List of orphans and foundlings
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 and foundlings 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.
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Figures from classical history and religious scripture
Africa
- Amenhotep III, pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty
- Hatshepsut, pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
- Thutmose III, Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty
Asia
- Aandaal, Tamil saint, found in a temple garden
- Antiochus III the Great, Hellenistic Greek king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire
- Confucius, Chinese scholar & politician
- Cyrus the Great, Persian emperor, orphaned in childhood
- Esther, Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus
- Moses, religious leader, given up as an infant
- Sargon of Akkad, ruler of the Semitic-speaking Akkadian Empire
- Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, orphaned early in childhood
- Pulcheria, Roman ruler "Augusta Imperatrix"
Europe
- Aristotle, Greek philosopher and scientist, orphaned in early childhood
- Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome
- Britannicus, son of the Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina
- Caligula, Roman emperor in AD 37–41
- Cato the Younger, Roman Republic, left an orphan and raised by his uncle
- Hadrian, Roman emperor
- Juba II, king of Numidia and then later moved to Mauretania and his wife Cleopatra Selene II
- Julian, Roman Emperor and philosopher
- Oedipus, mythical Greek king, abandoned on a mountain
- Pancras, Roman religious figure
- Galla Placidia, major force in Roman politics
- Romulus and Remus, traditional founders of Ancient Rome, orphaned in infancy
- Sulla, Roman general and statesman
- Lucius Verus, Roman Emperor
Civic and religious leaders
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Africa
- Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam
- Jean-Bédel Bokassa, military officer and the head of state of the Central African Republic and Emperor of Central Africa
- Piet Joubert, military leader in South African Republic
- Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan politician and the first President of Kenya
- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South African activist and politician
- Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa, raised as a ward
- Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia
- Mobutu Sese Seko, military dictator and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Asia
- Akbar, rulers of the Mughal Dynasty in India
- Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader
- Chulalongkorn, monarch of Siam
- Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Maharaja of Baroda State
- Go-Momozono, Emperor of Japan
- Go-Sakuramachi, Emperor of Japan
- Go-Toba, Emperor of Japan
- Hongwu, Chinese emperor
- Huineng, Buddhist monk who is one of the most important figures in Chan Buddhism
- Saddam Hussein, 5th President of Iraq
- Hu Jintao, Chinese politician and the paramount leader of China
- Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China
- Genghis Khan, Mongol leader
- Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian politician, head of a democratically elected government and Prime Minister of Iran
- Muhammad, religious leader, orphaned at age 6
- Nripendra Narayan, Maharaja of the princely state of Koch Bihar
- Li Peng, Chinese politician
- Madho Singh II, Maharajadhiraja of Jaipur
- Seiwa, Emperor of Japan
- Nader Shah, Iranian rulers
- Reza Shah, Shah of Iran (Persia)
- Adi Shankaracharya, Scholar,Philosopher,Reformer, Advaita Vedanta Non-Dualism
- Theodora, empress of the Byzantine Empire
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist, teacher, lawyer and an independence activist
- Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder and the first shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan
Australia
- Kamehameha III, King of Hawaii
- John McEwen, Prime Minister of Australia, at age seven
- William McMahon, Prime Minister of Australia, at age 18
Europe
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- Pope Adrian VI
- Alfred the Great, King of Wessex from 871 to 899
- Yuri Andropov, Chairman of the KGB and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Anne of Brittany, French queen
- Eleanor of Aquitaine, member of the Ramnulfid dynasty and one of the most powerful women in the High Middle Ages
