You've Heard of My Sister, But What About Me? Quiz

Answer: Solange

Solange Knowles originally performed as a backup dancer with her older sister's group Destiny's Child before going solo and signing with her dad Mathew's label while still in her teens. She released her first album, 'Solo Star', in 2002, but it was not until 2007 that she broke out as an artist in her own right, with her second album 'Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams'.

She and Beyoncé both featured in adverts for milk and the Knowles family clothing line, House of Deréon (named for the girls' grandmother); she has also co-written songs with Beyoncé, such as 'Get Me Bodied' and 'Upgrade U'.

Answer: Anne

Anne was the youngest of the Brontë sisters. Because it was almost unheard of for women to publish books in early 19th century Britain, the Brontë sisters published their first book of poetry under the male pseudonyms of Acton Bell (Anne), Currer Bell (Charlotte), and Ellis Bell (Emily); however, it was not a success and only sold three copies. Anne's first novel, 'Agnes Grey', was published in 1847 under the Acton Bell name. Although 'Agnes Grey' was re-published in 1850 after Anne's death aged 29, Charlotte stopped 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall', Anne's second novel from being re-published as she believed the subject of the book - a woman who abandons her husband and takes their young son with her - was 'a mistake'. Anne was subsequently written off as 'a Brontë without genius', but her work received more positive attention in the later 20th century.

There were two other Brontë sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, who were born before their literary siblings, but neither sister lived to adulthood.

Answer: Anne Boleyn

If you've read 'The Other Boleyn Girl' by Philippa Gregory, you'll have heard of Mary Boleyn. She was Anne's older sister and is rumoured to have borne two children by Henry VIII, though this has never been confirmed; she is also thought to have been the mistress of King Francis I of France. After her marriage to William Carey, a courtier and one of Henry's favourites, Mary became one of Henry's mistresses while he was married to Catherine of Aragon. However, Carey died of sweating sickness.

The year after Anne was crowned Queen Consort, Mary married her second husband, William Stafford, a soldier and the son of a poor landowner. Although she tried to keep the marriage a secret, she became pregnant and was found out; the Boleyn family were angry with her for marrying beneath her, and she was exiled from the Royal Court. Though Anne sent Mary money and a golden cup, Mary remained banished. Little is known of what happened to her after that, and there are no records of her visiting her sister when she was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Answer: marie curie

Marie Curie was born Maria Skłodowska, and had an older sister, Helena, who originally trained as a governess before teaching high school maths. In her youth, she was a member of Kolo Kobiet Korony i Litwy, an organisation aimed at educating workers. Under Russian occupation, university education was restricted and the Skłodowska sisters had to attend an underground university in Warsaw. She later became the headmistress of a school run on the behalf of tram employees, and established multiple primary schools that prepared children for secondary school, before becoming a school inspector. She taught well into her eighties, and also published a memoir about Marie in 1958.

There were two other Skłodowska sisters, Zofia (who died of typhus) and Bronisława, a doctor who co-founded a tuberculosis preventorium in Warsaw with her husband Kazimierz Dłuski. Bronisława and Helena and their brother Josef collected various documents associated with Marie and stored them at the Radium Institute in Warsaw, although many of these documents went missing during the Warsaw Uprising.

Answer: Aunts and nephew

Agrippina the Younger was the fourth wife (and niece) of the Emperor Claudius and the mother of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who would grow up to become the notorious Emperor Nero. She is thought to have poisoned Claudius with mushrooms - a tactic later used by Locusta of Gaul, Nero's personal poisoner - so that Nero could become Emperor instead of Claudius' biological son Britannicus. As well as her brother Caligula, another notorious emperor, she also had two other brothers, Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar, and two sisters, Julia Livilla and Julia Drusilla.

