For the last few months, the topic of refugees has been the main one in all the socio-political publications. But it is not just the experts that voice their opinions on the issue: social networks like Facebook, have become a sort of “battlefield”, where knowledgeable and ignorant people express their opinions and ruthlessly remove opponents from their friends.
We will not talk about what is really happening in the world and what consequences are waiting for Europe and the world in general after admitting a wave of refugees. Instead, Geniusbeauty.com remembers who of the famous people – actors, scientists, filmmakers and so on – once had to leave their home country, escaping war and poverty, to make a significant contribution to the development of art, science, and sports.
1. Mila Kunis
A successful Hollywood actress moved with her family to the United States when she was only 7 years old. Mila Kunis’ parents decided to leave the USSR (the actress was born in Chernivtsi) in order to avoid anti-Semitic persecution and to give their children a better future.
2. Albert Einstein
The great scientist was forced to leave his native Germany in 1933, when the nationalist idea began to spread across the country. Einstein, who had a Jewish background, faced with anti-Semitic persecution: after the Nazis had come to power, almost all Einstein’s works were attributed to “Aryan” scientists, whereas Albert Einstein became an object of increasingly frequent offenses and threats.
To escape the nationalism movement, Einstein and his family moved to the United States and then gave up German citizenship.
3. The Dalai Lama VIX
In 1959, the Dalai Lama VIX was forced to flee from Tibet to India. The reason for this was the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese Communists, which took place in 1949. For a few years, the spiritual leader had been trying to reconcile and live under Chinese authority, but later a future Nobel Prize winner still decided to leave his homeland to escape death.
4. Bob Marley
Even though the most famous reggae singer was closely related to Jamaica, he was forced to leave it in 1976, when the artist was attacked and wounded by several gunmen during a rehearsal. Prior to that accident, Bob Marley had already left Jamaica for the US, but he returned later.
5. M.I.A.
The singer, whose real name is Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, was born in London, but when she was less than a year old, her parents returned to their native Sri Lanka. M.I.A.’s father became the leader of the Tamils, who fought for the creation of their own independent state. When the future star was 11 years old, her family was forced to return to the UK, as her father was pursued by the national army of Sri Lanka.
6. Milos Forman
Director of the film “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “The People vs. Larry Flynt” moved to the US in 1932 after the power in his native Czechoslovakia went to the Soviet Union. Milos decided to stay in the United States to avoid several things: danger to life and health and restrictions on the freedom of thought and creativity.
7. Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright became the first female Secretary of State, and her family fled from Czechoslovakia twice. The first time was after Hitler’s invasion of the country. The family had Jewish roots, so it moved away from the Nazi regime to Serbia and then to the United States. After the war, Madeleine and her parents returned home. But when the Soviet Union took the power in the country, Madeleine fled again – first, the girl studied at a boarding house in Switzerland, and in 1957 she became an American citizen.
8. Andy Garcia
Nominated for the “Oscar” award, actor Andy Garcia was born in Cuba. When he was only five years old, his family was forced to flee to the United States to escape the armed revolution for power, which began in 1953 and ended only in 1959 with the rebels’ victory.
9. Luol Deng
Basketball player Luol Deng was born in Sudan. When a future sports star was five years old, his family fled first to Egypt and then to the UK (in 2006, Luol got the British citizenship) to escape the civil war that broke out at home. Now Luol plays for the Miami Heat basketball team.
