Photos Of Historical Figures Who Were Surprisingly Good-Looking

Old world beauty

You’ve likely heard of all of these historical figures. However, there’s a chance that you may have only seen pictures of them from their later years, or not seen a picture at all. Their good looks may surprise you!

Joseph Stalin

Before Joseph became the leader of the Soviet Union, he was a young activist with the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He was arrested several times for his activist activities. The young Stalin would join Lenin’s politburo following the October Revolution, after Lenin died in 1924, Stalin assumed leadership of the country and went on to institute many policies that resulted in the deaths of millions. Good-looking as a youngster? Sure. Unfortunately, diabolically murderous.

Gaeneric, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 

Lewis Powell

One of John Wilkes Booth’s co-conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was a man named Lewis Powell. Powell was a Confederate soldier at Gettysburg. He can be seen cutting a stern figure in photographs, with mid-length hair and an angular jawline, he might not look out of place in a modern-day boyband.

Alexander Gardner, Wikimedia Commons

Margaret E. Knight

A name you might not recognize, but you will have used her invention: the flat-bottomed paper bag! Margaret Knight has been called one of the most famous female inventors of the 19th century. Margaret had long, flowing curly hair and a winning smile.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons 

Rupert Brooke

Rupert Brooke was an English poet, born in 1887 in Rugby, England, Brooke wrote idealistic sonnets during the First World War, his piercing brown eyes and messy brown hair made the poet stand out. W.B Yeats, the Irish poet who admired Brooke’s work, deemed him “The handsomest young man in England.”

 Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Charlie Chaplin

While you’ve probably seen Charlie Chaplin as an older man, the young Charlie Chaplin without the moustache cut a youthful, somewhat sinister figure with piercing eyes and well-kept hair.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons  

Hunter S. Thompson

We’ve all seen that picture of Hunter S. Thompson in Aviator sunglasses with a jacket on, sporting longer, messy hair looking a little like Daniel Craig. The acclaimed author and journalist’s most famous black-and-white portrait certainly shows off his boyish good looks.

 Cashman Photo Enterprises, Inc., Wikimedia Commons

Johannes Brahms

This German composer, pianist and conductor from the mid-19th century probably wowed many of the young ladies in the audience with his good looks as well as his musical skills. His short, brushed-back hair, angular jawline and excellent fashion sense put him on this list.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Bonnie Parker

This tall, auburn-haired lassie was one-half of one of the most famous criminal duos in American history. That’s right, she’s the Bonnie in Bonnie and Clyde. She met Clyde Barrow in 1930 and the two would engage in four years of passionate criminality! Bonnie and Clyde were killed in an ambush by the Dallas Sheriff’s Department in 1934.

Clyde Barrow, Wikimedia Commons

Nikola Tesla

Tesla is renowned for his brain rather than his looks (and rightly so, the man was a genius!). However, his moustache and well-kept, parted hair as well as often serious facial expressions when photographed make him one of history’s unexpectedly good-looking men.

Napoleon Sarony, Wikimedia Commons

Harry Houdini

Born as Erik Weisz in 1874, Harry Houdini may have been able to escape chains and straitjackets, underwater contraptions and more, but he can’t escape the acclaim of being one of history’s good-looking men.

Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons 

Charlotte Bronte

The eldest of the three Bronte sisters, Charlotte was an English novelist and poet in the early 19th century. Charlotte’s flowing sandy-brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes (based on portraits) make her one of history’s most beautiful poets of the 19th century.

George Richmond, Wikimedia Commons

Mark Twain

Before Twain was the eccentric, messy grey-haired figure, sitting in a chair for his most famous portrait, Twain was a younger, well-dressed man with a chiseled face and longer, dark hair.

