Salvador Dali

This is the story of Salvador Dali, one of the most amazing artists of all time. Dali was primarily (주요한) a painter but Dali did not limit (제한) his creativity to painting. Dali also experimented (실험하다) with film-making, photography, making sculptures (조각), architecture (건축), jewellery design (보석 디자인), furniture design (가구 디자인) and even fashion. Dali was not only famous for his art; he was also famous for his strange behaviour (행동), his bizarre (특이한) outfits and his extraordinary (비범한, 기이한) lifestyle (생활방식).

Salvador Dali was born in a small seaside town in Spain in 1904. Dali’s father was very stern (단호한, 엄격한) and cold. Dali’s mother was warm, kind and gentle. As a result, Dali adored (무척 좋아하다) his mother and was afraid of his father. When Dali was a young boy he was quiet and shy. Dali spent a lot of time alone. As a child, Dali loved painting and his mother encouraged (격려하다) him to explore (모험하다, 탐험하다) his passion (열정) for art.

After leaving school, Dali went to study art in Madrid. It was during this period of Dali’s life that Dali transformed (변하다, 전환하다) himself from a timid (소심한), shy person into a confident and eccentric (괴짜인, 별난) genius. During this time Dali recreated his personality and his identity (정체성). Dali knew that he was a strange person. Instead of being ashamed of his strangeness, Dali exhibited (드러내다) his strangeness with confidence and pride (자부심, 긍지). He started wearing fashionable but unusual outfits. It was during this period that Dali grew his long amazing moustache (콧수염) which became an important part of his signature look (생김새).

While Dali was studying art, his talent and his confidence continued to grow. Dali was expelled (퇴학당하다) from his university because he told his professors that they were not good enough to evaluate (평가하다) his paintings. But being expelled from university could not stop Dali, and he continued to rise to fame as an artist.

When Dali was twenty-five years old he met a charismatic (카리스마있는) Russian woman, named Gala. Gala was ten years older than Dali. Gala was a very popular woman amongst European artists. Gala seemed to have a special magic (마술) and charm (매력) that inspired (영감을 불러일으키다) and enchanted (황홀하게 만들다) brilliant young artists. Like many other artists in Europe, Dali was fascinated (사로잡히다, 매료되다) and inspired by Gala. Dali started pursuing (추구하는) Gala romantically (낭만적으로, 공상적으로). Unfortunately for Dali, Gala was married to a famous poet. Eventually Dali succeeded in his pursuit of Gala, and five years after they met they got married. Although Dali and Gala both had romantic relationships with various people during their marriage, they stayed married for more than fifty years. Dali painted Gala for many of his most famous art works.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was a freedom fighter and a politician. He grew up in poor conditions in South Africa but he nevertheless managed to become a lawyer. At this time, South Africa was ruled by an undemocratic racist government. Nelson Mandela dedicated his life to fighting for equal rights.

The government sent Nelson Mandela to prison because of his freedom fighting activities. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison on a small island. After getting out of prison Nelson Mandela became the South Africa’s first democratically elected president.

Nelson Mandela died on the 5th of December 2013, at the age of 95. His life and work have inspired many people.

Elon Musk – The Real Iron Man

Elon Musk is a famous inventor and businessman.

One of the most exciting people in the business world today is Elon Musk. He is an inventor (발명자) and a businessman (실업가). Elon Musk was the real inspiration (영감) for the movie, Iron Man. Elon musk is very very rich. He is the CEO of two famous companies: SpaceX and Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors is developing (개발 중) very fast electronic cars. SpaceX is developing space technology (과학 기술). Elon Musk was born in South Africa, but he now lives in the USA.

Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel was born into a poor family in France in 1883. When she was 13 her mother died and she was sent to live in an orphanage. Despite growing up in these difficult conditions, Chanel became one of the world’s most famous fashion designers. Many people see her as a hero who helped to modernize women’s fashion. She was also one of the wealthiest woman of her generation.

Chanel lived an interesting life. She had many interesting romantic relationships, she succeeded in business at a time when few women even entered into business and she probably acted as a spy during the Second World War. Chanel was also a talented singer and performer.

Coco Chanel was extremely determined and ambitious. These virtues helped her to achieve world wide success.

Today many famous celebrities continue to wear Coco Chanel.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was an American inventor and entrepreneur. He is probably best known for the role that he played as CEO of Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs went to Reed college but he did not complete his qualification. Jobs dropped out of college. This shows that is is not always necessary to have a college degree to achieve amazing success.

Steve Jobs was able to achieve amazing success because of his passion, wisdom, unique beliefs and his amazing creativity. Steve Jobs had the advantage that he choose to do work that he was really passionate about.

