O.J. Simpson Simpson, O(renthal) J(ames) (1947— ). Black US foot-ball player; his sensational trial for murder in 1995 was widely hailed as the ‘trial of the century’. Simpson was …
Paul Simon Paul Simon, (1941— ). US folk singer and songwriter. He rose to fame with his former school friend Art Garfunkel (1942 ), with whom he recorded songs …
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius, (1865-1957). Finnish composer. Although Sibelius studied in Berlin and Vienna, the main influence on his music was the national epic poem of Fin-land, the Kalevala. …
Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Shostakovich, (1906-75). Russian composer. He made his name with his first symphony, written when he was 20. Although his operas The Nose (1930) and Lady Macbeth …
Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Shevardnadze, (1928- ). Georgian politician. During the 1960s and 1970s he rose steadily through the Georgian Communist Party to become minister of internal affairs (1965-72) and …
Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Sheridan, (c 1751-1816). Irish dramatist and parliamentarian, who lived mostly in Britain. In 1772 he eloped to France with Elizabeth Linley, the daughter of …
Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley, (1792-1822). British Romantic poet. Shelley was the son of a wealthy landowner who rejected him after his expulsion from Oxford University (1811) for …
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw, (1856-1950). Irish dramatist. He came to London in 1876 to join his mother, who was separated from her husband. Having helped to found …