Abdullah frères, Wikimedia Commons  

Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing Norgay may not be a name you’ve heard of unless you’re into climbing or mountaineering. However, the young sherpa was one of two people to first summit Mount Everest on May 29th, 1953 with none other than Sir Edmund Hillary.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Wikimedia Commons

Alma Mahler

Alma Mahler was born in Vienna, Austria in 1879 and is considered one of Austria’s finest composers of the early 20th century. She has composed at least 17 songs and musical pieces, beginning in her early years. Alma’s top-bun hair and large brown eyes can be best seen in a portrait with her two children, she later settled in New York after being forced to flee Austria at the beginning of the Second World War.

Peter K. Levy, Flickr

Earl Warren

Earl Warren is not necessarily a household historical name outside of gubernatorial American politics. He served as the Governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and was later a Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. Warren is famous for presiding over cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and led the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of JFK.

McCurry Foto Co., Wikimedia Commons 

Thomas Edison

Edison has long been thought of as America’s greatest inventor. He invented the phonograph and the motion picture camera. Edison’s well-kept brown hair and vibrant blue-green eyes make the famous inventor stand out from the crowd.

Levin C. Handy, Wikimedia Commons 

Frederick Douglass

The famed American social reformist, abolitionist and statesman was a slavery escapee in Maryland and went on to become a leader of the abolitionist movement in New York. Douglass was described by his fellow abolitionists as a “living counterexample to the slaveholders’ arguments that slaves lacked the intelligence to function as independent American citizens.”

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons 

Richard Francis Burton

Famous 19th-century British explorer, writer and geographer Richard Francis Burton bore a strong black moustache and short black hair that added a sense of authority to his exploration. If you were to conceptualize a British explorer from the 19th century, Burton’s appearance would fit the bill perfectly.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Jack Johnson

No, not the country singer. Jack Johnson is a famous American boxer from the end of the 19th and part of the early 20th century. His 1910 fight against James Jefferies was dubbed the “fight of the century.” Johnson was the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion from 1910 to 1915.

Otto Sarony Co., Wikimedia Commons 

John Millington Synge

One of the co-founders of the Abbey Theatre, the national theatre of Ireland in Dublin, and an acclaimed novelist, playwright, poet and folklore collection, John Millington Synge is another of history’s forgotten literary darlings. His wavy dark brown/blonde hair, moustache and goatee make Synge yet another addition to this list of handsome writers.

Synge, John Millington, Wikimedia Commons 

Neils Bohr

Neils Bohr was a Danish physicist responsible for developing a model of the atom, otherwise known as the Bohr Model. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for the model, which changed the way that the scientific world viewed the movement of electrons in an atomic nucleus.

Bain News Service, Wikimedia Commons 

Mahatma Gandhi

A young Mahatma Gandhi was a striking figure. Educated in law at the Inner Temple in London, the young Gandhi would go on to employ civil disobedience and peaceful protest in India’s fight for independence from the British Crown.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons  

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time. Tolstoy’s deep blue eyes, long hair and bushy beard gave off a gruff but intellectual appearance. He is most famous for writing War and Peace (1869).

 Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac is an American novelist famous for a series of novels written between 1958 and 1965. His dark, short hair, angular jawline and generally muscular physique put him on this list. However, Jack Kerouac died in 1969 from cirrhosis of the liver. Like many of history’s greatest poets, they were taken from us too soon.

Devin Smith, Flickr

Josef Waitzer

Josef Waitzer was an Olympic track and field athlete, javelin and discus thrower. As such, his muscular physique, dark-haired combover and moustache set him up for an appearance on this list. Although one of the most famous images of Waitzer is from the 1912 Olympics, you could be forgiven for thinking he was the man who inspired the Greek Discobolus sculpture.

library_of_congress, Wikimedia Commons 

Ernest Hemingway

A young Ernest Hemingway certainly stole the show and many hearts with his boyish good looks, particularly in his First World War military uniform, where he served as an ambulance driver with the Red Cross. Hemingway would later go on to become one of America’s most famous novelists, journalists and writers of all time. He also had a love of cycling, as evidenced in one of his most famous quotes: “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best.”

