Famous people born in 1931
The best-known people born in 1931, ranked by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in.
Best known
Mikhail Gorbachevleader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991 (1931–2022)
March 2 · d. 2022
Photo: Leo Medvedev/Лев Леонидович Медведев, CC BY-SA 4.0
Boris YeltsinSoviet and Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (1931–2007)
February 1 · d. 2007
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0
Toni MorrisonAfrican American novelist, essayist, and academic (1931–2019)
February 18 · d. 2019
Photo: John Mathew Smith ( celebrity-photos.com ), CC BY-SA 2.0
Desmond TutuSouth African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931–2021)
October 7 · d. 2021
Photo: Benny Gool, Public domain
James DeanAmerican actor (1931–1955)
February 8 · d. 1955
Photo: In-house publicity still, Public domain
Tomas TranströmerSwedish poet, psychologist and translator (1931-2015)
April 15 · d. 2015
Photo: Pia Nordlander / bildN, CC BY 3.0
A. P. J. Abdul KalamIndian scientist, president and statesman (1931–2015)
October 15 · d. 2015
Photo: Government of India, GODL-India
OshoIndian guru and leader of the Rajneesh movement (1931–1990)
December 11 · d. 1990
Photo: Sjakkelien Vollebregt, CC0
Robert DuvallAmerican actor and director (1931–2026)
January 5 · d. 2026
Photo: Bernard Gotfryd, Public domain
Roger PenroseEnglish mathematical physicist, recreational mathematician and philosopher
August 8
Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0
William ShatnerCanadian actor (born 1931)
March 22
Photo: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 4.0
Riccardo GiacconiItalian-American astrophysicist (1931-2018)
October 6 · d. 2018
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Isabel Martínez de Perónfirst female president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976
February 4
Photo: Archivo General de la Nación, Public domain
Anita EkbergSwedish actress (1931–2015)
September 29 · d. 2015
Photo: Paramount-photo by Bud Frakes., Public domain
Johannes RauGerman politician (SPD), 8th president of Germany from 1999 until 2004 (1931–2006)
January 16 · d. 2006
Photo: Ulrich Wienke, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Nawal El SaadawiEgyptian feminist writer (1931–2021)
October 27 · d. 2021
Photo: Gigi Ibrahim, CC BY 2.0
Martinus J. G. VeltmanDutch theoretical physicist (1931–2021)
June 27 · d. 2021
Photo: Silin2005, Public domain
John Robert SchriefferAmerican physicist (1931-2019)
May 31 · d. 2019
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
Chun Doo-hwan11th and 12th President of the Republic of Korea (1931~2021)
January 18 · d. 2021
Photo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0
Mwai Kibaki3rd President of Kenya (1931–2022)
November 15 · d. 2022
Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, OGL v1.0
Mário ZagalloBrazilian footballer (1931–2024)
August 9 · d. 2024
Photo: Mieremet, Rob / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
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Find my twinMonth by month
January
- January 2 · Toshiki Kaifu, Japanese politician (1931-2022)
- January 17 · James Earl Jones, American actor (1931–2024)
- January 20 · David Lee, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
- January 22 · Sam Cooke, American singer and songwriter (1931–1964)
- January 28 · Lucia Bose, Italian-born Spanish actress (1931-2020)
- January 29 · Ferenc Mádl, Hungarian politician (1931-2011)
February
- February 1 · Iajuddin Ahmed, former president of Bangladesh (1931-2012)
- February 2 · Dries van Agt, Dutch politician
- February 6 · Rip Torn, American actor (1931–2019)
- February 9 · Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and novelist (1931–1989)
- February 9 · Josef Masopust, Czech footballer (1931-2015)
- February 20 · John Milnor, American mathematician
March
- March 1 · Lamberto Dini, Italian economist, politician
- March 8 · Neil Postman, American writer and academic (1931-2003)
- March 9 · León Febres-Cordero, President of Ecuador (1984 - 1988)
- March 19 · Emma Andiyevska, Ukrainian poet, writer and painter (born 1931)
- March 23 · Viktor Korchnoi, Soviet-Swiss chess grandmaster
- March 27 · David Janssen, American actor (1931–1980)
April
- April 7 · Daniel Ellsberg, American whistleblower (1931–2023)
- April 8 · John Gavin, American film actor and former Ambassador to Mexico (1931–2018)
- April 11 · Luís Cabral, Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (1931-2009)
- April 19 · Fred Brooks, American computer scientist (1931–2022); author of The Mythical Man-Month and 'No Silver Bullet' (1986), which distinguished essential from accidental complexity in software engineering
- April 28 · Takashi Mizuno, Japanese association football player
- April 29 · Frank Auerbach, German-born British painter (1931–2024)
May
- May 3 · Aldo Rossi, Italian architect (1931-1997)
- May 6 · Willie Mays, American baseball player (1931–2024)
- May 10 · Ettore Scola, Italian screenwriter and film director (1931–2016)
- May 27 · Philip Kotler, American marketing author, consultant, and professor
- May 27 · Faten Hamama, Egyptian producer and actress (1931–2015).