After dropping out of college, Steve Jobs travelled through India, to work on his spiritual development.

Steve Jobs co-founded the Apple company in 1976. This company became very famous and successful and was one of the companies that first started developing personal computers and making them popular.

In 1985, Jobs was fired from Apple. Jobs went through a difficult time in his life, but he didn’t give up. He decided to start a new company. This company also became successful and eventually Apple bought Steve Jobs’ new company and reinstated Jobs as the CEO of Apple. At this time, the Apple company was doing really badly. Apple was close to bankruptcy. Steve Jobs and his colleagues managed to develop new Apple products that made Apple very successful again. These products included the IPhone, the IPod, the IPad and Itunes.

Justin Bieber using an Iphone.

Steve Jobs died of cancer in 2011.

Waris Dirie

Waris Dirie is an activist, a model, an actress and an author. She was also a UN Special Ambassador between 1997 and 2003.

Waris Dirie grew up in very poor conditions in Somalia. When she was thirteen she ran away to avoid a forced marriage to an older man. She then managed to move to London. In London Dirie worked at McDonalds and studied English in the evening.

A famous photographer saw Waris Dirie and realised that she would be a beautiful model. Dirie became famous as a model. She modelled for many famous fashion companies, like Chanel and Levis, and she appeared in many fashion magazines.

After becoming famous as a model, Dirie used her fame to create awareness of problems affecting women in some poor countries like Somalia.

Dirie’s first book, ‘Desert Flower’, became a best seller. This book was an autobiography about her life. This book was later made into a movie.

She now spends her time living in different cities around Europe.

How is it possible that someone who grew up in such difficult circumstances managed to achieve success in so many different areas?

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg is in his early thirties and he is already super wealthy and successful. He is an entrepreneur, a programmer and a philanthapist. Zuckerberg’s fame and success come from the role that he played in founding Facebook. Zuckerberg and some of his friends started Facebook while he was in college.

Zuckerberg’s net worth is about $51.8 billion. This estimate is from 2016.

Zuckerberg has said that he will give most of his wealth away to charity.

Zuckerberg dropped out of college. He is another example that proves that you do not need a college degree to be successful.

In 2012 Zuckerberg married his girlfriend, Priscilla Chan. Zuckerberg and Chan met at a party when they were both in college.

Despite their amazing wealth, Zuckerberg and his family live a relatively humble life. Zuckerbeg always wears casual clothes (usually jeans and a t-short) and the family lives in a house which is much cheaper that what they could afford. In other words, Zuckerberg and his family could live a far more expensive and fancy life if they wanted to.

A movie called ‘The Social Network’ was made about Zuckerberg’s life. It actually wasn’t terrible.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga looks pretty strange, but she’s pretty cool. Actually, she’s pretty cool because she is so strange. She’s a singer, song-writer, feminist, activist and a fashion icon. She is known for her amazingly crazy outfits.

She also dropped out of college.

Jack Ma

Jack Ma is a businessman and a philanthropist.He is (according to some estimates) the richest man in China.

Jack Ma’s parents were traditional musical performers.

Jack Ma learned English by hanging around hotels and making conversation with random foreigners. He gave these foreigners guided tours of the city for free so that he could practice his English. Woah, that’s pretty cool!

Ma failed the university entrance exam three times. This shows that exams do not predict success. He eventually did get into university and graduated with a degree in English.

When Jack Ma wanted to start working he was rejected from 30 different jobs. He even failed to get a job at KFC (the fast food fried chicken restaurant).

Jack Ma discovered the internet in 1995 on a trip to the USA. He thought the internet was pretty cool. He started an internet company that became quite successful.

He is very interesting and charismatic.

One of Jack Ma’s secrets to success is to never give up (keep trying). Jack Ma never stopped focusing on his dreams.

A List of a few Heroes

Nelson Mandela ♥ King Sejong the Great ♥ Kim Yuna ♥ Albert Einstein ♥ Psy ♥ Mahatma Gandhi ♥ Queen Sondok ♥ Confucius ♥ Plato ♥ Park ji Sung ♥ Ban ki Moon ♥ Cristiano Ronaldo ♥ Vivienne Westwood ♥ Andre Kim ♥ Neymar ♥ Vincent van Gough ♥ Michael Angelo ♥ Thomas Edison ♥ Charles Darwin ♥ Galileo Galilei ♥ Isaac Newton ♥ Steven Spielberg ♥ Alexander Graham Bell ♥ Bill Gates ♥ Steve Jobs ♥ Kyung Sook Shin ♥ Mark Zuckerberg ♥ Barack Obama ♥ William Shakespeare ♥ Admiral Yi Sun-Shin