Last Word

Pictured: Julia Farron Julian Worricker on: The Cambodian political leader, Nuon Chea, who was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity during his time as a member of the Khmer Rouge.... Julia Farron, a dancer with the Royal Ballet, who's been described as a great performer of virtuoso roles.... The pioneering graphic designer, June Fraser, whose work has influenced so many of the logo...

Pictured: Toni Morrison Matthew Bannister on The Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, acclaimed for her novels which put the experience of black women centre stage. Hal Prince, the successful theatre producer and director behind West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera and Evita. The pioneering radar and sonar engineer, Dr Elizabeth Killick. Li Peng, the Chinese Premier who ordered troops to fir...

Pictured: Russi Taylor Matthew Bannister on Beji Caid Essebsi who became the first democratically elected President of Tunisia in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Russi Taylor the versatile voice artist best known for playing Minnie Mouse. She married the man who did the voice for Mickey Mouse. Jane Hubert, the anthropologist and psychologist who studied young people with severe learning disabili...

Pictured: Andrea Camilleri Matthew Bannister on Andrea Camilleri, the Sicilian writer who created the Inspector Montalbano novels. His literary success began in his late sixties. Johnny Clegg, the white South African singer and guitarist who confronted the apartheid government by embracing Zulu music and culture. Christopher Kraft, the founder of mission control for the NASA space programme. Paul...

Pictured: Audrey Eyton Matthew Bannister on Arthur Ryan, the Irish retailer who created Primark - known for selling fast fashion at low prices. Audrey Eyton, who devised the F-Plan diet, which encouraged people to eat fibre to lose weight. Jack Bond, the Lancashire cricket captain who led his team to success in the one-day game. Rip Torn, the film and stage actor known for his violent temper who a...

Pictured: Eva Kor Matthew Bannister on Eva Kor who, with her twin sister, was the subject of experiments by the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele in Auschwitz. She later publicly forgave her tormentors. Christopher Booker, the founding editor of Private Eye and Telegraph columnist. João Gilberto, the Brazilian pioneer of bossa nova music whose hits included The Girl From Ipanema. And John McCririck, the e...

Pictured: Brenda Maddox Matthew Bannister on Ivan Cooper, the human rights campaigner and politician from Northern Ireland who played a key role in the protests on Bloody Sunday. Min Hogg, the colourful founding editor of World of Interiors magazine. Her friend Nicky Haslam pays tribute. John Gunther Dean, the last US diplomat to be evacuated from Cambodia as war loomed. Brenda Maddox, author of m...

Pictured: Judith Krantz Matthew Bannister on Dr. Henry Lynch whose painstaking medical research revealed the causes of hereditary cancers. Judith Krantz, the American author who made a huge commercial success from her sex and shopping novels. Lord Patel, the Indian-born businessman who became a key figure in community relations in his adopted town of Blackburn. Anthony Hedges, the British composer...

Pictured: Franco Zeffirelli Matthew Bannister on Franco Zeffirelli, the stage and film director known for his opulent designs and flamboyant personality. Gloria Vanderbilt, the heiress who overcame personal tragedy and was the first to market designer jeans. Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected President, who was ousted from office after only a year. Philomena Lynott, who ran a hote...

Pictured: John Tidmarsh Matthew Bannister on John Tidmarsh, who presented Outlook on the BBC World Service for thirty years and brought comfort to the Beirut hostages. John McCarthy pays tribute. Sylvia Denman, the Barbados-born lawyer who campaigned for better race relations in the UK and fought to improve educational outcomes for young black people. Paul Darrow, the actor best known as Avon, the...

Pictured: Edward Seaga Julian Worricker on: The Jamaican politician, Edward Seaga, who led his country as prime minister throughout the 1980s Binyavanga Wainaina, one of Kenya's most prominent writers and LGBTQ activists The Vogue fashion editor and Manhattan socialite, Gloria Schiff Archivist, Mary Stopes-Roe, daughter of the bouncing bomb developer Barnes Wallis And the Grammy Award-winning, New...

Pictured: Nan Winton Matthew Bannister on Murray Gell-Mann, the American physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He coined the name "quarks" for the fundamental building blocks of matter. Nan Winton, the first woman to read the TV news on the BBC. She faced discrimination in the male-dominated BBC newsroom. James McCord, the CIA agent who was involved...

Pictured: Judith Kerr Matthew Bannister on Niki Lauda, the fearless racing driver who survived a terrible crash to make a dramatic comeback on the track. Judith Kerr, the author of much-loved children's books including the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. I.M. Pei, the architect best known for the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris. Herman Wouk, the American novelist and screenwrit...

