![Li Wenliang Li Wenliang](http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/thumbs/li-wenliang-65402-1.jpg)
Chinese ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was one of the first to identify the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. In late 2019, he alerted his colleagues of an illness that resembled SARS but didn’t respond to usual treatment. He was reprimanded and later died of COVID-19. He is since regarded as a medical hero.