- Manuel Azaña, second Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic
- Charles V, ruler of both the Spanish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire
- Charlotte, wife of George III, King of England
- John Church, clergyman, found as a toddler
- Pope Clement VII
- Clovis I, first King of the Franks
- Edward VI of England, orphaned at age 9
- Elizabeth I, Queen of England
- Elizabeth of Russia, Empress of Russia
- Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, medieval monarch
- Henry VI, King of England and France
- Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Germany, orphaned at 18
- Ivan IV, Russian ruler, orphaned at age 8
- Joan II of Navarre, Queen of Navarre
- John I, King of Portugal and the Algarve
- Constantine Kanaris, Greek Prime Minister, admiral and politician, freedom fighter in the Greek War of Independence
- Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian diplomat, politician, judge and the eighth President of Austria
- Pope Leo X
- Louis XV, King of France
- Louis XVI of France
- Maria II, Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves
- Mary, Queen of Scots, and of France
- Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France
- Olof Palme, Swedish politician, statesman and Prime Minister of Sweden
- Peter II of Russia, Emperor of Russia
- Peter III of Russia, Emperor of Russia
- Philip IV, of France, called the Fair or the Iron King
- Maximilien Robespierre, French politician during the French Revolution, orphaned at 19
- Albrecht von Wallenstein, Bohemian military & political leader
North America
- William Bradford, colonial governor, orphaned at age 7
- George Clymer, early American politician
- Frederick Douglass, African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman
- Peter Francisco, soldier, found on a Virginia dock as a young child
- Mariano Gálvez, Guatemalan politician, foundling adopted and raised by Gálvez family
- Alexander Hamilton, American politician, orphaned at age 13
- John Hancock, American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution
- Ben W. Hooper, governor of Tennessee, raised in an orphanage
- Herbert Hoover, U.S. president, orphaned at age 9
- Andrew Jackson, U.S. president, orphaned at age 14
- Benito Juarez, Mexican president, orphaned at age 3
- Edward Langworthy, American politician, raised in an orphanage
- Moctezuma II, ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan
- Malcolm X, politician and civil rights activist, raised in an orphanage and foster care
- Christopher G. Memminger, German American politician, raised in an orphanage
- James Monroe, fifth President of the United States
- Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. First Lady & activist, orphaned at age 10
- Joseph F. Smith, American religious leader, orphaned at age 13
- Tenskwatawa, Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribe
- Tom Vilsack, American politician, adopted at birth
South America
- Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian leader, orphaned at age 12
- Simón Bolívar, Latin American leader, orphaned at age 8
- Pedro II of Brazil
- Eva Perón First Lady of Argentina
Writers
Asia
- Kobayashi Issa, Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priest
- Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese novelist and subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968
- Natsume Sōseki, Japanese novelist
Australia
- Thomas Bracken, Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politician
Europe
- Dante Alighieri, simply called Dante, major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages
- Bettina von Arnim, German writer and novelist
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, post-romanticist poet and writer
- Joseph Conrad, Polish-British author, orphaned at age 11
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher
- Maxim Gorky, Russian and Soviet writer, a founder of the socialist realism literary method and a political activist
- Attila József, Hungarian poet
- John Keats, English Romantic poet, orphaned at age 14 and raised partly by his grandmother
- Hugh Leonard, Irish dramatist, television writer and essayist, abandoned as an infant
- Mikhail Lermontov, Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter
- Harry Martinson, Swedish author, poet and former sailor, He was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in Literature.
