Many important figures in world history were actually huge drunkards. Musicians, writers, artists but also politicians and warlords.
In the Western World he is mainly considered a hero. Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was in fact the war politician that gave the United Kingdom it’s leading role opposing Nazi Germany in World War II. Together with the American president Franklin Roosevelt and the leader of the Soviet-Union Jozef Stalin he sat on the winners…
Most people will know Gerard Depardieu as that actor with the strong French accent. From his roles as an illegal immigrant in Green Card to the powerful Gaul Obelix in Asterix & Obelix the Frenchman always delivered a more than decent performance. With dozens of top movies on his name few people would suspect that…
Few people in the 20th century will have lead a more interesting life than Ernest Hemingway 1899-1961). He was fighting for the American army in World War I at the Italian Front, where he got seriously injured. Later he returned to Europe as a journalist to cover the Spanish Civil War and later on World…
Alexander the Great is without a doubt one of the greatest conquerors in history. His empire spread from the Danube river north of the Balkans to Egypt in the south and modern day Pakistan in the east. But he was also known as an excessive drinker. Multiple studies describe his alcohol use and some of…
The only Russian leader since the fall of the emperial family in 1918 that gained great popularity abroad was Boris Yeltsin. Not in the last place because he had the reputation of a happy drunk. His public appearances while highly intoxicated were simply disarming. Even to the most hardcore Yankees that were still clinging on…
Speaking of mean drunks, Jozef Stalin probably holds the record of having most people killed in the history of men. Experts estimated that the Soviet leader was responsible (direct or indirect) for the death of around 40 million people. Sure the health freaks are quick to point out that this was a result of his…
Lord Byron (1788-1824) was a poet from England, who later in his life became a national hero in Greece because of his leading role in the revolution against the Ottoman Empire. But most of his fame he probably achieved with his extravagant lifestyle. George Gordon Byron had numerous love affairs and punished his liver severely…
In our series of historical drunks we usually speak of people in world history who did great things despite the fact they were hammered most of their days. This time we honor a man who turned the drunken mess around him into true art. Jan Steen (1625/1626-1679) was from the same generation of Dutch painters…
When you’re out buying bottles of booze for a party in the United States of America there is a fair chance that Benjamin Franklin is laughing at you from your wallet. The face of this ‘Founding Father’ marks the 100 dollar bill. He is not only known from his signature under America’s Declaration of Independence…
When we are discussing the greatest drunks in history we usually don’t mean hobos or bums. But Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin sure could be catagorized as one. This Russian wandering monk made people believe he had special powers, that he was a some what of a saint, a psychic and a healer. Many people were fooled…
Lords of the Drinks 