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  • Imhotep (c.2655-c.2600 BC), an ancient Egyptian architect, engineer, and physician. He was the first practitioner of all three of those disciplines in recorded history and is therefore the earliest known polymath. He designed the very first pyramid,note  which still stands today, almost 5,000 years later. He also appears to have been either the vizier to King Djoser or at least one of his top officials. So gifted and influential was he that, after his death, he was deified by the Egyptians—one of the very, very few commoners (possibly the only commoner) ever to receive that honor.
  • Amenhotep, son of Hapu (c.1425-c.1356 BC), another ancient Egyptian architect/engineer/physician/administrator/philosopher. It seems that he had a comfortable but unremarkable career as a respected but low-ranking priest and official in the Lower Egyptian town of Athribisnote  up until he was about 50, at which point he was approached by representatives of the Queen Mother Mutemwiya with a summons to attend the royal harem palace at Merwer in the Faiyum. There, he received the job offer that would define his legacy: become tutor to the new King of the Two Lands, Nebmaatre Amenhotep III (a boy of about 10 at the time). Amenhotep Hapu accepted, and proceeded to guide his pupil not only into manhood, but well into his 38-year reign. As the king's most trusted advisor, he designed several monuments (including his sovereign's massive mortuary temple),note  managed the king's estates, and handled all kinds of other duties. He also appears to have written some wisdom literature (largely encouraging adherence to tradition) and had a reputation as a healer. After his death sometime around the 30th or 35th year of Amenhotep III's reign, he appears to have been venerated if not deified, with numerous statutes of him being erected in and around Karnak Temple for the adoration of the people, who seem to have invoked him against illness for centuries after his own death.
  • Pythagoras (c.580-c.490 BC), a Greek mathematician and philosopher of 6th century BC who founded a school in southern Italy and a philosophical system, Pythagoreanism, named after him. Pythagoras was thought to be a polymath by his contemporaries. He is sometimes credited with coining the term "philosopher", literally a "lover of wisdom," and considered among the first to follow this vocation. The Pythagorean theorem of geometry was named after him. Please note that the general idea of the theorem long predated Pythagoras; however, he can be genuinely credited with the realization that the theorem meant that irrational numbers (i.e. numbers that cannot be expressed as a ratio of two integers) must exist.A bit of math That said, having his critics killed probably helped his reviews.
  • Aristotle (384-322 BC); a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato, and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. He numbers among the greatest polymaths of all time.
  • Archimedes (c.287-c.212 BC); a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Lived in the Sicilian Greek town of Syracuse. Often considered one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, Archimedes is noted for several advancements in almost every relevant field in his era.
  • Eratosthenes (c. 276 BC–c. 195 BC) was a Greek mathematician, elegiac poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and music theorist. The inventor of geography, and first person to measure the circumference of the Earth, Eratosthenes was nicknamed "Beta" on the grounds that he was second-best in the world at everything.
  • Cao Cao (died 218) of Three Kingdoms fame was a skilled horseman and archer (which is typical of the nobles of his age). However, Cao was also the single most successful warlord of his era (having defeated nearly all his rivals within a space of a few years despite being much, much weaker), a noted poet (he and his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are credited with the creation of an entire school of Classical Chinese poetry), a scholar (he wrote a commentary on Sun Tzu's Art of War that made it easier to understand, then distributed it to his generals for them to study), an innovator (he was the first Chinese warlord to make extensive use of cavalry as massed forces rather than skirmishers and scouts like most others did, he also implemented the use of stirrups to make his horsemen more effective) and a highly talented politician who effectively rebuilt the ruined Han Dynasty from the ground up.
  • Ibn Sina, better known to the west as Avicenna. A Persian polymath best known for revolutionizing Medicine and Philosophy was also a Mathematician, a Geographer, an Astrologist, a Poet, and a Musician.
  • Avicenna's long term pen pal Al Biruni was quite the Renaissance Man himself, most of his surviving works are on Mathematics, Philosophy, Anthropology, and History but he was also an excellent Astrologist/Engineer/Alchemist/etc
  • Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1197) was, alongside being an abbess and mystic, an essayist, pharmacologist, botanist, natural historian, dramaturgist, and codified liturgical plainchant. She also invented her own Constructed Language. She was a renaissance man before the renaissance and without being a man.
  • King Matthias I. Hunyadi (aka "Corvinus") of Hungary (circa 1443-1490). He was a Polyglot, by the age of 6 he was fluent in Latin and Greek, and in his later life learned to speak Italian, German, at least one of the Slavic languages (likely Bohemian/Czech, since his first wife was the daughter of the Bohemian king George Podjebrad) and possibly Romanian, in addition to his Hungarian mother-tongue. He was also a widely known patron of arts, and a vivid bibliophile, his famous library the "Corvina" at the time of his death contained some 2500-3000 codices, the second largest at the time, behind only the Papal library in the Vatican, and it also had a press machine. In addition, he was a skilled financial officer, who managed to create a system that provided him with a yearly income matching that of the King of France. Also a gifted politician, he easily disarmed every political opponent and conspiracy he faced. He also reformed the judicial system, which likely contributed to his quick ascension to Folk Hero status following his death, where several stories claim he roamed the lands Incognito, to spy on tyrannical lords and punish them afterwards, and help the needy, and reward the worthy. Last but not least he was a famous tourney champion, and celebrated war general. Tellingly, until the Second World War, his army was the only one to ever capture Vienna with a siege, in 1485. Oh yeah...and he also managed to confront and tame Dracula.
  • Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is probably the codifier, though many of his inventions never came to fruition in his lifetime. He was, however, an expert in anatomy and civil engineering, skilled in many forms of artistic expression, and interested in many areas of science.
  • Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), author of 15+ works including The Prince and Discourses on Livy, was a philosopher, playwright, judge, civil servant, general, and diplomat. He was also friends with Leonardo da Vinci.