Ermeni Studios, Wikimedia Commons

Anthony Fokker

Anthony Fokker was the brains behind the German fighter aircraft during the First World War. He designed and built the Fokker Dr. I and the Fokker Eindecker, a monoplane. The Dr I was made famous by the German ace known as The Red Baron. Fokker would also go on to work on interwar passenger aircraft following the conclusion of World War I. His big eyes, winning smile and youthful face, dressed in airman attire is one of his most famous portraits.

Fritz Heuschkel senior, Wikimedia Commons

Andrew Irvine

Andrew Irvine was a dedicated mountaineer and thrill-seeker who disappeared on the third summit attempt of Mount Everest by British climbers in 1924. Irvine’s mountain climbing gave him a muscular appearance and his short well-kept hair and shaven face gave him a very clean appearance.

Christina Broom, Wikimedia Commons

Almanzo Wilder

Almanzo is perhaps best known for being Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband. He had bright blue eyes and sandy brown hair. He was a farmer and home builder, constructing the family home and supporting his wife at all of her literary events.

Shelly, Flickr 

Cleopatra

Of course, Cleopatra had to be on this list. The Egyptian Queen who had the affection of both Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony, and waged a war was a fearsome military leader as well as a Queen.

Sailko, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Alexander the Great

It’s no secret that Alexander the Great was a good-looking man. Based on sketches and statues of Alexander, we can surmise that he had dark, wavy brown hair and dark brown eyes. He conquered most of the Middle East and parts of Asia. He’s renowned for his military leadership and of course, those boyish good looks.

Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso is, of course, one of the most talented artists in history. His short hair, piercing dark eyes and clean-shaven look made the women of his era besotted. Although apparently he wasn’t kind to them.

Ricard Canals i Llambí, Wikimedia Commons

Princess Victoria

Princess Victoria was the last princess of Hawaii before it became an American state after the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in 1899. She even journeyed to the United States to advocate for her people. The round-faced, dark-eyed diplomat and royal family member’s efforts to save her people from American rule were unfortunately futile.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Antinous

Antinous was a Greek boy who became a lover of Emperor Hadrian. Born in Bithynium, Antinous was introduced to Hadrian in 123AD, at the age of thirteen. Unfortunately, Antinous drowned in the Nile at the age of 19, but a distraught Hadrian ordered that his likeness be deified and busts created of his face. Fit for an Emperor, as it were.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Queen Fawzia Fuad of Iran

The first wife of Mohamed Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, the beauty of Queen Fawzia of Iran is rather staggering. Her long black hair and deep blue eyes, made the Shah fall in love with her. She bears a strong resemblance (strangely) to Vivian Leigh from Gone with the Wind.

Cecil Beaton, Wikimedia Commons

Virgil, a Poet of Rome

Virgil is an acclaimed Roman poet who composed three of Latin literature’s most famous poems: the Eclogues, the Georgics and the epic, Anaeid. Judging by early busts crafted of Virgil, he may have been the original Pretty Boy.

Tito Angelini, Wikimedia Commons  

Mata Hari

Mata Hari was an exotic dancer who was convicted of being a German spy during the First World War. You may have heard of the phrase “being a Mata Hari,” that is to say, wooing one with one’s charm and good looks. She certainly used her charm and good looks to great effect during the First World War.

Jacob Merkelbach, Wikimedia Commons

Barbara Bush

The former First Lady of the United States (wife of George H.W. Bush) had flowing, curly hair and would often wear pearl necklaces. Barbara was a very fashionable and well-dressed young lady. She served beside the President from 1989 to 1993 and was Second Lady, the Vice-President's wife, from 1981 to 1989.

National Archives and Records Administration, Wikimedia Commons

Hermann Rorschach

Hermann Rorschach is famous for inventing the Rorschach Test, which uses inkblots to test parts of one’s unconscious personality. He was photographed sporting a light moustache and David Bowie-esque hair.

Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons

Gio Casanova

Gio Casanova is perhaps one of the most famous seducers of all time. So much so that his name is used today as a pejorative (or not, depending on your perspective) to describe those who are suave and seductive with women.

Alessandro Longhi, Wikimedia Commons