- W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist and short story writer, orphaned at age 10
- Andy McNab, English soldier and novelist, found as a baby on the steps of hospital
- Eduard Mörike, German writer
- Georges Perec, French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist
- Jean Racine, French playwright, orphaned at age 4
- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, logician, writer and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate
- George Sand, French novelist and memoirist
- J. R. R. Tolkien, English writer, poet, philologist and university professor, orphaned at age 12
- Leo Tolstoy, Russian author, orphaned at age 9
- William Wordsworth, English Romantic poet, orphaned at age 12
North America
- Edward Albee, American playwright, adopted as an infant
- James A. Michener, American author, abandoned as an infant
- Sylvia Plath, poet, novelist, and short-story writer
- Edgar Allan Poe, author, orphaned at age 2
- William Saroyan, Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer
- Henry Morton Stanley,Welsh-American journalist and explorer, raised in a workhouse
- Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector
- Dale Wasserman, American playwright, orphaned at age 9
- Pete Wells, American food critic, adopted as an infant
Musicians and singers
Africa
- Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean popular singer
- Emmanuel Jal, South Sudanese-Canadian rapper
- Miriam Makeba, South African singer and activist
Asia
- Juan Karlos Labajo, Filipino singer, abandoned by father, and mother died at age 12
- Choi Sung-bong, singer of the Republic of Korea
Australia
- Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano singer, adopted as an infant
Europe
- Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer, orphaned at age 9
- Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets
- Josquin des Prez, French composer and singer of the Renaissance
- Christoph Eschenbach, German-born musician
- John Koukouzelis, Albanian Orthodox Christian composer
- John Lennon, English singer, raised by aunt and uncle
- John Lundvik, Swedish singer, songwriter, and former sprinter
- Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Swedish pop and jazz singer
- Henry Purcell, English composer
- Antonio Salieri, Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher
- Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer
North America
- Louis Armstrong, American musician, raised in an orphanage and by his grandmother
- Hank Ballard, American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter
- Ray Charles, American singer, orphaned at age 15
- Ibrahim Ferrer, Afro-Cuban musician
- Ella Fitzgerald, American jazz singer, orphaned in childhood
- Kirk Franklin, American gospel musician
- James Hetfield, American singer, orphaned by cancer at 16
- Faith Hill, American singer, adopted as an infant
- Billie Holiday, American jazz singer, intermittently abandoned in childhood
- B. B. King, American blues singer, electric guitarist, songwriter, and record producer
- Eartha Kitt, American singer, actress, activist and voice actress
- Jenkins Orphanage, American band in US
- Mims, American hip hop recording artist, orphaned at age 13
- Sonny Moore, American electronic dance music producer, adopted as an infant
- Trent Reznor, American singer, abandoned by parents at age 5 and raised by grandparents
- Jimmie Rodgers, American country singer
- John Rzeznik, American musician, orphaned at age 15
- Bessie Smith, American blues singer, orphaned at age 9
- Tina Turner, American singer, intermittently abandoned in childhood
- Muddy Waters, American blues musician
- Jimmy Wayne, American country music singer, homeless foster teen taken in by a couple in their 70s
South America
- Víctor Jara, Chilean poet, singer-songwriter, teacher, theatre director and political activist
- Milton Nascimento, Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist
Artists, actors, and entertainers
Africa
- Ger Duany, actor, among Lost Boys of Sudan
- Charlize Theron, South African and American actress and film producer
Asia
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- Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood actor
- Nadech Kugimiya, Thai model and actor
- I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect
- Bianca Umali, Filipino Teen actress, commercial model and recurring dancer, orphaned at 7
- Preity Zinta, Indian film actress
Australia
- Cate Blanchett, Australian actress and theatre director
- Guy Pearce, Australian actor and musician
Europe
- Leon Battista Alberti, Italian humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher and cryptographer
- Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress, orphaned at age 12
- Gustave Boulanger, French painter, abandoned at the age of 14
- Caravaggio, Italian painter
- Rosa Bonheur, French artist, an animalière (painter of animals) and sculptor
- Charlie Chaplin, English entertainer
- Coco Chanel, French fashion designer and entrepreneur
- Salvador Dalí, Spanish surrealist painter
- Daniel Day-Lewis, English actor
- Edgar Degas, French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings
- Marlene Dietrich, German actress and singer
- Juliette Drouet, French actress, orphaned in childhood
- Barry Evans, English actor, abandoned as an infant, raised in an orphanage