  • Matteo Ricci (1552-1610); Italian Jesuit and a phenomenal figure in the East-West scientific exchange in China. "Matteo Ricci was the perfect man of culture, a polymath versed in all things, mathematics and literature, philosophy and poetry, mechanics and astronomy." In collaboration with Xu Guangqi, he was also the first to translate classic Confucian texts into Latin and classic Western texts into Chinese (including portions of Euclid's Elements).
  • Rene Descartes (1596-1650), working in philosophy, medicine, mathematics, and physics. He wrote up the first explanation of phantom limbs, the shape and size of the rainbow - proving it was caused by water droplets, explained the ring of light sometimes seen around the moon, developed Cartesian coordinates, and proved his own existence. Also challenged anyone in Paris who would dare claim he had a bastard son to a duel (he had a daughter out of wedlock).
    • He was in a position to make good on his threat of a duel, too: in addition to the above Descartes also served as a mercenary soldier in Bavaria apparently for the fun of it and drew inspiration from his battlefield experiences.
  • Athanasius Kircher (1601/1602-1680) is another historical example, with Bunny-Ears Lawyer tendencies as well. Not only did he study geology, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ("decoding" occult meanings that probably weren't there), astronomy and microbiology(in his time a new science), he designed a "cat piano" played by making the cats squeal in pain.
  • Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Thought himself a theologian first of all. Is more known for wave optics, calculus, and what is known to us as, well, "Newtonian Mechanics". Tried alchemy, astrology, and numerology. As the Master of the Mint, developed at least one currency protection measure, changed Britain's monetary policy, and personally conducted investigations.
  • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). Jurist, diplomat, librarian, historian, and theologian, but best known as a philosopher and mathematician. Got into a priority dispute with Newton over differential calculus, but it is his notation system that we still use today. Did pioneering work on binary numbers and worked on language theory. Helped set up the Berlin Academy of Sciences.
  • Peter Peter Alexeyevich (1672-1725). AKA Peter The Great. Along with being tsar of Russia, he studied and practiced sailing, shipbuilding, city planning, engineering, dentistry, barbering, painting, commercial trading, economics, and diplomacy.
  • Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). In addition to his studies of electricity (and the kite experiment was a minor footnote), he also developed the basic principles of meteorology, charted the gulf stream, worked on advanced heating technologies all his life, invented swim fins and a new musical instrument, expanded his one print shop to have satellite print shops in every colony, and then sold them off once he decided he was rich enough to stop working. During his business days, he established the first American lending library,note  the first university (the University of Pennsylvania) that wasn't devoted to training clergy, and one of the world's first modern public hospitals (the Pennsylvania Hospital, today run by, um, the University of Pennsylvania). He also was the Colonies' ambassador to France, and despite the Declaration of Independence being a forbidden document, he ultimately talked the king into putting his own government in hock to pay off the Revolutionary War. And he's also the main reason why the Constitutional Convention included the option for passing amendments.
  • Frederick the Great (1712-1786), king of Prussia. Practically the trope namer for "enlightened absolutism" who made his country one of the great European powers and one of the leading strategists and tacticians of his day. Also a flute-player and composer who personally knew Johann Sebastian Bach and hired Bach's son Carl Phillip Emmanuel, a poet, and a writer on subjects ranging from works on philosophy, history, and military theory to opera librettos and satires.
  • Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826): Political revolutionary, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, President, architect, inventor, and horticulturalist, these are just some of Jefferson's fields of expertise, and he is considered one of the most famous polymaths in American history. Also the inventor of macaroni and cheese.note  Famously lampshaded by John F. Kennedy, who while hosting a dinner table full of the nation's leading intellectuals, scientists, and artists at the White House, declared "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House... with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." Needless to say, Kennedy was clearly a big fan of Jefferson's.
  • Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), one of Europe's best swordsmen, a virtuoso violinist, composer, and soldier who led an all-black regiment during the French Revolution.
  • A claimant for the honor of "the last polymath"—albeit more on the humanities side of the spectrum—is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832). His works spanned literature, drama (Faust), science (morphology, mineralogy, and colour theory), law, philosophy (where he is considered one of the greats), and religion.
  • About the last true polymath was Thomas Young (1773 - 1829), who made fundamental contributions to physics (wave theory of light), engineering (Young's modulus), and biology (how the eye worked). Oh, and he also helped to decipher the Rosetta Stone. He has been described as "The Last Man Who Knew Everything".
  • Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822) graduated as a jurist and entered the Prussian administration, but his real interest lay in music (which is why he changed one of his names to Amadeus, after Mozart) and he was a talented cartoonist, which got him into trouble with his superiors. After he lost his government job due to Prussia's defeat of 1807, he became musical director of a theatre in Bamberg and later of a troupe in Saxony, composing several operas, for which he also designed the sets. But it was only when he turned to writing that he achieved his worldwide fame as a master of the fantastic whose influence can be seen in the works of several writers and composers. He is also credited with writing the first German crime novella.
  • Adelbert von Chamisso (1781-1838), a French nobleman who fled from the Revolution to Prussia, became an officer, poet and novelist writing in German (his Peter Schlemihl became an international best-seller), and also an explorer, working as a cartographer and resident scientist on the second Russian circumnavigation of the world. As a botanist he was so good that he managed to discovering and naming a number of unknown plant species during a reprovisioning stop in England, a country itself well-supplied in naturalists of its own. He also wrote the first grammar of the Hawaiian language.
  • Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861), one of Ukraine's most important national figures, is revered as a poet who did a lot for the Ukrainian language and as an independence activist against Tsarist Russia, though he was also a painter, folklorist and ethnographer.
  • Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890): explorer, linguist, author, poet, soldier, fencer, spy, and diplomat. He explored three continents, discovered the source of the Nile, and spoke as many as 29 languages.
  • Alexander Borodin (1833-1887), a rather important chemist who discovered the Aldol reaction. However, in classical music circles, he's known for the operas, symphonies, and string quartets he created in his spare time. He was also a surgeon and later, a professor of medicine.
  • Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was a champion skier and ice skater in his youth, before taking up Arctic exploration and breaking the record of the closest approach to the North Pole. Having done that, and come up with some innovations in Arctic clothing and equipment, he went to university to study zoology, conducted research in marine biology (during which he came up with principles that helped form the basis of neurology), and then took up oceanography, conducting important research and inventing new scientific equipment that is still in use. Apparently getting bored of that, he took up diplomatic work, helping to secure the independence of his native Norway from the King of Sweden, and after the Great War, served as High Commissioner for Refugees for the League of Nations, organizing relief efforts which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. As if that wasn't enough, he was also an example of what happens when you combine Death Glare with an awesome mustache.
  • Robert Williams Wood, 1868-1955. Was one of pioneers of physical optics, both research and development. Such as inventions and applications in out-of-visible spectrum photography and astronomy, spectroscopy — and animated pictures. Boomerang enthusiasm, automobile enthusiasm, and introduction of surfing in USA. Invention of a way to unfreeze plumbing and development of submarine detection by sonar. Forensics: as an explosives expert, introduction of UV lamps (detection of forgeries and the countermeasure which depreciated "invisible inks") and discovery of explosively formed projectiles. Discovery of hydrogen recombination and disproving radiation theory of greenhouses (they work because glass stops hot air). The first proposal of using tear gas as an incapacitating weapon and quack hunt, including un-discovery of N-rays (physical optics was "his" territory). Great prankster and almost Patron Saint of Education Through Pyrotechnics. When readers of How to tell the birds from the flowers asked whether he wrote another book, he gave them Physical Optics.
  • German philosopher Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) came close. His main work The Decline of the West covers these topics: History, biology, geology, economy, laws, mathematics, architecture, music, painting, other arts, linguistics, politics, religion (or at least religious history), various languages, psychology, philosophy... Not necessarily in that order. It's probably no coincidence that he was a big fan of Goethe (see above).
  • William Carlos Williams (1883-1963): Major American poet of the Modernist and Imagist movements; if you're American, you read his poems in school. He also did some prose writing and did some well-recieved translations of French and Spanish literature (Spanish was his native language,note  and his mother's ancestry was mostly French, so he grew up speaking both languages before even learning English). But he had a day job as Chief of Pediatrics at Passaic General Hospital, in which he excelled as both a doctor and a manager.
  • Hu Shih (1891-1962). Chinese philosopher, diplomat, political theorist. Was the Republic of China's ambassador to the US, president of Peking University, and founder of the New Culture Movement. Translated works of Daudet, Maupassant and Henrik Ibsen. Early proponent of writing in vernacular Chinese. An expert in the field of Confucianism, historiography, education theory; an innovator in Chinese poetry and was also an eminent scholar in redology, aka the study of Dream of the Red Chamber. The fact that he was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature almost comes as an afterthought.
  • Paul Robeson (1898-1976). One of the most famous actors and singers of his generation, all-American athlete, preeminent social activist, lawyer, author, and reputedly fluent in 12 languages.
  • SS-General Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942) was a virtuoso violinist, a champion fencer, sailor, cryptographer, a brilliant spymaster, fluent in four major languages (besides German, he spoke English, French and Russian), a fighter ace pilot, a Magnificent Bastard with an accent on bastard and one of the Real Life prototypes for the Red Skull.
  • Lin Huiyin (1904-1955). As an architect, she helped to preserve Beijing's historical buildings, was involved in the design of the Chinese national flag and emblem, along with the Monument to the People's Heroes. She also translated works from English and interpreted for Tagore on his visit to China. What brought her most mainstream attention, however, were her essays and poems; and her relationship with the many leading intellectuals of the time who were floored by her talent and personality. Considered by posterity as one of the four great beauties of Republican China to boot.
  • Enoch Powell (1912-1998): Professor of Ancient Greek by age 25, poet, writer, Brigadier General, and politician.
  • Herbert Simon (1916-2001), well, look at the first paragraph of that article. He won a Nobel Prize in economics and a Turing Award, the equivalent honor in computer science.
  • Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was a Nobel-winning theoretical physicist by profession, but that didn't stop him from studying a wide variety of fields for recreational purposes: biology, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, computing, drawing, chemical engineering, music, and safecracking.
    "On the infrequent occasions when I have been called upon in a formal place to play the bongo drums, the introducer never seems to find it necessary to mention that I also do theoretical physics."
  • Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) may have chosen a career in physics, but he was also an expert in European literature and Eastern philosophy, fluent in at least six other languages (including ancient Sanskrit), and also published poetry. He also made several contributions to various other fields related to physics, namely physical chemistry and astrophysics.
  • Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), as well as being one of the all-time great science fiction writers, also had a PhD in chemistry and from Columbia and wrote non-fiction books and essays on chemistry, mathematics, biology, physics, art (including an annotated scholarly edition of the complete works of Gilbert and Sullivan), history, religion, astronomy and robotics, among other things. His works can be found in literally every section of the Dewey decimal system apart from philosophy.
    • His expertise was such that when other science fiction writers were unsure about the science in their stories, they would give Asimov a call to make sure they were on the right track.
  • Giles Brindley (1926-) is best known for two medical discoveries: creating the first neuroprosthetic device to be successfully used to restore sight, and developing the first widely-used drug treatment for erectile dysfunction (he's quite well-known for how he presented the results—by injecting himself with the drug and...showing off). Neural engineering and urology are fairly diverse fields to be contributing to, but Brindley has also composed and published several pieces of music, invented a musical instrument (the logical bassoon), and apparently enjoys marathon running and orienteering.
  • Theodore Roosevelt, despite (or rather, in light of) his already Memetic Badass reputation and time as US President, was also at different times a cowboy, practitioner of karate, writer, historian, botanist, explorer, and soldier, among many other things. The man simply seemed to do just about everything that people in his own time saw him as not just a Renaissance Man but a god among men.
