- Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 - 24 January 1965) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman, orator and strategist, Churchill was also a soldier in the British Army. He has been studied to a unique extent as part of modern British and world history. - Marcus Antonius Orator
Marcus Antonius Orator (died 87 BC) was a Roman politician of the Antonius family and one of the most distinguished Roman orators of his time. He started his "cursus honorum" as quaestor in 113 BC, and in 102 BC he was elected praetor with proconsular powers for the province of Cilicia. During his term, Antonius fought the pirates with such success that the Senate voted a naval triumph in his honor. He was then elected consul in 99 BC, … - Frederick Douglass IV
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1817 on a tobacco plantation in eastern Maryland. His mother was hired out when he was still an infant. He later recalled that he did not see his mother "more than four or five times in my life." When Douglass was about six years old, he was sent to a nearby plantation where he ran errands and performed simple chores. Douglass learned in 1825 that he was to be sent away from the plantation to Baltimore. - Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. (April 12, 1777 - June 29, 1852) was a nineteenth-century American statesman and orator who represented Kentucky in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He was a dominant figure in both the First Party System to 1824, and the Second Party System after that. Known as "The Great Compromiser" for his ability to bring others to agreement, he was the founder and leader of the Whig Party and a leading advocate of programs for modernizing the economy, … - Wendell Phillips
Wendell Phillips (29 November 1811 - 2 February 1884) was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, and orator. "The printing press has done for the mind what gunpowder has done for war." - George Herbert
George Herbert (April 3, 1593 - March 1, 1633) was a Welsh poet, orator and a priest. Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education which led on to him holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, George Herbert excelled in languages and music. He went to college with the intention of becoming a priest, … - Robert G. Ingersoll
Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll (August 11 1833 - July 21 1899) was a Civil War veteran, American political leader and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. - Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., National Hero of Jamaica (August 17, 1887 - June 10, 1940), was a publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, Black nationalist, orator, black separatist, and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). Garvey was born in St. Ann's Bay, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica to Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Sr., a mason, and Sarah Jane Richards, a domestic worker and farmer. - Annie Besant
Annie Wood Besant was a prominent Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator. - Red Jacket
Red Jacket (known as Otetiani in his youth and Segoyewatha after 1780) (c. 1750-January 20, 1830) was a Native American Seneca chief of the Wolf clan and orator. He was born near present day Geneva, New York and lived much of his life in Seneca territory in the Genesee River Valley. Although they often met together at the Long House, he and Mohawk chief Joseph Brant were bitter enemies and rivals. - Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. Cicero is generally seen as one of the most versatile minds of Roman culture and his writing the paragon of Classical Latin. He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary. - Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythology professor, writer, and orator best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion. - Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon was an orator in Athens during the reign of Alexander the Great. He is best known for sparking the controversy that led to Demosthenes' speech "On the Crown" and Aeschines' speech "Against Ctesiphon". In 336 BC, Alexander the Great's empire was spreading, and many in Athens were opposed to the ongoing wars. Among the most outspoken was the orator Demosthenes. - Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of ancient Athenian intellectual prowess and provide a thorough insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators. He delivered his first judicial speeches at the age of twenty, … - Ahmed Deedat
Sheikh Ahmed Hussein Deedat (July 1, 1918 - August 8, 2005), was a Muslim scholar of Comparative religion, an author, lecturer, and an orator. He was best known for witty inter-religious public debates.His writings have been criticized as fundamentalist, antisemitic, anti-Christian and anti-Hindu, though his supporters deny this. What differentiated Deedat's approach from his contemporaries, apart from eloquence in English language, … - Alcibiades
Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (Greek:, (pronunciation) transliterated Alkibiádēs Kleiníou Skambōnidēs), meaning Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Skambonidai; "c." 450–404 BC), was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. - Quintus Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114 - 50 BC), was a Roman orator and advocate. At the age of nineteen he made his first speech at the bar, and shortly afterwards successfully defended Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, one of Rome's dependants in the East, who had been deprived of his throne by his brother. From that time his reputation as an advocate was established. As the son-in-law of Quintus Lutatius Catulus Caesar (through marriage to Lutatia, … - Androtion
Androtion (c. 350 B.C.), Greek orator, and one of the leading politicians of his time, was a pupil of Isocrates and a contemporary of Demosthenes. He is known to us chiefly from the speech of Demosthenes, in which he was accused of illegality in proposing the usual honour of a crown to the Council of Five Hundred at the expiration of its term of office. - Rufus Choate
Rufus Choate (October 1, 1799-July 13, 1859), American lawyer and orator, was born at Ipswich, Massachusetts, the descendant of a family which settled in Massachusetts in 1643 ; brother of noted physician George Choate, and uncle to George C. S. Choate and Joseph Hodges Choate. Rufus Choate's birthplace, Choate House, remains virtually unchanged to this day. - Second Sophistic
The Second Sophistic is a literary-historical term referring to the Greek writers who flourished from the reign of Nero until c.230 AD and who were catalogued and celebrated by Philostratus in his "Lives of the Sophists" (481). Writers known as members of the Second Sophistic were Aelius Aristides, Dio Cocceianus, Philostratus and Herodes Atticus. "See also:" Sophism - Benjamin Constant
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque was a Swiss-born thinker, writer and French politician. Constant was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, to descendants of Huguenots. He was educated by private tutors and at the University of Erlangen, Bavaria, and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the course of his life, he spent many years in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Great Britain. - Epaminondas
Epaminondas ("Greek":) (ca. 418 BC-362 BC) was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics. In the process he broke Spartan military power with his victory at Leuctra and liberated the Messenian helots, a group of Peloponnesian Greeks who had been enslaved under Spartan rule for some 200 years. - Seneca The Elder
Lucius, or Marcus, Annaeus Seneca, known as Seneca the Elder and Seneca the Rhetorician (ca. 54 BC- ca. 39 AD) was a Roman rhetorician and writer, born of a well-to-do equestrian family of Córdoba, Spain. His "praenomen" is uncertain, but in any case Marcus is an arbitrary conjecture of Raphael of Volterra. During a lengthy stay on two occasions at Rome, Seneca attended the lectures of famous orators and rhetoricians, … - Lucius Licinius Crassus
Lucius Licinius Crassus Orator (140 BC-91 BC) was a Roman consul. He was the greatest Roman orator of his day. He became consul in 95 BC. During his consulship a law was passed (the lex Licinia Mucia) requiring all but citizens to leave Rome, an edict which provoked the Social War. Licinius Crassus was married to Mucia, younger daughter of the consul Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur by his wife Laelia, daughter of Gaius Laelius Sapiens. - Favorinus
Favorinus of Arelata was a Greek sophist and philosopher who flourished during the reign of Hadrian. A Gaul by birth, he was a native of Arelate (Arles), but at an early age began his lifelong travels through Greece, Italy and the East. His extensive knowledge, combined with great oratorical powers, raised him to eminence both in Athens and in Rome. With Plutarch, with Herodes Atticus, to whom he bequeathed his library at Rome, with Demetrius the Cynic, Cornelius Fronto, … - John Philpot Curran
John Philpot Curran (July 24, 1750 - October 14, 1817) was an Irish orator and wit, born in Newmarket, County Cork. He was the son of James and Sarah Curran. Sarah (died 6 March, 1807) was well known for her sharp wit, which John undoubtedly inherited. - Theodectes
Theodectes (c. 380 to 340 BCE) was a Greek rhetorician and tragic poet, of Phaselis in Lycia who lived in the period which followed the Peloponnesian War. Along with the continual decay of political and religious life, tragedy sank more and more into mere rhetorical display. The school of Isocrates produced the orators and tragedians, Theodectes and Aphareus. He was also a pupil of Plato and an intimate friend of Aristotle. - Domitius Afer
