Famous Nicaraguans, Celebrities
A number of famous Nicaraguans have emerged from Nicaragua's somewhat turbulent past. The majority of these famous people from Nicaragua have played an important role in Nicaraguan politics or literature, but there are others who are known world wide for other reasons. On this page you will discover more about a number of famous Nicaraguans.
Bianca Jagger is probably one of the best known famous Nicaraguans as she is the ex-wife of Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones. Her full name at birth was Bianca Perez Morena De Macias. During the 1990’s she became known as an activist for social and environmental issues. Bianca Jagger often acted as a spokesperson for Amnesty International.
Rubén Darío is a famous Nicaraguan poet, known for the extensive influence he has had on Latin American Poetry. Darío’s poetry is read throughout the world. He was born in Metapa/Ciudad Darío as Félix Rubén García Sarmiento on 18 January 1867. Due to his amazing talent he was able to appear before President Joaquín Zavala in the year 1882. He became internationally recognized when he published a collection of short stories and poetry called “Azul”.
Sergio Ramírez Mercado, born in Masatepe during 1942, has become known as a great writer and intellectual. He also served as vice-president from 1984 to 1990 and played an important role in the Government Junta of National Reconstruction. His first book called “Cuentos” was published in 1963. Sergio Ramírez began to led the “Group of Twelve” in 1977. This was a group of important people – mostly business people, intellectuals, priests and so on – who supported the FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional) who were working to overthrow Debayle’s dictatorship. Throughout his political involvement, Ramírez published several of his works and won many awards for these.
Augusto César Sandino, who was born on 18 May 1895, became recognized as a revolutionary. He lead the rebellion against presence of United States military forces in the country. He was hailed a hero by Latin Americans but a bandit by the United States government. He was later killed by Anastasio Somoza García. In the years to follow the Sandinista National Liberation Front adopted his heritage and broke the dictatorship of Somoza by 1979.
Arlen Siu is famed as one of the first martyrs during the Revolution. She was born in Jinotepe of a Chinese father and Nicaraguan mother. As a teenager she became an avid follower of Sandinistas. By the time she joined the revolutionaries she had become known nationally as a songwriter, guitarist and singer. She died at the tender age of 20 during and ambush in 1972.
Other famous people from Nicaragua include:
- Nora Astorga (Guerrilla fighter, lawyer, politician, judge and Nicaraguan ambassador)
- Blanca Castellon (Poet)
- Daisy Zamora (Poet, painter and political activist)
- Daniel Ortega Saavedra (President)
- Gioconda Belli (Literary figure)
- Michael Cordua (Chef, restauranteur and entrepreneur)
- Herty Lewites (Politician)
- Ernesto Cardenal (Catholic priest, liberation theologian, culture minister and poet)
- Erick Blandon (Poet)
- Yaoska Tijerino (Poet)