  • Andrew Jackson joins the list of Renaissance presidents with his proficiency not only as a politician but also as a soldier, lawyer, horse breeder and racer, gambler, businessman, hunter and most prominently: Frontline General and duelist. Jackson won several battles during the War of 1812 (most notably the Battle of New Orleans) despite never having any formal military training and he infamously participated in between 20 to 50 gun duels, all of which he won.
  • The American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, humorist, and mathematics professor Thomas Andrew Lehrer (1928-).
  • This is pretty much a requirement to be an astronaut. Space agencies are extremely strict and picky, so the more skills and interests you have, the better you'll look on the application. To even be considered, you need to have a degree in a STEM field (more than one is better), pass a lot of physical challenges, and have good communication and problem-solving skills. You also need a lot of flying experience to be a commander or pilot, speaking multiple languages is necessary for international space projects, and once you get accepted, you'll get cross-trained in a lot of other fields. Some examples:
    • Retired NASA astronaut Story Musgrave (1935-) is one of the most impressive examples in recent memory. Astronaut, physician, Marine, private pilot, and instructor,note  mathematician, medical professor, biophysics professor, exercise physiology researcher, and writer. His accomplishments in any one of these fields is impressive, much less all at once. Musgrave holds a doctorate in Medicine, a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Statistics, a master's degree in Computer Programming and Operational Analysis, a second bachelor's degree in Chemistry, a second master's degree in Physiology and Biophysics, and finally, a third master's degree in... Literature. As if that wasn't enough, his hobbies are chess, flying, gardening, literary criticism,note  poetry, microcomputers, parachuting, photography, reading, running, scuba diving, and soaring.
    • Jonny Kim. Mathematician, Harvard-educated doctor, astronaut, and former Navy SEAL.
  • A more modern, albeit somewhat debatable example: Dieter Meier (1945-). He was a key member of the influential electronica band Yello (whose first album was described as the "most varied and accomplished of any synth pop debut" by Allmusic). Also, Dieter Meier is known for being a quite successful conceptual artist and performance artist. In his spare time, he's a millionaire industrialist and award-winning director. Sometimes, he also designs scarves and creates restaurants. To top it off, he was once a member of the Swiss national golf team. So, a bit impressive.
  • Bruce Dickinson (1958-) Iconic metal singer-songwriter, historian, pilot, fencer, screenwriter, author, director, brewer, radio host, entrepreneur...
  • The expectations of the Renaissance man were often different from what a Renaissance woman was supposed to accomplish during those times. Usually a Renaissance women's crafts and skills came from her job as a homeworker (weaving, sewing, taking care of children) than from any outside activity.
  • At some point or another in the past thirty years, Shigesato Itoi has dabbled in pretty much every form of media imaginable and an innumerable number of other projects. Though definitely not sufficiently versed in science, he's even published a book of interviews about neurology. He has also taken up work as a copywriter (a professional Catchphrase writer for companies), provided lyrics for two Ryuichi Sakamoto songs, mined for gold (albeit unsuccessfully), run a website that has been updated without fail for over fifteen years, and developed a highly popular series of RPGs, among other endeavors.
  • Daisuke Ishiwatari is a writer, illustrator, programmer, occasional voice actor, tea aficionado, and heavy metal rockstar. He is most well-known for creating Guilty Gear, a series of fighting games that he contributed to in one way or another throughout its entire life, most typically as the series' musical director, as well as his contributions to the soundtrack of the series' Spiritual Successor, BlazBlue.
  • David Byrne of Talking Heads: Guitarist, Singer, Composer, Producer, Actor, Director, Screenwriter, etc.
  • One of, if not the greatest heroes of the Golden Era of Aviation, now almost forgotten, was herr Hugo Eckener. Herr Eckener started off as a skeptical reporter in turn-of-the-century Germany, who was tasked with writing a story about some enthusiastic crackpot's new invention. Hugo was initially unimpressed with this invention of Count Zeppelin, but as he talked with the energetic old Count he began to see the machine's hidden potential. He quickly became Zeppelin's protégé, and after his death, his successor. Hugo went on to become an editor, a doctor of psychology, aircraft engineer, airship captain, world-famous explorer and de facto German diplomat, politician(and eventually political rival to an unsavory extremist politician named Adolf Hitler), and president of the Zeppelin Company, which survives today, in spite of an unfortunate accident that marred its otherwise-flawless safety record.
  • Viggo Mortensen: actor, writer, painter, poet, polyglot, and if his co-stars are to be believed, Cloud Cuckoolander. Elijah Wood has said that he's a brilliant man with a lot of talent and integrity, who also happens to be completely insane.
  • The famous Italian man of romance Casanova (so famous that his name lives on even to this day) was a hard-working expert in many, many trades, from librarian to soldier, on top of being the archetypal lady-killer.
  • In medieval Europe, a minstrel was expected to be skilled in all forms of entertainment.
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson is a dancer (he won a gold medal in an International Latin Ballroom competition), a wrestler, a collector of fine wines, Disneyana, and comic books, a fan of science fiction, a television host of some acclaim, and a model rocketeer. Oh, and sometimes he fiddles around with astrophysics.
  • Ted Turner (1938-) started out running a billboard business left by his father, then started investing in TV stations. When he saw how HBO had gone to satellite transmission for cable companies (enabling them to broadcast coast-to-coast), he followed their way and put his small indie TV station in Atlanta on the satellite for people's consumption. A few years later, he started CNN, the world's very first 24-hour news network. Then he used all the money he had to buy the Atlanta Braves and Hawks, became a sailing champion, acquired the library of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer pre-1986 (having bought MGM off, then sold it back to, Kirk Kerkorian after 74 days), operated a wrestling promotion, started his own non-political Olympics-style competition dubbed the Goodwill Games, buy Hanna-Barbera, Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema, start more networks (including the first all-animation channel and an all-classic film network), create a cartoon designed to get kids to help the environment, finance an Epic Movie about the Battle of Gettysburg (and its' prequel), and since leaving his companies (having merged with TimeWarner, then fled after the botched AOL deal), he's devoted his life to, amongst other things, being a staunch supporter of the United Nations, being a massive conservationist (especially of bison), and continuing to try and make the world better. Oh, and he was also married to Jane Fonda.
