Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Military Leaders & Strategists

43

🕯️ 1,180

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne

France

11 September 1611 – 27 July 1675 (~64 years old)

Marshal General of France considered by Napoleon Bonaparte to be the greatest of all modern military commanders. Master of indirect approach, deception, and winter operational maneuver.

Sasbach (Baden), Germany

43 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

38

🕯️ 1,410

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Great Britain

25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658 (~59 years old)

English general and statesman who forged the disciplined "New Model Army" and led the Parliamentary forces to total victory in the English Civil Wars, overthrowing the monarchy to rule as Lord Protector.

Palace of Whitehall (London), United Kingdom

38 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

42

🕯️ 970

Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein

Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna

Czech Republic

24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634 (~51 years old)

Supreme commander of the imperial armies of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War. A military entrepreneur and master of large-scale logistics whose war-contributions system sustained armies of 100,000 men.

Cheb (Eger), Czech Republic

42 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

40

🕯️ 1,570

Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus)

Gustav II Adolf

Sweden

9 December 1594 – 6 November 1632 (~38 years old)

King of Sweden universally acclaimed as the "Father of Modern Warfare." Pioneer of combined arms doctrine, mobile light field artillery, aggressive cavalry shock charges, and disciplined national conscription during the Thirty Years' War.

Lützen, Germany

40 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

42

🕯️ 1,050

Maurice of Orange (Maurice of Nassau)

Maurits van Oranje

Germany

14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625 (~58 years old)

Dutch general and Prince of Orange whose systematic military reforms—introducing Roman-inspired military drill, standardized artillery, and countermarch volley fire—catalyzed the Early Modern Military Revolution.

The Hague, Netherlands

42 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

40

🕯️ 2,680

Yi Sun-sin

이순신 (李舜臣)

South Korea

28 April 1545 – 16 December 1598 (~53 years old)

Immortal Korean admiral who remained undefeated in at least 23 naval battles against Japanese invasion fleets during the Imjin War. Renowned for inventing the armored Turtle Ship and defeating 133 enemy ships with only 13 at Myeongnyang.

Noryang Strait, South Korea

40 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

44

🕯️ 1,380

Uesugi Kenshin

上杉 謙信

Japan

18 February 1530 – 19 April 1578 (~48 years old)

Sengoku daimyo and devout Buddhist ascetic revered as the "God of War" (Bishamonten avatar). Famous for military chivalry—refusing to blockade salt to his rival Takeda Shingen—and his victory over Nobunaga at Tedorigawa.

Kasugayama Castle, Japan

44 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

37

🕯️ 1,430

Takeda Shingen

武田 信玄

Japan

1 December 1521 – 13 May 1573 (~52 years old)

Preeminent daimyo and military commander of Japan's Sengoku period. Famous for his fierce clashes with Uesugi Kenshin at Kawanakajima and for adopting Sun Tzu's battle philosophy of "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" (Fūrinkazan).

Komaba (Shinano), Japan

37 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

39

🕯️ 1,190

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba y Enríquez de Aguilar

Spain

1 September 1453 – 2 December 1515 (~62 years old)

Spanish general renowned as "El Gran Capitán" (The Great Captain). Revolutionized infantry tactics by combining pikemen and arquebusiers, establishing the Spanish Tercio that dominated European battlefields for over a century.

Granada, Spain

39 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

42

🕯️ 1,520

George Castriot (Skanderbeg)

Gjergj Kastrioti

Albania

6 May 1405 – 17 January 1468 (~63 years old)

Albanian lord and military mastermind who united the Albanian princes in the League of Lezhë, successfully defending Albanian mountains against more than twenty major Ottoman invasions for a quarter-century.

Lezhë, Albania

42 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

43

🕯️ 1,310

John Hunyadi (János Hunyadi)

Hunyadi János

Romania

c. 1407 – 11 August 1456 (~49 years old)

Hungarian military genius celebrated throughout Europe as "Athleta Christi." His sensational relief of the Siege of Belgrade in 1456 halted Ottoman expansion into Central Europe for seventy years and inspired the worldwide Catholic noon bell.

Zemun (Belgrade), Serbia

43 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

44

🕯️ 1,240

Jan Žižka z Trocnova

Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha

Czech Republic

c. 1360 – 11 October 1424 (~64 years old)

Czech general and Hussite military leader who remained completely undefeated, even after becoming totally blind in both eyes. Revolutionized European warfare by pioneering mobile wagon forts (Wagenburg) and firearm integration.

Přibyslav, Czech Republic

44 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

37

🕯️ 1,740

Timur bin Taraghay Barlas

تیمور گورکانی

Uzbekistan

9 April 1336 – 17–19 February 1405 (~69 years old)

Turco-Mongol conqueror and founder of the Timurid Empire who remained undefeated across four decades of warfare from Delhi to the Mediterranean, transforming Samarkand into a jewel of Islamic arts and architecture.

Otrar, Kazakhstan

37 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

43

🕯️ 1,120

Jebe Noyan

Зэв

Mongolia

c. 1170 CE – 1223 CE (~53 years old)

Famed Mongol vanguard commander whose name was given by Genghis Khan after shooting the Khan in battle. Together with Subutai, he commanded the legendary reconnaissance raid around the Caspian Sea.

Volga-Ural Region, Russia

43 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

39

🕯️ 1,890

Subutai Baghatur

Сүбээдэй

Mongolia

c. 1175 CE – 1248 CE (~73 years old)

Genghis Khan's greatest general and the premier grand strategist of the Mongol Empire. Directed more than 20 campaigns and 65 pitched battles across Eurasia, conquering more territory than any commander in human history.

Tuul River Valley, Mongolia

39 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

45

🕯️ 1,670

Tariq ibn Ziyad

طارق بن زياد

Algeria

c. 670 CE – c. 720 CE (~50 years old)

Berber military commander under the Umayyad Caliphate who initiated the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 CE. Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq) is named forever in his honor.

Damascus, Syria

45 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

45

🕯️ 2,450

Khalid ibn al-Walid

خالد بن الوليد

Saudi Arabia

592 CE – 642 CE (~50 years old)

Legendary Muslim general known as the "Drawn Sword of God" (Sayf Allah al-Maslul). Undefeated in over a hundred battles, he conquered Mesopotamia and the Levant, shattering the Byzantine and Sassanid empires at Yarmouk and Firaz.

Homs, Syria

45 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

42

🕯️ 930

Narses

Ναρσῆς

Armenia

c. 478 CE – c. 573 CE (~95 years old)

Armenian-born Byzantine court eunuch and master military commander who, at the age of seventy-four, crushed the Ostrogoths and the Franco-Alemannic invasion, completing the reconquest of Italy.

Rome, Italy

42 Full Record →