Domitius Afer was a Roman orator and advocate, born at Nemausus (Nîmes) in "Gallia Narbonensis". He flourished in the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. His pupil Quintilian calls him the greatest orator he had ever known; but he disgraced his talents by acting as public informer against some of the most distinguished personages in Rome. He gained the favour of Tiberius by accusing Agrippina the Elder, the widow of Germanicus, … - Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba (born Sathyanarayana Raju on November 23 1926, or later than 1927 - with the family name of "Ratnakara") is a guru from southern India, religious leader, orator and philosopher often described as a godman and a miracle worker. According to the Sathya Sai Organization, there are an estimated 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba Centers in 130 countries world-wide. The number of Sathya Sai Baba adherents is estimated sometimes as around 6 million, … - Henry Highland Garnet
Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 - February 13, 1882) was an African American abolitionist and orator. He was the first black minister to preach to the United States House of Representatives. - Titus Pomponius Atticus
Titus Pomponius Atticus (110 BC/109 BC - 32 BC), a Roman of the equestrian class and patron of letters, is best remembered as the closest friend of the orator and philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero. He is the dedicatee of Cicero's treatise on friendship, De Amicitia, and their correspondence is preserved in the sixteen books of Epistulae ad Atticum which were compiled by Cicero's freedman and personal secretary, … - Cornelius Gallus
Cornelius Gallus, Roman poet, orator and politician, was born of humble parents at Forum Julii (Fréjus) in Gaul. At an early age he moved to Rome, where he was taught by the same master, as Virgil and Varius Rufus. Virgil, who dedicated one of his eclogues (X) to him, was in great measure indebted to the influence of Gallus for the restoration of his estate. In political life Gallus espoused the cause of Octavianus, … - Avidius Cassius
Gaius Avidius Cassius (ca. 130-July 175) was a Roman usurper who briefly ruled Egypt and Syria in 175. A native of Cyrrhus, Syria, he was the son of Gaius Avidius Heliodorus, a noted orator who had become prefect of Egypt. He had a distinguished military career under Marcus Aurelius during the Parthian War, capturing Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and managed to enter the Senate. - Gaius Asinius Pollio
Gaius Asinius Pollio (65 BC - AD 4) was a Roman orator, poet, playwright, literary critic and historian, whose contemporary history, although lost, provided much of the material for the historians Appian and Plutarch. Pollio was most famously a patron of Virgil and a friend of Horace and had poems dedicated to him by both men. An inscription tells us his father was called Gnaeus. He had a brother called Asinius Marrucinus, known for his tasteless practical jokes, … - Servius Sulpicius Rufus
Servius Sulpicius Rufus (ca. 106 BC-43 BC), surnamed Lemonia from the tribe to which he belonged, Roman orator and jurist. He studied rhetoric with Cicero, and accompanied him to Rhodes in 78 BC. Finding that he would never be able to rival his teacher he gave up rhetoric for law (Cic. Brut. 41). Cicero on the other hand considered Ser.Sulpicius Rufus as his superior in matters pertaining to the law. In 63 BC he was a candidate for the consulship, … - Quintus Sertorius
Quintus Sertorius (died 72 BC) was a Roman statesman and general, born in Nursia, in Sabine territory. After acquiring some reputation in Rome as a jurist and an orator, he began a military career. His first recorded campaign was under Quintus Servilius Caepio at the Battle of Arausio, where he showed unusual courage. Serving under Marius in 102 BC, Sertorius succeeded in spying on the wandering German tribes that had defeated Caepio. - Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 122 BC), was tribune of the people 104 BC, in which capacity he brought forward a law ("lex Domitia de Sacerdotiis") by which the priests of the superior colleges were to be elected by the people in the "comitia tributa" (seventeen of the tribes voting) instead of by co-optation; the law was repealed by Sulla, revived by Julius Caesar and (perhaps) again repealed by Mark Antony, … - Gaius Memmius
Gaius Memmius (incorrectly called Gemellus, "The Twin"), Roman orator and poet, tribune of the people (66 BC), friend of Lucretius and Catullus. At first a strong supporter of Pompey, he quarrelled with him, and went over to Caesar, whom he had previously attacked. In 54, as candidate for the consulship, he lost Caesar's support by revealing a scandalous transaction in which he and his fellow candidate had been implicated (Cic. "Ad Alt." iv. 15-18). - Marcus Caelius Rufus
Marcus Caelius Rufus (82 BCE - 48 BCE) was a Roman orator and politician. He was born to an eques family in Interamnia (Teramo) or Puteoli. In his twenties he became associated with Crassus and Cicero, although he was also briefly connected to Lucius Sergius Catilina and his Catilinarian conspiracy. Caelius first achieved fame through his successful prosecution in 59 BC of Gaius Antonius Hybrida for corruption. Antonius had been co-consul with Cicero in 63 BC, … - Titus Labienus
Titus Labienus was an orator and historian in the time of Augustus, nicknamed Rabienus for his vigorous style. He killed himself when the Senate had his books burned. Caligula later overrode the Senate and had the books restored.
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