    • To a lesser extent, one of his former employees, CNN Headline News anchor Lynne Russell was, aside from her anchoring duties, a deputy sheriff in Fulton County, a private investigator, held two black belts in Choi Kwang Do, and ran a business involving making lampshades.
  • Jesse Ventura has been a professional wrestler, actor, Navy SEAL, writer, TV show host, and politician.
  • Johnny Micheal Spann (1969-2001): A CIA paramilitary officer and the first American killed in the War in Afghanistan. Prior to joining the CIA, Mr. Spann was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, serving in the highly elite 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company. He also earned his private pilot license when he was only 17. He was also a certified rescue diver and parachutist.
  • Masi Oka (1974-) is best known as an actor. He's also a stand-up comedian, director, and special effects programmer, being known as "the guy who let Star Wars SFX artists blow things up without blowing up their own computers". He speaks English, Japanese, Spanish, and German, and says he likes using both the left and right halves of his brain. Having an Improbably High I.Q. of 180 probably helps.
    • He's also known as being a sweetheart and a humble man who's full of charm by celebrity gossip-hounds, meaning his Emotional Quotient (EQ) is probably also "improbably high".
  • Will.i.am is well known as a singer, songwriter, composer, and producer... but outside the world of music, he's a poet, a film director, a clothing designer, a choreographer, and a painter. He also has designed his own lines of sports cars, sunglasses, dishware, and silverware. He also dabbles in acting. He also left music to take up programming and advocates the teaching of programming in schools.
  • The quintessential scholar-gentleman of ancient and medieval China was supposed to be proficient at painting, calligraphy, poetry, philosophy, aesthetics, architecture, alchemy, and general knowledge. The exception to all of this was ability at physical combat - it was considered ill-fitting for a Confucian gentleman to resort to violence, as the idea was that a complete and perfect person would be so intelligent and cultivated, people would just follow their lead by default. Zhuge Liang, as listed in the Red Cliff example above, was one real-life example.
  • The King of Thailand, King Bhumibol, also known as King Rama IX, (1927-2016) was certainly a modern Renaissance Man. Besides being a King, King Bhumibol was a musician (jazz musician, favoring the sax, and was in an honest-to-goodness band even after he became King), a composer, a photographer, a painter, an engineer, a sailor (won several awards and even designed boats), and held several patents (in rainmaking and for a waste water aerator). He spoke several languages (English, French, German, and Thai), and had spent time as a translator. Like many Thai men, he also spent time as a Buddhist monk.
  • God of Manga Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) was a trained physician, extremely prolific comic author, animator, and director of cartoons and even made some live-action films. The fact that he sacrificed a career as a medical doctor to become a comic author still seems outrageous today.
  • Italian cognitive scientist Piero Scaruffi (born 1955) is an author, poet, cultural historian, music historian, film historian, political commentator, visual artist, lecturer, software consultant, and entrepreneur, according to his website. Among internet users, however, he is mostly known for his controversial essay on The Beatles.
  • Doug TenNapel (born 1966) has done work as a video game maker, comic artist (both print and web), animator, live-action director, and illustrator, and is also a musical dilettante. He laments in The Rant for one Ratfist strip that this means that he hasn't been able to retain many cross-IP fans over the years; fans of Earthworm Jim or Catscratch aren't automatically going to know about Ratfist.
    TenNapel: "Let this be a lesson for you, obsess narrowly on one thing. Obsessing on plumbing would be a good idea."
  • Dexter Holland, frontman of The Offspring, was his high school valedictorian (he got his "Dexter" nickname because he was a huge science nerd), originally studied molecular biology before switching to a full-time musician (and he later returned to his studies). He is also a registered airline pilot and runs a hot sauce company.
  • Brian May of Queen. Everybody knows he built his main instrument, the Red Special, with his dad and that he's an extraordinary guitarist and songwriter, but there's a lot more than that: he's an excellent singer, a very good pianist, a capable bassist, an occasional performer of other instruments (harp, ukelele, banjolele, koto, organ...), a successful record producer, an animal activist, a graduated Ph.D. in astrophysics, a former maths teacher, a stereo photographer, a former chancellor of the University of Liverpool and an author.
  • Despite the statement at the beginning of this page, one can say, with some justification, that nearly everyone who is proficient at many things, but not overtly specialized in any one, is one of these. They just never quite show their potential. Of course, whether one believes this (or not) is largely based upon one's outlook on the World.
  • Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal Alonzo y Realonda , the national hero of the Philippines had many skills.
  • The legendary Steve Martin is much more than a comedian. He's a stand-up comic, an actor of comedy and drama, a writer/novelist/playwright whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, a singer, a Grammy-winning bluegrass musician, an awards-show host, a prominent art collector, and has a degree in philosophy.
  • Jason Gastrow, aka Dunkey is a comedian who writes, edits, and performs in his own videos, a prominent YouTuber, an accomplished gamer, a rapper with his own album, a street dancer, exercise trainer, nature enthusiast, prank caller, philosopher, karaoke star and Admiral Akbar.
  • Ub Iwerks, best known today as the designer and co-creator of Mickey Mouse, was a pioneering animator (animating the first Mickey short, Plane Crazy, single-handedly in two weeks!), director, Oscar-winning special-effects designer, technician, inventor, athlete, machinist, mechanic, archer, and a studio-head - and this doesn't even scratch the surface to what he could do!