- Caspar David Friedrich, German Romantic landscape painter
- Greta Garbo, Swedish-born American film actress
- Paul Gauguin, French post-Impressionist artist
- Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian Baroque painter
- Hape Kerkeling, German actor, presenter and comedian
- Deborah Kerr, Scottish-born film, theatre and television actress
- Adolf Loos, Austrian and Czechoslovak architect and influential European theorist of Modern architecture
- Peter Lorre, Austro-Hungarian-American actor
- Andrea Mantegna, Italian Renaissance painter
- Ian McKellen, English actor
- Michelangelo, Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance
- Molière, French playwright and actor who and one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature
- Armin Mueller-Stahl, German film actor, painter and author
- Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and printmaker
- David Niven, English actor and novelist
- Laurence Olivier, English actor
- Parmigianino, Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker
- Roman Polanski, French-Polish film director, producer, writer, and actor
- Oleg Popov, Russian clown and circus artist
- Neo Rauch, German painter
- Raphael, Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance
- Alan Rickman, English actor and director
- Géza Röhrig, Hungarian actor and poet, raised in an orphanage
- Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish Baroque painter
- Margaret Rutherford, English actress
- Egon Schiele, Austrian painter
- Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Prussian architect, city planner, and painter
- Oskar Schlemmer, German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus school
- Volker Schlöndorff, German filmmaker
- Guillaume Taraval, French-born Swedish painter
- Margarethe von Trotta, German film director
- Marie Tussaud, French artist known for her wax sculptures and Madame Tussauds
- Ellen von Unwerth, German photographer and director, specializing in erotic femininity
- Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress and film director
- Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, French painter
- Naomi Watts, English actress and film producer
North America
- Tallulah Bankhead, American actress, orphaned as an infant
- Buffalo Bill, American frontier figure
- Charles Bronson, Lithuanian-American film and television actor
- Carol Burnett, American actress, comedian, singer and writer, raised by her grandmother
- Mary Cassatt, American painter and printmaker
- William Castle, American film figure, orphaned at age 11
- Henry Darger, American writer and artist (whose work focused on orphans), orphaned at age 13.
- Tommy Davidson, American comedian, orphaned as infant
- James Dean, American actor
- Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor
- Cecil B. DeMille, American filmmaker
- William C. DeMille, American screenwriter and director
- Jane Fonda, American actress, writer, political activist and fitness guru
- Clark Gable, American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood" or just simply as "The King"
- Ava Gardner, American actress and singer
- John Garfield, American actor
- Judy Garland, American actress, singer and vaudevillian
- Bill Graham, German-American impresario and rock concert promoter
- D. W. Griffith, American film director, writer, and producer
- Gene Hackman, American actor and novelist
- Oliver Hardy, American actor of Laurel and Hardy
- Mariska Hargitay, American actress
- Ice-T, American rapper and actor, rapper, orphaned at age 12
- Brian Jungen, Dene-Zaa artist
- Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, dancer, comedian, and musician
- Veronica Lake, American film, stage, and television actress
- Art Linkletter, Canadian-born American radio and television personality and entertainer, abandoned as an infant
- Ray Liotta, American actor, film producer and voice actor, adopted at 6 months
- George Lopez, American comedian, raised by a grandmother
- Myrna Loy, American film, television and stage actress
- Lee Majors, American film, television and voice actor, orphaned at age 2 & raised by aunt and uncle
- Jayne Mansfield, American actress in film, theatre, television and Playboy Playmates
- Jayne Marie Mansfield, Playboy nude model
- Frances McDormand, American actress, adopted as an infant
- Marilyn Monroe, entertainer, raised in foster care
- Eddie Murphy, American comedian, actor, writer, singer and producer
- Steve Oedekerk, American comedian and film producer, adopted as an infant
- Mary Pickford, Canadian-American film actress, writer, director, and producer
- Priscilla Presley, American actress and entrepreneur
- Kelly Preston, American actress
- Anthony Quinn, Mexican-born American actor, painter and writer
- Julia Roberts, American actress and producer
- Jane Russell, American film actress and one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols
- Gene Siskel, American film critic, orphaned at age 9 & raised by aunt and uncle
- Barbara Stanwyck, American actress, raised in foster homes from age 2
- Barbra Streisand, American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker
- Lana Turner, American actress
- Andy Warhol, American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art
- Orson Welles, American actor and director, orphaned at age 15