Of Nero's aunts, Julia Drusilla was Caligula's favourite sister; when he became ill at 37, he named her his heir, though he recovered and Julia Drusilla died at the age of 21. Caligula, who was deeply hurt by her death, subsequently had her declared a goddess and buried her with the honours of an Augusta, usually reserved for empresses like Agrippina and women from imperial families. Julia Livilla, meanwhile, was involved in a plot to overthrow Caligula and was exiled. When Claudius became Emperor, Julia Livilla returned to Rome, but fell out of favour with the Emperor and was later executed by starvation.

Answer: Eric Roberts

Although Eric Roberts isn't as well-known as his younger sister, he still had a very prolific film career. He started out in television, in the soap operas 'How to Survive a Marriage' and 'Another World', before moving into film; he first appeared in 'King of the Gypsies' in 1978, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.

His first Oscar nomination was for Best Supporting Actor for 'Runaway Train' in 1985, though he was beaten by Don Ameche in 'Cocoon'. Roberts played the Master in the TV-only 'Doctor Who' movie which, incidentally, was the first and only appearance of the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann), outside cameos in later episodes. Eric and Julia were estranged for several years, but reconciled in 2004 after she gave birth to twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel.

Answer: Javier and Emilio

Aránzazu 'Arantxa' Sánchez Vicario won 14 Grand Slam titles in her tennis career, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals representing Spain in the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, and Atlanta in 1996. Emilio Sánchez Vicario was also a World Number One ranked doubles tennis player and also won a silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He partnered with his sister to win the Hopman Cup in 1990. Javier Sánchez Vicario, meanwhile, peaked at Number Nine in the world doubles rankings in 1990. Both brothers played against each other multiple times in their careers; their first match was in Madrid in 1987, when Javier made it to his first singles final.

In 2012, Javier and Arantxa had a falling out when she sued him and their father for allegedly embezzling their earnings. They settled out of court in 2015. There is another Sánchez Vicario sister, Maria, who also played tennis professionally, albeit briefly, and at a lower rank than her siblings.

Answer: Nigeria

Eniola Aluko was born in Nigeria, but her family moved to England when she was a baby and her brother Omatsone, aka Sone, was born there. Although both Aluko siblings have represented England (although Sone only played for the youth teams), only Sone played for Nigeria.

He was originally capped for the U20 team in 2009 before being called up to the first team, where he made his debut in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland. His clubs include Reading, Birmingham City, Fulham and Hull City, and he also had a brief loan spell at Beijing Renhe in China.

He retired at the end of the 2023-2024 season.

Answer: maria

Christina Rossetti dedicated her epic poem 'Goblin Market', a tale of two sisters, to her sister Maria. Maria was a writer as well, but focused more on non-fiction, particularly the works of Dante Alighieri. Her first work, 'A Shadow of Dante: being an essay towards studying himself, his world and his pilgrimage', was published in 1871.

She left home at 17 to work as a governess. Although Maria fell in love with the writer and critic John Ruskin after the end of his marriage to Effie Gray, she never married and became a nun instead, joining an Anglican order, the Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor. Both she and Christina volunteered at St Mary Magdalene Home for Fallen Women.

She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 49.

Answer: Emmeline Pankhurst

Mary Jane Clarke, née Goulden, was born in Salford, and was educated in Paris with her sister Emmeline, and the two co-founded an art shop in London, Emerson & Co. When Emmeline and her daughter Christabel founded the Women's Social and Political Union, Clarke joined and led a delegation of women to Downing Street. She was subsequently arrested and, like many suffragettes, went on hunger strike and was awarded a Hunger Strike Medal by the WSPU. In Bournemouth, she was pelted with apples by an angry crowd. In 1910, she was involved in the Black Friday protests in London, when 300 WSPU protestors marched on Parliament and were attacked by police and male bystanders.

Clarke was arrested and imprisoned at HMP Holloway, and went on a hunger strike again, but was force-fed by warders. She was released on 23rd December 1910 and died two days later of a brain haemorrhage. Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, a fellow suffragette, gave a speech at Clarke's funeral, describing her as 'the first woman martyr who has gone to death for this cause'.