Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948)

A shy London-trained lawyer, Gandhi forged satyagraha — resistance by truth and non-violence — in two decades in South Africa, then led India against British rule. He spun his own cloth, fasted to stop violence, and confessed his failures in print, though never the racial prejudice of his early South African writings. He saw independence in 1947 and was assassinated in 1948.