- Darryl F. Zanuck, American film producer, abandoned at age 13
South America
- Ivian Sarcos, Miss World 2011, orphaned at age 8
Athletes
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Africa
- Eusébio, Portuguese footballer who played as a striker and first world-class African-born players
- Guor Marial, Olympic runner, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan
- Victor Moses, professional footballer
- Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, African triathlete and advocate for the rights of the disabled
Asia
- Garry Kasparov, Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion
- Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, captain of the India national cricket team for the tour to England in 1946
- Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer and former captain of the Indian cricket team
Australia
- Layne Beachley, Australian surfer, she won the World Championship
- Jason Day, Australian professional golfer and PGA Tour member
- Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete, and the 1936 Olympic champion
- Wendell Sailor, Australian former professional rugby football player
Europe
- Alberto Ascari, Italian racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion
- Oksana Baiul, Ukrainian former competitive figure skater, World and Olympic champion
- Franco Baresi, Italian professional football player and coach
- Johan Cruyff, Dutch professional football player and coach
- Moritz Fürste, German field hockey player, Olympic champion 2008 and 2012
- James Mason, Irish-born chess player, journalist and writer
- Declan McCormick, English Junior and British Youth Weightlifting Champion
- Paavo Nurmi, Finnish middle- and long-distance runner
- Jochen Rindt, racing driver, the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One
- Daley Thompson, English former decathlete, Olympic, World- and European champion
North America
- Simone Biles, American Olympic gymnast, adopted by her grandparents
- Steve Van Buren, professional American football halfback
- Scott Hamilton, figure skater, adopted as an infant
- Aaron Hernandez, American football tight end and convicted murderer
- Morgan Hurd, American gymnast, adopted as an infant
- Carlin Isles, American rugby star, adopted at age 8
- Colin Kaepernick, American civil rights activist and American football quarterback
- Lopez Lomong, U.S. Olympic track star, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan
- Greg Louganis, American Olympic diver, adopted as an infant
- Karl Malone, American basketball player
- Billy Mills, American Olympic runner, orphaned at age 12
- Babe Ruth, American baseball star, raised in an orphanage
- Gunboat Smith, Irish-American Boxer, grew up in orphanages around the Philadelphia area
- Jim Thorpe, American multi-sport Olympic and professional athlete, orphaned as a teen
- Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian professional auto racing driver
South America
- Gustavo Kuerten, tennis player from Brazil, nickname as Guga, is a retired World No. 1
- Rivaldo, Brazilian former professional footballer
Scientists and scholars
Africa
- Maud Chifamba, the youngest university student in Africa, orphaned at age 14
- Ibn Khaldun, North African Arab historiographer and historian lost both of his parents at age of 17
Europe
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- Jean le Rond d'Alembert, French mathematician, abandoned as an infant
- Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist and one of the founders of modern chemistry
- Elizabeth Blackwell, British-born physician
- Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist and philosopher
- Robert Boyle, Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist and inventor
- Henry Cavendish, British natural philosopher, scientist, and an important experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist
- Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish Renaissance mathematician and astronomer
- Marie Curie, Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize
- René Descartes, French philosopher and polymath
- Arthur Eddington, English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician
- Willem Einthoven, Dutch doctor, physiologist and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician
- Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist and botanist
- Joseph von Fraunhofer, German optician
- Fritz Haber, German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher and an important figure of German idealism
- Alexander von Humboldt, Prussian polymath
- Wilhelm von Humboldt, Prussian philosopher and public figure
- David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist
- James Hutton, Scottish geologist, physician, chemical manufacturer, naturalist, and experimental agriculturalist
- Edward Jenner, English physician and scientist, who was the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine
- Irène Joliot-Curie, French scientist second woman to win a Nobel Prize
- Immanuel Kant, German philosopher who is considered the central figure of modern philosophy
- Johannes Kepler, German scientist, raised by grandmother
- Antoine Lavoisier, French chemist and father of modern chemistry
- Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch tradesman and scientist
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German polymath and philosopher
- Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics
- Ada Lovelace, English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine
- James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish scientist in the field of mathematical physics
- John McDouall Stuart, Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers
- Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and inventor
- Maria Sibylla Merian, German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator
- Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician
- Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, writer, and linguist
- Richard Owen, English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist
- Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher
- André Patry, French astronomer and discoverer of 9 minor planets in the late 1930s
- Emmi Pikler, Hungarian pediatrician and infant-education theorist
- Paul Ricœur, French philosopher, for combining phenomenological description with hermeneutics
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher, raised by aunt and uncle
- Arthur Rudolph, German rocket engineer
- Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, orphaned at age 3
- Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, writer, and activist
- Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher
- Adam Smith, Scottish moral philosopher and pioneer of political economy
- Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher of Sephardi/Portuguese origin
- Voltaire, French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher
- Wilhelm Wundt, German physician, physiologist, philosopher, and professor
North America
- John Bardeen, American physicist and electrical engineer
- George Washington Carver, American scientist, inventor, orphaned while a slave
- Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist
- Linus Pauling, American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator
- Percy Spencer, American inventor, orphaned in childhood
- Robert Taylor, American internet pioneer, adopted at age 28 days
Business people
Asia
- Ian Karan, Tamil German businessman and politician
Europe
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- Roman Abramovich, Russian businessman and politician
- Gianni Agnelli, Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat
- Anthony Bacon, British iron pioneer
- Karl Benz, German engine designer and automobile engineer
- André Citroën, French industrialist and freemason
- Thomas Cook, English founded the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son
- Jakob Fugger, German major merchant, mining entrepreneur and banker of Europe
- Christine Lagarde, French Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund
- Wilhelm Maybach, German engine designer and industrialist
- Rudolf August Oetker, German entrepreneur
- Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate
- Mary Portas, English retail consultant, and broadcaster, orphaned at age 18
- Vidal Sassoon, British beauty products magnate, placed in an orphanage at age 7
- Hans Wilsdorf, German-born British founder of noted watch brands Rolex and Tudor Watches
- Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and aircraft manufacturer
North America
- Arthur E. Andersen, American accounting firm founder, orphaned as a teen
- L.L. Bean, American retail catalog magnate, orphaned at age 12
- William Boeing, American aviation pioneer who founded The Boeing Company
- Adolph Coors, German American brewer who founded the Adolph Coors Company
- August Duesenberg and Fred Duesenberg, German-born American automobile pioneers, designers, manufacturers and sportsmen
- Henry Ford, American founder of Ford Motor Company
- Samuel Goldwyn, American film mogul, raised by relatives
- John Hancock, American merchant, statesman and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution
- Howard Hughes, American entrepreneur
- Jenna Jameson, American entrepreneur, webcam model and former pornographic film actress
- Steve Jobs, American Apple Computer founder, adopted as infant
- Howard Lutnick, American CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, orphaned as a teen
- John Molson, 18th century Canadian brewer
- Tom Monaghan, American Domino's Pizza founder, partially raised in an orphanage
- Colonel Sanders, American businessman, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken
- Carlos Slim, Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
- Levi Strauss, American Jewish businessman
- Dave Thomas, American Wendy's entrepreneur adoption advocate, adopted as an infant
- Jerry Yang, Taiwanese American Internet entrepreneur and programmer
Otherwise notables
Asia
- Kanō Jigorō, Japanese educator and athlete, the founder of Judo
- Oda Nobunaga, powerful daimyō of Japan
- Zofia Potocka, Greek slave courtesan and a Russian agent, later a Polish noble
- Swami Rama, Indian yógī
- Natalya Stroeva, Russian model and beauty pageant titleholder
- Kazuo Taoka, one of the most prominent yakuza godfathers
- Minamoto no Yoshitomo, head of the Minamoto clan and a general of Japanese history
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune, nobleman and military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan
- Lu Yu, ancient author of The Classic of Tea
- Osama bin Laden, founder of al-Qaeda
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Australia
