10 Historical Figures who were (probably) Homosexual
By Artur Fass
1. Montezuma II – Aztec ruler, 16th century
Besides being an Aztec ruler during the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1502-1520 and having nine daughters and eleven sons, Montezuma is claimed to be bisexual by several historians.
2. Alexander the Great - Macedonian Ruler, 300 B.C.
Although he was married twice, ancient historical sources show that the greatest emotional relationship of Alexander’s life was with his friend, general, and bodyguard, Hephaestion. However, the sources never state that the relationship was sexual. If it indeed was, then this was not at all unusual in Greek culture. Today it is commonly thought that Alexander may have been bisexual.
3. Sappho – Greek Woman Poet, 600 B.C.
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Her poetry centers on admiring and love for both genders. Even though the vast amount of her poetry, has been lost, her adjectives such as ‘lesbian’ and ‘Sapphic’ are still used nowadays in relation to female love and homosexuality. Whether Sappho was lesbian or not, she seems to have made the island of Lesbos an icon for modern gay women from all over the world.
4. Dag Hammarskjöld – UN Secretary
Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat and author and was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. He served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. Hammarskjold was not openly gay during his lifetime. Given the environment in which he worked, public knowledge of his sexual orientation would likely have reduced his effectiveness. However, the LGBT community considers him to have been homosexual.
5. Oscar Wilde – Irish author, 19th century
An Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories and one novel, Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for two years’ hard labor after being convicted of homosexual relationships. After his release, he left London forever and died in Paris, where he is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery. His tomb there is considered to be a gay icon of Paris.
6. Leonardo da Vinci – Italian Artist, scientist, 15th century
When he was twenty-four years old, da Vinci was arrested along with several young companions on the charge of sodomy. The most overt biographical detail concerning Leonardo’s personal life is a Florentine court record, which shows that in 1476 while in the workshop of Verrocchio, Leonardo was accused anonymously of sodomy with the male model and prostitute Jacopo Saltarelli. After two months he was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. Sodomy was theoretically an extremely serious offense, carrying the death penalty, but its very seriousness made it equally difficult to prove.
7. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Russian composer, 19th century
Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. Based on the letters he wrote to his friends, historians came to the conclusion that he was homosexual.
8. Eleanor Roosevelt – U.S. stateswoman, 20th c.
Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most beloved First Ladies of all time in the US.
According to Lillian Faderman, author of To Believe in Women, she had a long term relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok. The two shared intimate love letters, which makes it clear that if not physical lovers, they were at least very intimate friends.
9. Peter the Great – Russian Czar, 17th-18th c.
The Emperor of Russia, who transformed the Tsardom of Russia into the 3-billion acre Russian Empire, is claimed by modern Russian historians to have had homosexual relations with his soldiers and close friends.
10. Marlene Dietrich – a German-born American actress and singer 20th c.
In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Dietrich ninth amongst the Greatest Female Stars of All Time. Dietrich’s place in this collection of biographies of course owes itself to the strong bisexual undertones of her films, as well as her affairs with women. She is considered to be an important lesbian icon.
Sources:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/quic/history/dag_hammerskjold.html
http://www.velvet-club.com/gallery/lesbian_history_icons_marlene_dietrich.php
http://lesbianlife.about.com/cs/herstory/a/Eleanor.htm
http://go2online.ru/show_495_istoriki_viyasnili_chto_petr_perviy_bil_geem.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/
