"Y" These People Stood Out? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fashion designer

Frenchman Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent (1936-2008) known as Yves Saint-Laurent is considered one of the main fashion designers of the 20th century. After being the head designer of the House of Dior, he created his own brand in 1961. Throughout his professional life, he promoted haute couture and made "prêt-à-porter" or "ready-to-wear" respectable. Furthermore, he adapted his style to changes in society, including introducing the concept that a person can be comfortable and elegant at the same time.

Answer: Cellist

Yo-Yo Ma (1955-) was born in Paris and educated in the United States. From a very young age he played the piano, violin, viola but at the age of four he settled on the cello. He was a child prodigy. He performed for Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy at age five and seven respectively.

He has performed with the best orchestras in the world and has also played chamber music. Yo-Yo Ma has an eclectic repertoire because in addition to classical music recordings, he has numerous recordings of music from various genres and has participated in several film tracks.

Answer: Contemporary artist

Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama (1929-) is known mainly for her installations and sculptures, besides producing painting, poetry, works of fiction, films, fashion, etc. Her work is a mix of minimalism, surrealism, expressionism, with autobiographical, psychological content. Yayoi declared that her art is the way she found to deal with her mental illness.

She is one of the most important contemporary Japanese artists.

Answer: Cosmonaut

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (1934-1968) became world famous for being the first human to journey outer space on April, 12, 1961. He was a Soviet Air Force pilot who with his capsule, Vostok 1, completed one orbit of Earth. This was his only space flight; Gagarin was part of the reserve crew of the Soyuz 1 mission, but fortunately he was not summoned: the mission ended in disaster. Gagarin was training to fly a MiG-15 jet when he suffered a fatal accident with his instructor.

Answer: Soprano

Yma Sumac is the stage name of Zoila Augusta Emperatriz de Castilla (1922-2008). Yma was a Peruvian soprano coloratura and was an international success based on her extreme vocal range, over four and half octaves. Her career lasted for about 50 years. She sang various types of music and performed on several continents.

Answer: Writer

Yann Martel (1963-) is a Canadian author who became internationally known for his fantasy and adventure novel "Life of Pi", which was published in 2001 and won the Man Book Prize for Fiction in 2002. The novel was rejected by several London publishing houses before being accepted by Knopf Canada.

The novel received awards in several countries and, in 2012, it was adapted into a film directed by Ang Lee. Yan Martel, in an interview, summarized the book in three sentences: "Life is a story", "You can choose your story" and "A story with God is the better story".

Answer: Dictator

Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (1917-1980) best known as Yahya Khan was commissioned into from the British Indian Army and served during World War II. With the partition of India he joined the Pakistani Army in 1947, reaching the position of commander-in-chief.

In March 1969 he took over the government of Pakistan; a military government that inherited the problem of rivalry between East and West Pakistan which resulted in a bloody war that lasted nine months and ended in December 1971 with the creation of a new nation called Bangladesh. On this occasion, dictator Yahya Khan, surrendered power and was under house arrest until 1979.

Answer: Baseball player

Lawrence Peter Yogi Berra (1925-2015), was born into an Italian family in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a baseball player, manager and coach, who played almost his total career for the team New York Yankees (1946-1963). He won 13 World Series as a player and as a coach.

In 1972, Yogi Berra was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and his number 8 was retired by the New York Yankees in the same year.

Answer: Prime Minister

Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995) was born in Jerusalem, during the British Mandate over Palestine. His military career lasted 27 years, reaching the position of Chief of Staff. When he retired, he was appointed as Israeli Ambassador to the United States. After returning to Israel in 1973, he held the position of Minister of Defense and Prime Minister from 1974 to 1977 and from 1992 to 1995, when he was assassinated.

Answer: Violinist and conductor

Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) was born in New York to Russian Jewish parents and is considered one of the greatest violin virtuosi of the 20th century. At seven he caused a sensation for his performance of Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concert. During World War II, Menuhin performed about 500 concerts for Allied Troops.

In 1959, Menuhin moved to London and in 1963 created a school dedicated to musically gifted children. During the 1960s, he started his career as a conductor, getting involved with various music festivals.

By the 1990s, Menuhin had retired from playing the violin and was exclusively conducting. Furthermore, Menuhin remained a committed environmentalist and defender of Human Rights, but his greatest concern was always about young people.