1, 1930 – March 18, 2018
Former Prime Minister of Djibouti (1930–2018)
Modern era
Abdallah Mohamed Kamil
b. 1936
Djiboutian politician
Modern era
Ahmed Dini Ahmed
1932 – September 12, 2004
Prime Minister of Djibouti (1932–2004)
Modern era
Charles Savarin
b. October 2, 1943
President of Dominica (2013–2023)
Modern era
Nicholas Liverpool
September 9, 1934 – June 1, 2015
President of Dominica (1934-2015)
Modern era
Vernon Shaw
May 13, 1930 – December 2, 2013
President of Dominica (1930-2013)
Modern era
Aurelius Marie
December 23, 1904 – September 28, 1995
Politician and jurist from Dominica who served as the second President of Dominica (1904-1995)
Modern era
Osborne Riviere
February 10, 1932 – November 23, 2017
Dominican politician (1932-2017)
Modern era
Rosie Douglas
October 15, 1941 – October 1, 2000
Prime Minister of Dominica (1941-2000)
Modern era
Edison James
b. October 18, 1943
Prime Minister of Dominica
Modern era
Eugenia Charles
May 15, 1919 – September 6, 2005
Prime Minister of Dominica
Modern era
Hipólito Mejía
b. February 22, 1941
Former president of the Dominican Republic
Modern era
Joaquín Balaguer
September 1, 1906 – July 14, 2002
President of the Dominican Republic (1906-2002)
Modern era
Salvador Jorge Blanco
July 5, 1926 – December 26, 2010
President of the Dominican Republic (1926-2010)
Modern era
Alfredo Palacio
January 22, 1939 – May 22, 2025
Ecuadorian physician
Modern era
Hosni Mubarak
May 4, 1928 – February 25, 2020
President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011
Modern era
Sufi Abu Taleb
January 27, 1925 – February 21, 2008
Egyptian politician (1925–2008)
Modern era
Hazem Al Beblawi
b. October 17, 1936
Former Egyptian Prime minister
Modern era
Kamal Ganzouri
January 12, 1933 – March 31, 2021
Former Egyptian Prime minister (1933-2021)
Modern era
Salvador Sánchez Cerén
b. June 18, 1944
President of El Salvador (2014–2019)
Modern era
Francisco Macías Nguema Biyoko
January 1, 1924 – September 29, 1979
Equatoguinean politician, 1st and former President of Equatorial Guinea (1924-1979)
Modern era
Ignacio Milam Tang
b. June 20, 1940
Equatoguinean politician
Modern era
Arnold Rüütel
May 10, 1928 – December 31, 2024
Estonian politician, former President of Estonia (1928–2024)
Modern era
Lennart Meri
March 29, 1929 – March 14, 2006
Estonian writer, filmmaker and politician; President of Estonia in 1992–2001 (1929-2006)
Modern era
Konstantin Päts
February 23, 1874 – January 18, 1956
Estonian politician (1874–1956)
Modern era
Sobhuza II
July 22, 1899 – August 21, 1982
King of Swaziland (1899-1982)
Modern era
Ngwane V
1876 – December 10, 1899
Paramount chief of Swaziland (1876–1899)
Modern era
Mbandzeni
1855 – 1889
King of Swaziland (1855–1889)
Modern era
Mswati II
1825 – 1868
King of Swaziland (1825–1868)
Modern era
Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini
May 15, 1942 – September 28, 2018
Prime Minister of Swaziland (1942-2018)
Modern era
Girma Wolde-Giorgis
December 28, 1924 – December 15, 2018
Former Ethiopian President (1924-2018)
Modern era
Negasso Gidada
September 3, 1943 – April 27, 2019
Ethiopian President (1943-2019)
Modern era
Leo Falcam
November 20, 1935 – February 12, 2018
President of Federated States of Micronesia (1935-2018)