  • In his 84 years on this Earth, Mr. Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014), best known for his performances as Baron Samedi in Live and Let Die, and Punjab in Annie (1982), was a stage-and-screen actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, composer, painter, author, voice-over artist, spokesman for 7Up, and won Tony Awards as a stage director and costume designer.
  • Luciano De Crescenzo was a writer, film actor, director, engineer, essayist, philosopher, and dancer.
  • Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) was an Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy-winning, Tony-nominated actor, writer (for print, screen, and stage, garnering Oscar and Tony noms for these), film/theatre/opera director, improv comedian, humorist, newspaper columnist, stage and costume designer, radio broadcaster, television presenter, car enthusiast, intellectual, diplomat, Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, President of the World Federalist Movement, spoke 6 languages fluently (and was proficient in 2 others) and was beloved throughout his entire life in all his respected fields.
  • Neil Cicierega: filmmaker, actor, writer, musician, composer, singer, songwriter, animator, cartoonist, inventor of the Animutation, and researcher of all things surreal and obscure. Oh, and he also did some stuff with puppets or something.
  • Donald Glover is one of the more recent examples, as he is an actor, writer, director, and musician. You may know him for his show Atlanta (where he plays Earnest), his work with Derrick Comedy back in the old days, his role as Troy on Community, and/or his musical alter-ego, Childish Gambino. Even within music, Donald was able to transition from rap to funk for his latest album Awaken, My Love. He also had a stand-up comedy special, Weirdo, before going more toward TV and music.
  • Danny Kaye was a talented comedian, and his most famous roles are in screw-ball comedies. However, he was also a skilled dramatic actor, a fantastic dancer, a brilliant singer, a master chef, a master swordsman, a writer, director, producer, and the head of his own film studio at one point...pretty much anything he wanted or needed to learn how to do, he did so, and with gusto.
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda is another recent example, being an actor, dancer, writer, singer, songwriter, and rapper. His career began with smash Broadway hit In the Heights, which he wrote and songwrote while at college and refined until it opened on Broadway in 2007 with him in the lead role. He followed it up with Hamilton, for which he also wrote, songwrote, and starred in as the eponymous founding father. Since then, he has guest-starred in numerous TV shows, written the music for Moana, and solidified his big-screen acting career with Mary Poppins Returns. He is also on track to be one of the few people to win a PEGOT (Pulitzer, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony - he's only missing the Oscar).
  • Harry Connick Jr.: Louisiana-born Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, pianist, conductor, composer, big band leader, and actor on the silver screen, on television and on Broadway. He's also dabbled in reality TV, including spending a few seasons judging American Idol and, as of 2016, hosting a talk show. He's best known as a musician when he isn't busy being known for any of the other skills in his repertoire.
  • Jim Henson, aside from being the creator of The Muppets, he was puppeteer, Oscar-nominated director, Emmy-winning writer, Grammy-winning producer, improv comedian, musician, advertising creator, singer, cartoonist, comedy writer, experimental filmmaker, actor, businessman, illustrator, animator, fantasy creator, innovator in special effects and, by most accounts, a real Nice Guy.
  • Jamie Foxx is mainly known for being a comedian and actor, but he also has several hit albums and majored in classical music and composition in college (in fact his early stand-up specials have him working piano and singing into the act).
  • Butch Hartman is a screenwriter, producer, animator, director, and voice actor who's created several popular cartoons during his time with Nickelodeon. He also likes to keep himself busy with other projects like being a comic book author, painter, cartoonist, vlogger/YouTube personality, stand-up comedian, composer, podcast host, developer of the children's app "The Noog Network", acting in a few live-action shows along with serving as a reference actor for Disney's Pocahontas in the 90's, serving as the US script editor for another animated feature in the 2000's note , established his own production company and non-profit organization, and currently developing a new family streaming service called Oaxis Entertainment. Hartman's friend Fred Seibert even asked on a Nick podcast: "Does this man even sleep?!"
  • Fred Seibert himself can qualify as this. He's an animation producer, a blogger, a record producer and sound engineer during his youth, the creator of several animated anthologies and live-action content for television, A creative consultant for the first kids-oriented channel in the early 90's, the creator of the popular MTV campaign: "I Want My MTV" during his time as the channel's head of advertising, one of the first investors for web media along with one of the most popular multimedia websites on the net, a businessman who served as the president for one of television's most influential animation studios before starting his own influential studio, and is also credited for creating the TV marathon and for re-establishing creator driven content in the animation industry.
  • Ward Kimball is best known as one of Disney's Nine Old Men but was also an Oscar-winning animator, director of live-action and animation, gagman, screenwriter, illustrator, painter (ranging from realistic to abstract), jazz bandleader, trombone player, Imagineer, gag cartoonist, photographer, railroad historian/engineer, automotive historian, television host, collector of Americana and socialite, with friends like Louis Armstrong, Salvador Dalí, and Robert Crumb.
  • New York businessman Larry Schwarz started his career as a child actor and comedian before starting two of his own production companies; one of which produced a cult classic Nickelodeon animated series along with a number of other animated and live-action shows produced and created by Larry for other networks. He's also a licensed lawyer, former magazine publisher, a professional lecturer for several universities, a web animation pioneer for AOL, the U.S. distributor for a popular Taiwanese puppet action show, one of the first racers for the popular Gumball 3000 motor rally, and a former toy company CEO where he developed his own original toy ideas and served as a developer behind several web browser games; along with becoming the youngest board member of "the Directors of the Toy Manufacturers of America".
  • Haim Saban started his career in the music industry as a singer/songwriter, bass player, record producer, band manager, and composer for several popular kids shows note  in the '80s before creating a highly popular kids show of his own. Aside from writing and producing for television, he's also a film distributor and businessman credited with establishing two successful production companies while also investing in real estate and occasionally other companies. He's also a philanthropist, quadrilingual in English, French, Arabic, and Hebrew, a board of Regents member for the University of California, a political adviser for the White House during the Clinton Era, a close friend of many Arab government officials (especially ones from his native Egypt), a staunch activist for Israel, and the current sponsor for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
  • VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer is a filmmaker, singer/songwriter, animator, voice actor, puppeteer, author, podcast host, and biblical expert. He's also the co-founder of Big Idea Entertainment and the Christian streaming service JellyTelly.