- Truganini, Aboriginal Tasmanian
Europe
Horatio Nelson
- Roald Amundsen, Norwegian polar explorer
- Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, British Army officer, founder and first Chief Scout of The Boy Scouts Association
- William Blackstone, English jurist and political figure
- George Blake, British spy who worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union
- William Bligh, British Royal Navy, command of HMS Bounty, Governor of New South Wales in Australia and a colonial administrator
- Martin Bormann, prominent official in Nazi Germany as head of the Nazi Party Chancellery
- Johann Friedrich Böttger, German alchemist and the first European to discover the secret of the creation of hard-paste porcelain
- Guy Burgess, British radio producer, intelligence officer and Foreign Office official
- William Dampier, Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia and pirate
- Karl Dönitz,German admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II
- Adolf Eichmann, German Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) and one of the major organisers of the Holocaust
- Prince Eugene of Savoy, general of the Imperial Army and one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history
- Guy Fawkes, known as Guido Fawkes, member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot
- Antoine Galland, French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of One Thousand and One Nights
- Hermann Gmeiner, Austrian philanthropist and the founder of SOS Children's Villages
- Adam Griffith American football player from Poland
- Kaspar Hauser, German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell
- Rudolf Höss, Nazi German SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) and the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp in World War II
- Wilhelm Keitel, German field marshal who served as chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, the OKW) for most of World War II
- Otto Lilienthal, German pioneer of aviation
- Luigi Lucheni, Italian anarchist who assassinated the Austrian Empress, Elisabeth
- Louis Philippe II, Colonel General (France) and member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
- Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer
- John McDouall Stuart, Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers
- Erich Mielke, head of the East German Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staatsicherheit), better known as the Stasi
- Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, British flag officer in the Royal Navy
- Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer
- Elisabeth Petznek, nicknamed "The Red Archduchess"
- Albert Pierrepoint, hangman in England
- Grigory Potemkin, Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman and favourite of Catherine the Great
- Joseph Priestley, English theologian, English Dissenters clergyman, multi-subject educator
- Grigori Rasputin, Russian peasant and mystical faith healer
- Johann Philipp Reis, German scientist and inventor, he constructed the first make-and-break telephone
- Salvatore Riina, chief of the Sicilian Mafia
- Hartmann Schedel, German physician, humanist, historian, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing press
- Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist
- Richard Sorge, Soviet military intelligence officer during World War II
- Valentina Tereshkova, Russian cosmonaut and the first woman to have flown in space
- Victor of Aveyron, French feral child
- Minik Wallace, Inuk anthropology subject
- Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarian
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Field Marshal
North America
- Dieter Dengler, United States Navy aviator
- Genie, pseudonym for a feral child who was a victim of severe abuse, neglect, and social isolation
- Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector and bohemian socialite
- Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and professional scout
- Caroline Kennedy, American author, attorney, diplomat and her brother John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer and journalist
- Billy the Kid, American Old West gunfighter who participated in New Mexico's Lincoln County War
- Robert E. Lee, American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War
- Jim Lovell, former NASA astronaut and a retired captain in the United States Navy
- James Naismith, Canadian-American, inventor of basketball
- Annie Oakley, American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter
- Lee Harvey Oswald, American former U.S. Marine who assassinated President John F. Kennedy
- Bonnie Parker, American criminal
- Robert Peary, American explorer who claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole
- Sager orphans, twice-orphaned American settlers
- Raphael Semmes, officer in the Confederate navy during the American Civil War
- William Tecumseh Sherman, American soldier, businessman, educator and author
- James West, Scouting leader, raised in an orphanage
- Aileen Wuornos, American serial killer
- Pancho Villa, Mexican Revolutionary general and one of the most prominent figures of the Mexican Revolution
- Nikolas Cruz, perpetrator of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
South America
- Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy.