Pictured: Doris Day Julian Worricker on: One of Hollywood's top box-office stars of the 50s and 60s, actress and singer Doris Day. The Labour MP who became one of television's most exhaustive political interviewers, Brian Walden. Dorothy Rowe, one of the earliest figures in psychology to build a bridge between clinical practice and the general public. And the paranormal investigator, Lorraine Warr...

Pictured: John Singleton Andrea Catherwood on: British Athlete Winnie Jordan who won a silver medal in the Empire Games in 1938 and became a celebrated British Champion after the war. American psychiatrist and lawyer, Richard Green, who advanced acceptance and understanding of gay and trans people. Founder of Poland's Solidarity movement, Karol Modzelewski. Liz Howe, the ecologist who spearheaded...

Pictured: Peter Mayhew Matthew Bannister on Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who served with the Irish Guards during the war, liberated his own country and then presided over its prosperity. Terry Rawlings, the film editor who worked on Alien, Chariots of Fire and the Bond film Goldeneye. Neus Català, the Spanish communist who fought Franco, joined the French resistance and survived a Nazi death cam...

Pictured: Lyra McKee Matthew Bannister on Lyra McKee, the 29 year old Northern Irish journalist who was shot dead by the New IRA. Una-Mary Parker who was the social editor of Tatler, a commentator on the Royal family and the author of best-selling novels. Mira Markovic, the wife of the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who denied her husband's responsibility for atrocities during the Bosnian w...

Pictured: Nadja Poderegin Julian Worricker on: David Thouless, whose work in the world of quantum mechanics earned him a share of the Nobel Prize for Physics. The Serbian actress, Nadja Poderegin, who went from 'Bond girl' on screen to be a publisher and novelist. Stand-up comedian, Ian Cognito, whose act was much loved on the comedy circuit but never allowed on TV. Michael O'Donnell, who combined...

Pictured: Sydney Brenner Matthew Bannister on Sydney Brenner, the Nobel Prize-winning biologist who worked with Francis Crick to map DNA. Dan Robbins, the artist who invented painting by numbers. Edda Tasiemka, the archivist who kept a comprehensive newspaper and magazine cuttings collection in her North London home. Ian McDonald, the Ministry of Defence spokesman during the Falklands War who beca...

Pictured: Agnès Varda Matthew Bannister on Michel Bacos, the pilot of the Air France jet that was hi-jacked to Entebbe in 1976. He was offered the chance to leave, but chose to stay with the hostages until they were freed in a dramatic raid by the Israelis. The film director Agnès Varda, known as the mother of the French New Wave. The impresario Victor Hochhauser who specialised in bringing top Ru...

Pictured: Baroness Warnock Matthew Bannister on Baroness Warnock, the philosopher who set down the principles which govern human fertilisation treatment and embryo research. William Hucklesby, the Police Commander who led the anti-terrorist branch at the time of the Hyde Park and Brighton bomb attacks. Rose Hilton, the artist who put her career on hold to support her husband, but gained recognitio...

Pictured: Dick Dale Matthew Bannister on Gillian Freeman, the novelist and screenwriter whose books include The Leather Boys, a story of a gay love affair between two working class men in the 1960s. Sir Peter Hutchison who travelled to remote parts of the world to collect rare plants. Sister Dorothy Bell, the nun who after a career devoted to education, turned her attention to AIDS awareness. And...

Pictured: Jacques Loussier Matthew Bannister on Mike Oliver, who was paralysed from the neck down after diving into a swimming pool as a teenager. He became the UK's first Professor of Disability Studies and transformed the debate about disabled people's rights. Jacques Loussier, the French pianist and composer best known for his jazz arrangements of the works of J.S. Bach. Professor Richard Lacey...

Pictured: Simon Norton Matthew Bannister on France-Albert René, the Seychelles President who came to power in a coup and stayed in office for more than 25 years. Simon Norton, the brilliant but eccentric mathematician who became fascinated by public transport. Belle Tutaev who campaigned for better early learning provision for the UK's children. Ian Adamson, the Northern Ireland doctor who wrote m...

Pictured: André Previn Matthew Bannister on André Previn, the conductor and pianist whose repertoire ranged from the classics to film and jazz music. He took part in a celebrated sketch with Morecambe and Wise. John Haynes, publisher of the Haynes manuals which gave amateur mechanics a step by step guide to repairing their cars. Tony Mendez, the CIA operative who smuggled American diplomatic staff...