- List of orphans and foundlings
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- "Famous orphans" redirects here. For other uses, see Orphan.
Notable orphans and foundlings include world leaders, celebrated writers, entertainment greats, figures in science and business, as well as innumerable fictional characters in literature and comics. While the exact definition of orphan varies, one legal definition is a child bereft through "death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents".[1] According to the United nations, the definition of an orphan is anyone that loses one parent, either through death or abandonment.
Contents
Figures from classical history and religious scripture
- Aandaal, Tamil saint, found in a temple garden.
- Aristotle, Greek philosopher and scientist, orphaned in early childhood.
- Cyrus the Great, Persian emperor, orphaned in childhood.
- Oedipus, mythical Greek king, abandoned on a mountain.
- Moses, major prophet in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, orphaned as an infant.
- Muhammad, central figure in Islam, orphaned at age 6.
- Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, orphaned early in childhood.
- Romulus and Remus, traditional founders of Ancient Rome, orphaned in infancy.
Civic leaders
- Simón Bolívar, Latin American independence leader, orphaned at age 8.
- John Church, clergyman, found as a toddler and sent to the Foundling Hospital.
- Peter Francisco, soldier, found on a Virginia dock as a young child.
- Mariano Gálvez, Guatemalan Chief of State in the 1830s, foundling adopted and raised by Gálvez family.
- Alexander Hamilton, U.S. founding father, orphaned at age 13.
- Ben W. Hooper, governor of Tennessee, 1911 to 1915, raised in an orphanage.
- Herbert Hoover, U.S. president, orphaned at age 9.
- Ivan IV of Russia, Russian ruler, orphaned at age 8.
- Andrew Jackson, U.S. president, orphaned at age 14.
- Benito Juarez, Mexican president, orphaned at age 3.
- Edward Langworthy, U.S. patriot and founding father, raised in an orphanage.
- Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa, raised as a ward.
- Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. First Lady, civil-rights activist, orphaned at age 10.
- Bertrand Russell, political philosopher, orphaned at age 3.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, political philosopher, raised by aunt and uncle.
- Joseph F. Smith, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, orphaned at age 13.
- Tecumseh, Native American leader, orphaned as a child.
- Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, former Iowa governor, adopted at birth.
- James West, first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America, raised in an orphanage.
- Malcolm X, political and civil rights activist, raised in an orphanage and foster care.
Writers
- Edward Albee, playwright, adopted as an infant.
- Joseph Conrad, author, orphaned at age 11
- John Keats, poet, raised partly by his grandmother.
- Hugh Leonard, playwright and essayist, abandoned as an infant.
- W. Somerset Maugham, author, orphaned in childhood.
- Andy McNab, soldier and novelist, found as a baby on the steps of Guy's Hospital.
- James A. Michener, author, abandoned as an infant.
- Edgar Allan Poe, author, orphaned in childhood.
- Jean Racine, French playwright, orphaned at age 4.
- J. R. R. Tolkien, author, orphaned at age 12.
- Leo Tolstoy, author, orphaned at age 9.
- Henry Morton Stanley, journalist, explorer, raised in a workhouse.
- Dale Wasserman, playwright, orphaned at age 9.
- William Wordsworth, poet, orphaned at age 12.
Musicians and singers
- Louis Armstrong, musician, raised in an orphanage and by his grandmother.
- Johann Sebastian Bach, composer, orphaned at age 9.
- Ray Charles, singer, orphaned at age 15.
- Ella Fitzgerald, singer, orphaned in childhood.
- James Hetfield, singer, orphaned by cancer at 16.
- Faith Hill, singer, adopted as an infant.
- Billie Holiday, singer, intermittently abandoned in childhood.
- John Lennon, musician, raised by his aunt and uncle.
- Trent Reznor, orphaned when parents abandoned him at age 5 and raised by grandparents.
- Bessie Smith, singer, orphaned at age 9.
- Jimmy Wayne, singer, homeless foster teen taken in by a couple in their 70's
Artists, actors, and entertainers
- Tallulah Bankhead, actress, orphaned as an infant.
- Ingrid Bergman, actress, orphaned at age 12.
- Carol Burnett, entertainer, raised by her grandmother.
- Henry Darger, artist whose work focused on orphans.
- Ice-T, actor, rapper, orphaned aged 9.
- Juliette Drouet, actress, orphaned in childhood.
- Samuel Goldwyn, film mogul, raised by relatives.
- Art Linkletter, entertainer, abandoned as an infant.
- George Lopez, comedian, raised by a grandmother.
- Frances McDormand, best actress Academy Award winner, adopted as an infant.
- Marilyn Monroe, entertainer, raised in foster care.
- Barbara Stanwyck, actress, raised in foster homes from age 2.
Athletes
Babe Ruth in 1918.
- Scott Hamilton, figure skater, adopted as an infant.
- Greg Louganis, Olympic diver, adopted as an infant.
- Billy Mills, Olympic runner, orphaned at age 12.
- Babe Ruth, baseball star, raised in an orphanage.
- Jim Thorpe, multi-sport Olympic and professional athlete, orphaned as a teen.
- Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, African triathlete and advocate for the rights of the disabled.
Scientists
- George Washington Carver, scientist, inventor, orphaned while a slave.
- Jean le Rond d'Alembert, mathematician, abandoned as an infant.
- Johannes Kepler, scientist, raised by grandmother.
- Percy Spencer, inventor, orphaned in childhood.
Business people
- Arthur E. Andersen, founder of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, orphaned as a teen.
- Anthony Bacon, helped found the British iron industry.
- L.L. Bean, retail catalog magnate, orphaned at age 12.
- Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer, adopted as an infant.
- Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza, partially raised in an orphanage.
- Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's restaurants, adopted as an infant, adoption advocate.
Fictional characters
See also Category:Fictional orphans
- Little Orphan Annie, rescued from orphanage by a wealthy capitalist
- Anne of Green Gables
- Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson (Batman and Robin), parents' murders turned them to fighting crime
- Baudelaire siblings of the A Series of Unfortunate Events books
- Cinderella
- Clark Kent (Superman), sent to earth from his doomed home planet
- David Copperfield
- Evey, protagonist of V for Vendetta
- Gosalyn Mallard in Darkwing Duck
- Gray Fox
- Harry Potter, parents killed by evil wizard Lord Voldemort (also an orphan)
- Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights
- Heidi, raised by an aunt, then her reclusive grandfather
- Miss Honey in Matilda
- James Bond
- Jane Eyre
- Mamoru Chiba
- Motoko Kusanagi
- Mowgli of The Jungle Book, lost by his parents and raised by wolves
- Natty Bumppo, a.k.a. "Hawkeye"
- Oliver Twist, his single mother died in childbirth
- Pip of Great Expectations
- Pollyanna
- Punky Brewster
- Raiden
- Samus Aran
- Santa Claus, Father Christmas, and other personifications of the orphaned Saint Nicholas
- Sarah Crewe in A Little Princess
- Sookie Stackhouse
- Snow White
- Spider-Man
- Stephen Maturin
- Storm
- Tohru Honda
- Tom Jones
- Tom Sawyer, raised by his aunt along with his half-brother and cousin
- Tarzan, raised by apes after deaths of parents
- Treat and Phillip from the Lyle Kessler play Orphans
- Wolverine
Related lists
See also Category:Adoptees for lists of notable people who have been adopted (including by step-parents): many adoptees are neither orphans nor foundlings.
References
Categories:- Fictional orphans
- Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement
- List-Class Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement articles
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