Sudanese

Alek Wek is a South Sudanese-British designer and model. Since making her fashion debut at the age of 18, Alek has been an influential figure in the world of fashion; she has been praised for redefining beauty and altering the perception of beauty within the fashion industry. In 2015, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women list.

Anusha Dandekar is an Indian-Australian VJ, actress, and singer. She is popularly known for hosting many TV shows. Beginning her career as a TV anchor and VJ, she branched out into acting as well, making her film debut with a role in the Bollywood film Mumbai Matinee. Since then, she has appeared in a few other movies.

Sudanese rebel leader Salva Kiir Mayardit became the first president of South Sudan. In 2020, he signed an agreement with opposition leader and current vice president Riek Machar to share power and create a unified government, putting an end to a brutal civil war that has seen mass rapes and murders.

Revolutionary leader and president of Southern Sudan John Garang was the man behind the term "Sudanism," which promoted cohesiveness among the people of Sudan. Orphaned at 10, he completed his education on scholarships but later rejected an offer from UCB to go to Tanzania. He died in a helicopter crash.

One of the most influential Sudanese authors, Tayeb Salih was born into a farming community and had thus aspired to work in agriculture. However, he became a journalist later and worked with al Majalla and BBC. His works such as The Wedding of Zein mirror the intricacies of African life.

Omar al-Bashir is a Sudanese politician who served as the seventh president of Sudan. A former military officer, he is the founder of the National Congress Party that remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. He was deposed in a coup d'état the same year and subsequently arrested and convicted on multiple corruption charges.

Andreas Voutsinas was a Sudanese-Greek theater director and actor. He is remembered for playing important roles in films like The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, and History of the World, Part I. From 2002 to 2009, he worked as an acting teacher in Northern Greece’s State Theatre. Andreas Voutsinas is also credited with founding a drama school called Superior Drama School.

Born to a Sudanese shipbuilder, Muhammad Ahmad grew up to become a Sufi religious leader. His war against the Ottoman-Egyptian rule and his capture of Khartoum led him to establish a vast Islamic state. Named the first Mahdi, he was one of the rare African rulers to defeat the British.

The son of Tewfik I of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, Mohammed Ali Tewfik was the uncle of Farouk I and his regent. After the declaration of Egypt as a republic, he spent the rest of his life in exile. He loved horse breeding and also penned a book on the subject.

Egyptian revolutionary Muhammad Naguib was one of the pillars of the 1952 Egyptian Revolution and had a major role in the ouster of King Farouk I. A military man, he was the country’s war and navy minister. He also served as the 1st president of Egypt and its prime minister.

Sudanese diplomat Asma Mohamed Abdalla served as the first female Foreign Minister of Sudan in the ongoing democratic transition in Sudan that started in July 2019. She held office from September 2019 to July 9, 2020 in the Transitional Cabinet of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. She earlier served as a Sudanese ambassador and was dismissed after 1989 Sudanese coup d'état.

Sudanese judge Raja Nicola was chosen by the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and the Transitional Military Council (TMC) as their mutually agreed-on sixth civilian member of the eleven-member Sovereignty Council of Sudan that remained Sudan’s collective head of state from August 20, 2019 till October 25, 2021. Nicola was one of the two female members of the council.