Cicero's Songs

Today is Vladimir Putin's Birthday, so I thought I would add another country to my series of 10 Famous... and go for 10 Famous Russians. This is of course to demonstrate that there is much more to Russia than the man who is taking his country down a dark road to failure. It is actually an immensely difficult task to make the choice, not only because Russia is quite a multi national state, but also because the list of Russian talent is amazingly strong, nevertheless I have made as eclectic selection as I could: 1. Alexander Pushkin - the most beloved Russian poet 2. Yuri Gagarin , the first Human being to go into space 3. Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky - supreme romantic composer 4. Andrei Sakharov - brave dissident, had he lived Russia would not be facing today's moral crisis 5. Andrei Rublov - beautiful and inspiring icon painter 6. Anna Akhmatova - light of the silver age of Russian poetry 7. Ivan Pavlov - psychologist of the conditioned reflex 8. Sergei Rachmaninov - master of pian...

I guess Kim Clijsters must now join the short, but distinguished list of famous Belgians ( I mean real Belgians, unlike Tin Tin and Hercule Poirot). It did remind me of the time Evonne Goolagong won Wimbledon against the odds, and sure enough she was nearly the last mother to win such a major tennis tournament.

Someone reminded me the other day that I had not done a 10 Famous... Croatians. Rather a surprise, since Croatia is a place where I have many friends and also a place which I have visited probably more often than anywhere in Europe, apart from the Baltic and Poland. Apart from being a spectacularly beautiful country it is also home to 4 million of the most individualistic and passionate people in Europe. The near fanaticism with which they view the sporting world means that I could simply make a list of sportsmen and women and many Croats would probably consider that would be enough! The country of Zvonimir Boban, Goran Ivanisevic, of Cibona for basketball or Hajduk or Dynamo for football certainly provides plenty of sporting heroes. The European Union is certainly going to be a more interesting and probably more fun place with the accession of Croatia, which will hopefully take place within the next couple of years. In the end though, after careful thought, I have with difficulty narr...

As I am off to Tallinn once more, here is the latest in my series of 10 heroes from each country. Much harder to choose than usual... 1. Paul Keres - one of the greatest chess players- "unlucky, like my country" 2. Jaan Tonisson - Moral political figure in the foundation of Estonia & a great Liberal. 3. Arvo Part - Innovative and hypnotic composer. 4. Kristjan Paljusalu - Double Olympic Wrestling Gold Medalist. 5. Jaan Kross - Elegiac and powerful novelist 6. Jaan Kaaplinski - Poet of brevity and unusual imagery 7. Neeme Jarvi - Internationally renowned conductor 8. Lennart Meri - film maker, writer and President 9. Alfons Rebane - Patriot and the model for John Le Carre's General Vladimir in Smileys People 10. Ernst Opik - Astronomer & co-discover of the Oort-Opik cloud (and Lembit's grandfather)

As another of these occasional lists of the heroes of different countries, I move now to Ukraine. Ihor Sikorsky - Inventor of the helicopter. Milla Jovovic- Model and Actress Serhei Bondarchuk- Film Director Taras Shevchenko- First national poet in Ukrainian Ivan Franko- Poet Bohdan Khmelnytsky - National Hetman Andriy Shevchenko- outstanding footballer Stepan Bandera- defender of Ukrainian state murdered by the KGB Serhei Bubka- Legendary Olympic pole vaulter Serhei Korolyov- Rocket designer

Continuing the occasional theme of finding well known people from different places, my current trip to Albania has inspired me. Although Albania surely has its fair share of villains, especially the evil dictator Enver Hoxha, nonetheless I think I can find some heroes too: Mother Teresa- humanitarian Ismail Kadare- Great European novelist Fan Noli- Poet and founder of the Albanian autocephelous Orthodox church George Kastriot-Skanderbeg- determined opponent of the Ottoman advance into Europe King Zog- romantic rascal Ali Pasha- friend and inspiration to Byron Muhammed Ali- founder of modern Egypt and progenitor of the Royal family there Ibrahim Rugova- advocate of non-violence in Kosova Sinan Pasha- Five times Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire at its height John Belushi - Comic genius (though born in the US, both parents were Albanian)

The other day I was thinking about the old chestnut about how difficult it is to name 10 famous Belgians. I came up- eventually- with 10 at least significant Belgians: Magritte - Painter Georges Simenon -Writer Herge -Creator of Tintin Rubens - Painter Adolphe Saxe -Inventor of the Saxephone Breughel - Painter Mercator- Geographer Jacques Brel -Singer/Songwriter Godfrey of Bouillon -Inspirer of the Crusades Jean-Claude van Damme - Actor Then I thought, that this is a game that any country could play, How about 1o Finnish heroes: Sibelius - Composer CGE Mannerheim - General Tove Jannson - Creator of the Moomins Miika Hakkinen - Racing Driver Alvar Aalto - Designer Paavo Nurmi - Olympian Runner Aki Kaurismaki - Film maker Akseli Kallela - Artist Linus Thorvalds - Developer of Linux Elias Lonnrot - Poet & Author of Kalevala 10 Portuguese heroes, anyone? Henry the Navigator - initiator of the age of discovery Vasco da Gama - First captain to Round the cape of Good Hope Christiano Rona...