- João Havelange, Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and athlete who served as the seventh President of FIFA
- Tiradentes, hero of Brazil and patron of the Military Police
Fictional characters
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See also Category:Fictional orphans
In literature
- Captain America
- Frodo Baggins, The Lord of the Rings
- Bambi
- Batman
- Curious George
- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, A Series of Unfortunate Events
- James Bond
- Natty Bumppo, a.k.a. "Hawkeye", Leatherstocking Tales
- Cinderella
- Santa Claus
- David Copperfield
- Cosette, in the novel Les Misérables
- Ponyboy Curtis, The Outsiders
- Eragon, Inheritance Cycle
- Jane Eyre
- Huckleberry Finn
- Moll Flanders
- Dorothy Gale, Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- Dick Grayson
- Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights
- Heidi
- Tom Jones
- Kim
- Krabat
- A Little Princess
- Pippi Longstocking
- Stephen Maturin, Master and Commander
- Momo
- Mowgli
- Baron Munchausen
- Nellie O'Malley, American Girl Dolls series
- Pip, Great Expectations
- Pollyanna
- Harry Potter
- Quasimodo
- Tom Sawyer
- Shazam
- Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables
- Spider-Man
- Superman
- Snow White
- Rosa Esposto, heroine of The Lady of the Wheel
- The Star Money
- Daenerys Targaryen, A Song of Ice and Fire
- Tarzan
- Oliver Twist
- Lord Voldemort
- Doctor Zhivago
In popular culture
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- Allen Walker, (D.Gray-man)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist
- Batman and Robin
- Cagalli Yula Athha, (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED)
- Carnage
- Char Aznable, Mobile Suit Gundam
- Cyclops
- Ezra Bridger, (Star Wars Rebels)
- Erin Hannon, The Office
- Evey Hammond, V for Vendetta
- Fanboy and Chum Chum, (Fanboy & Chum Chum), (Presumed orphans)
- Fatmagül Ketenci Ilgaz
- Finn the Human, (Adventure Time)
- Firebrand, (Ghosts 'n Goblins series)
- Fox McCloud, Star Fox (series)
- Gaara, (Naruto)
- Gintoki Sakata, (Gin Tama)
- Goku, Dragon Ball
- Himura Kenshin, Rurouni Kenshin
- Inuyasha (character), Inuyasha
- Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Shippūden
- James Bond
- Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star
- Kit Cloudkicker TaleSpin
- Lacus Clyne, Gundam franchise
- Lex Luthor
- Little Orphan Annie
- Magneto
- Misa Amane, (Death Note)
- Misty, Pokémon franchise
- Motoko Kusanagi
- Mukuro Rokudo, Reborn!
- Myōjin Yahiko. Rurouni Kenshin
- Nami, One Piece franchise
- Naruto Uzumaki, Naruto
- Nunnally Lamperouge, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
- Orihime Inoue, Bleach
- Orochimaru, Naruto
- Paddington Bear
- Phoenix Ikki, Saint Seiya
- Po the panda
- Professor X
- Punky Brewster
- Raiden
- Rolo Lamperouge, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
- Rukia Kuchiki, Bleach
- Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Moon
- Santa Claus, Father Christmas, and other personifications of the orphaned Saint Nicholas
- Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto
- Shinn Asuka, (Gundam (franchise))
- Sly Cooper, (Sly Cooper)
- Snow White
- Sookie Stackhouse
- Spider-Man
- Spike the Dragon, My Little Pony
- Storm
- Superman
- Suzaku Kururugi, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
- The Warden, Superjail!
- Tohru Honda, Fruits Basket
- Upin & Ipin
- Vash the Stampede, Trigun
- Wolverine
- Yotsuba Koiwai, Yotsuba&!
- Cha-Siu, Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat
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
- Iii. Eligibility For Immigration Benefits As An Orphan Archived 2009-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
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