- May 28 · Carroll Baker, American actress (born 1931)
June
- June 5 · Jacques Demy, French film director (1931-1990)
- June 10 · João Gilberto, Brazilian musician, pioneer of bossa nova (1931–2019)
- June 13 · Irvin Yalom, American psychotherapist and writer
- June 18 · Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of Brazil from 1995 to 2003
- June 20 · Olympia Dukakis, American actress (1931-2021)
- June 25 · V. P. Singh, Prime Minister of India (1989-1990)
July
- July 1 · Leslie Caron, French and American actress and dancer (born 1931)
- July 4 · Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (1931–1977)
- July 15 · Clive Cussler, American novelist (1931–2020)
- July 22 · Guido de Marco, Maltese politician (1931-2010)
- July 23 · Arata Isozaki, Japanese architect (1931-2022)
- July 24 · Ermanno Olmi, Italian film director (1931–2018)
August
- August 2 · Takashi Takabayashi, Japanese association football player (1931–2009)
- August 15 · Richard F. Heck, American chemist (1931–2015)
- August 23 · Hamilton Smith, American microbiologist (1931–2025)
- August 27 · Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, Indian writer and spiritual teacher (1931–2007)
- August 28 · Shunichiro Okano, Japanese association football player and manager (1931–2017)
- August 30 · Jack Swigert, NASA Astronaut, Pilot (1931-1982)
September
- September 12 · Ian Holm, British actor (1931–2020)
- September 12 · George Jones, American country musician (1931–2013)
- September 19 · Hiroto Muraoka, Japanese association football player (1931–2017)
- September 21 · Larry Hagman, American actor (1931–2012)
- September 21 · Syukuro Manabe, Japanese-American meteorologist and climatologist (1931–)
- September 30 · Angie Dickinson, American actress (born 1931)
October
- October 4 · Richard Rorty, American philosopher (1931–2007)
- October 7 · Ryuzo Hiraki, Japanese association football player and manager (1931–2009)
- October 13 · Raymond Kopa, French footballer (1931–2017)
- October 24 · Sofia Gubaidulina, Soviet and Russian composer (1931–2025)
- October 25 · Annie Girardot, French actress (1931-2011)
- October 25 · Klaus Hasselmann, German climate researcher, meteorologist, and oceanologist (born 1931)
November
- November 5 · Ike Turner, American musician (1931–2007)
- November 5 · Charles Taylor, Canadian philosopher (born 1931)
- November 6 · Mike Nichols, American director and comedian (1931–2014)
- November 15 · Pascal Lissouba, First President of the Republic of the Congo (1931–2020)
- November 17 · Pierre Nora, French historian and publisher (1931–2025)
- November 26 · Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentine activist, architect and sculptor
December
- December 1 · George Maxwell Richards, President of Trinidad and Tobago (1931-2018)
- December 11 · Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress (born 1931)
- December 11 · Ronald Dworkin, American legal philosopher (1931-2013)
- December 18 · Gunnel Lindblom, Swedish actress (1931–2021)
- December 27 · John Charles, Welsh association football player (1931-2004)
- December 28 · Guy Debord, French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker (1931–1994)
People from Wikidata (CC0), photos from Wikimedia Commons; each photo shows its author and licence.