  • Black Flag front man Henry Rollins has done a variety of occupations throughout his life such as being a singer/songwriter, record producer, radio and TV host, author, journalist, publisher, actor, activist, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, blogger, and comedian.
  • Walt Disney was quite eccentric and held a number of positions during his life. He was an animator, voice actor, inventor, cartoonist, record producer/publisher, live-action producer for film and television, philanthropist, TV host, theme park developer, the founder of a highly influential media company, and was the creator of one of the most recognizable cartoon characters of all time. He was also a consultant for the American National Exhibition in Moscow, a chairman for the 1960 Winter Olympics' pageantry committee, the co-founder of the California Institute of the Arts, and the co-founder of Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals which sought to protect the film industry from Communism during the Cold War.
  • The father of modern fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien; he was a famous novelist creating the seminal work of fantasy that most others draw inspiration off of, and that was just something he did for his hobby. Other hobbies include producing translations of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and drawing his own detailed landscapes and maps of Middle-Earth. He professionally worked as the Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College in Oxford. He was a very skilled linguist speaking 13 languages and creating several of his own, and he created his own world of Middle-Earth with a complex history that he never even intended anyone to read. His work shows him as a proficient writer, a competent geographer, excellent historian and mythographer, a pretty skilled artist, and even an amateur astrologer.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger is most well-known as an actor, but is also a great businessman: he was already a millionaire due to real estate and small business investments he had started up long before he had a career in Hollywood, and he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing from the University of Wisconsin. On top of being an actor and businessman he was a rather successful politician as governor of California, a notable writer,note  and, of course, one of the most influential bodybuilders of all time.
  • When Robert Rodriguez isn't in the director's chair, he's also a screenwriter, producer, editor, cinematographer, makeup and special effects artist, composer, sound mixer, film teacher, author, chef, weapons expert, TV host, record producer, guitarist and vocalist for the band Chingon, and occasional actor. He also operates his own production company and (formerly) television network, fluent in both English and Spanish, and dabbled as a cartoonist and animator during college with his comic strip Los Hooligans. Did we also mention he's a father of five?
  • Frank Zappa is best known as the singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist for The Mothers of Invention. He also wrote and directed his own movie, done occasional acting roles, produced one of the first Outsider Music albums with Wild Man Fischer, dabbled as a comedian with his music, was a major activist for free speech and the legalization for Marijuana, and was quite knowledgeable in mixing chemical explosives.
  • Andy Warhol was a painter, cartoonist, photographer, sculptor, fashion designer, part-time model, author, media personality, cinematographer, film and record producer, filmmaker, band manager for The Velvet Underground, and host for one of the first reality TV shows. He also coined the terms "Superstar" and "15 Minutes of Fame", became one of the first to create digital art using an Amiga computer.
  • Lindsey Stirling is a violinist, composer, singer-songwriter, dancer (she won second place on Dancing With the Stars), and author (she cowrote her autobiography and a comic book series for her 5th album) who designs and edits her own music videos, creative directs her concerts, and makes the majority of her and her dancer's costumes. She also has a podcast called String Sessions and is working on a Broadway musical.
  • Former world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, in addition to being one of the greatest heavyweight boxers ever, is also a champion kickboxer, a doctor of sports science with a PhD from Kiev's Shevchenko University, and the Mayor of Kiev and leader of a major Ukrainian political party. Oh, and he's quadrilingual.note 
  • Takeshi Kitano, a.k.a. Beat Takeshi: comedian, singer, film director, actor, painter, author, screenwriter, poet, and one-time video game designer, among other things.
  • Besides his extensive work in voice acting, Jason Spisak is also a noted Linux contributor and open-source advocate, having been the co-leader of the Symphony OS distribution and wrote the Laws of Interface Design which his project adhered to.
  • Herman van Veen (born in The Netherlands) is a very talented performer in both The Netherlands and Germany. For the past 52 years, he's created tons of songs and albums for children and adults, made children's books, created a theatrical show in the '70s (which later became a comic book series, which spawned an animated series, which gained two spinoff theatrical shows), and a civil rights activist during the Apartheid and a huge admirer of Nelson Mandella. note  He's also able to fully speak Dutch and German for both countries. One live performance from 1986, of the song "Hilversum III" had him perform in both Dutch and German.
  • John Cena certainly qualifies. A pro wrestler, rapper, actor, and philanthropist. He learned fluent Mandarin and even taught himself to play piano. Legal Eagle even addresses Cena as a "professional wrestler and Renaissance Man" in one of his videos.
  • Jacques Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, underwater diver, oceanographer, marine biologist, conservationist, inventor, engineer, polyglot, author, photographer, and filmmaker.
  • William Herschel. Originally a classical composer and musician who played four different instruments (oboe, violin, harpsichord, and organ), his music led to an interest in mathematics, which led him to astronomy and physics, which led to his most famous discoveries: the planet Uranus and infrared radiation. He spoke English as well as his native German, knew enough engineering to build huge telescopes, and even dabbled in biology (he discovered that coral is an animal).
  • This is the point of Liberal Arts education, while much of modern society can be accredited to scientists and students who devote themselves to their field, the liberal art student is often trained as an effective bridge.
    • This is interestingly best seen in business fields. Business majors rarely making their careers off their direct study focus, as this would essentially be the day traders. However most of the corporate world is built off the back of other trades, and it is the role of bureaucrats to allow the trades to operate themselves. Having a basic knowledge in other fields helps to facilitate communication, and while they need to defer to trade knowledge they also need to be able to help translate between other fields.
  • Midge Ure certainly qualifies. He's a songwriter,note  guitarist, keyboardist,note  singer, producer,note  music video director,note  and supergroup organiser.note  No wonder so many New Wave devotees tout him as a fucking genius. And he (used to be, anyway) very good-looking, causing many teenage girls to squeal, even though his projects like Ultravox are the anti-thesis of teeny pop.
  • Albert Einstein, the father of modern physics, was also a patent clerk, statesman, philosopher, and amateur violinist.
  • Sun Yat-sen, father of modern China, was a statesmen, revolutionary, philosopher and a physician.
  • George "Joji" Miller is a successful lo-fi Alternative R&B singer, songwriter, and producer and, as seen on his old YouTube series Filthy Frank, a cult-favorite comedic writer, video editor, and actor. He is also an adept rapper, beatboxer, and breakdancer.
  • Bo Burnham: comedian, satirist, actor, writer, director, editor, poet, philosopher, singer, songwriter, musician, composer, rapper, early YouTube sensation, and winner of at least 34 (and counting!) awards by the age of 32, including the George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Storytelling.
  • Renaldo Kuhler was an expert in history, architecture, film, languages, calligraphy, and religions. He played a hand-built plywood violin, and smoked mullein from handcrafted pipes. On top of all that, he was an accomplished artist, illustrating thousands of scientific specimens and Worldbuilding his own fictional country for over 60 years, complete with its own history, culture, religion, and language. He even sewed and wore costumes he designed for Rocaterrania.
  • Stephen Tong, while primarily known as a preacher/evangelist, is also well-versed in history, philosophy, music and arts. He contributed to the designs of many of his church buildings, which includes a concert hall and an art museum. He's also composed many worship songs for various gospel rallies, and conducted various concerts.
  • B. Dylan Hollis, a TikTok and YouTube creator known for his humorous cooking and baking videos, is a jazz pianist and arranger by trade, a guitarist, a skilled accordion player, a mechanic (he restores vintage cars in his spare time), speaks at least four languages (English, Hindi, Indonesian, and Ukrainian, as well as a little German and Spanish), and is soon to be a published author.
  • Albert Schweitzer was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and is most commonly described as a 'humanitarian', as he came to prominence in three different, yet related, disciplines. His father, a Lutheran pastor in Alsace, taught him both music and Christianity, and when Schweitzer went to university to obtain a degree in theology, he also studied music and particularly the organ, with such contemporaries as Charles-Marie Widor. He was not only an accomplished organist, but also a scholar who studied the history and technology of the organ, founding the Organ Reform Movement to bring practices and construction back to the Baroque era, with a foundation in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. As if all that wasn't enough, he got a second doctorate in Medicine and served as a missionary-physician in Gabon. He wrote extensively on the historic nature of Jesus Christ and developed his own personal philosophy, Reverence for Life, inspired not just by Christianity but also Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist philosophy. Toward the end of his life, he also was involved in the movement against nuclear weapons.
  • Jamie Barker is the author of three webcomics, a musician (both solo and as part of the band Patty Meltz), game developer and podcaster behind Fake Gamer History Project.
  • KSI is one of the earliest mainstream YouTubers, making a name for himself as a FIFA player. He is also a rapper, stand-up comedian, actor, boxer, and co-founding member of the Sidemen, who have become one of the biggest entertainer groups (and brands) in the United Kingdom after over a decade, which is particularly impressive for a YouTube-based group. Not only that, he and Logan Paul created the Prime Hydration line of sports drinks, drink mixes, and energy drinks, which quickly became a massive success in its own right.
  • Alfred Nobel patented over 300 inventions, most of them explosives, and oversaw advances in Chemistry and Engineering. Upon reading his own obituary, Nobel took to himself to create a prize to award those who benefitted humanity rather than destroy it. He was also a poet and playwright, but his literary achievements have been overshadowed by his work in the sciences.
  • Professional skateboarder Rodney Mullen (of Bones Brigade and later Tony Hawk's Pro Skater fame) is considered by many as both the godfather of street skating for his many innovations in the sport, having introduced what are now essential tricks in a skater's repertoire, and a genius with an affinity for both open-source software and the intricacies of mathematics and engineering. It helps that he came from an intellectual family—his mother was a concert pianist who graduated high school at the age of 14 and his father was a dentist and property developer who previously served the military; Mullen's father initially opposed his son's idea of taking up skating as he considered it a risky, low-brow pursuit, but he relented under the condition that the young Rodney would wear safety gear and quit once he finished high school or got seriously injured.
  • Taysom Hill, at least as far as American Football is concerned. He has played tight end, wide receiver, special teams, and quarterback all in the same season. The press has called him the "Human Swiss Army Knife" as he is able to excel in any position given to him.
  • Ferdie Pacheco got his medical doctorate from the University of Miami, and ran his own practice for a few years before becoming the personal physician and cornerman of boxer Muhammad Ali, the job for which he is most famous. Aside from medicine though, he was also a television sports commentator (noted for his boxing knowledge and bilingualism allowing him to bring new perspectives), a writer (authoring several books, plays, and screenplays), and an award-winning painter. He was also an amateur chef; one of his works was a cookbook.
  • David Bowie: Bowie once described himself as "not a musician" and more an artist who uses music as one of his many mediums. In addition to his monumental influence in music, David was also known as a great film and theatre actor. In his early days, he also trained as a mime and dabbled in painting and sculpting. At one point, he considered retiring from music to pursue visual art full time, and was also a major influence in fashion.
  • Most perpetual students are this. They are students who spend many years in school to earn many, many degrees. It is no wonder they endeavoring to take on disparate fields.
    • Benjamin Bolger overcame dyslexia to earn 17 degrees in subjects such as urban planning, creative writing, education, real estate, sociology, and humanities.
    • Mike Nicholson of Michigan earned 29 degrees in subjects such as law enforcement, library science, business administration, education, school psychology, and theology and various related disciplines.

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