Arturo Uslar Pietri was a renowned Venezuelan writer and politician. Born in Caracas in 1906, his interest in politics and literature began at an early age with examples of his work present in Venezuelan newspapers from 1922. He attended the Universidad Central De Venezuela, studying at the Faculty of Law and after graduating he formed the Avant Garde Valve Magazine with Fernando Paz Castillo and Miguel Otero Silva in 1928. To avoid the fate of imprisonment, which many other young writers were enduring due to protests against the Gomez regime, Mr Pietri began working at the Venezuelan embassy in Paris. He returned to Caracas in 1934 to continue his literary pursuits and to embark on his own political career. He served as the Education Minister from 1939 to 1941, as well as the Finance Minister in 1943 and the Interior Minister in 1945. He also held the position of Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic from 1941 to 1943 and was elected Deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1944. Over a number of years he was also a regular contributor to the newspaper El Nacional. He also held many academic positions during his career, including Professor of Political Economy at Universidad Central de Venezuela and Professor of Spanish American Literature at Columbia University. His protest against political corruption in Spain led to his forced exile to New York in 1945. It was, however, during this time that he published the novel ‘The Road to El Dorado’ and the storybook ‘Thirty Men and Their Shadows’. Upon his return to Venezuela he served as Senator in Congress and later, unsuccessfully, launched a campaign to be President of the Republic in 1963. From 1975 to 1979 Mr Uslar Pietri served as the Venezuelan Ambassador for UNESCO. Over the subsequent years he devoted himself to his literature and in 1980 he published a collection of short stories, including what would become his most renowned pieces of literature; ‘Robinson Crusoe Island’ and ‘Visit in Time.’ The success and popularity of these two novels won Mr Uslar Pietri numerous literary awards and an increased international audience.

Armand Petitjean (1884-1969) was the founder of Lancôme, the internationally recognised cosmetics brand, whose name itself was initially inspired by the ruins of a castle. Born into a family of distillers, he founded the company in France in 1935. His motive was to create a brand that was able to deliver the much sought after ideal of French elegance to the world. His initial five perfumes were a big success and he eventually moved on to develop skincare products. His first skincare product was launched in 1936; a repair cream called Nutrix, which is still available today. In 1938 he branched into cosmetics, with his branch of Lancôme lipsticks becoming bestsellers. He was notoriously critical of advertising, stating that Lancôme would never advertise, making its early success all the more impressive. In 1961 he sold the company to his son, who subsequently sold Lancôme to L’Oreal in 1964. Today Lancôme remains one of the top brands in the luxury beauty sector, represented and used by models, actresses and make-up artists alike.

Antonio Ortiz Mena was a Mexican economist and politician who held numerous government posts over the course of his career. He studied Law before working in the Mexican banking sector, at the Department of the Federal District and The National Urban Mortgage Bank. He served as Deputy Director of the National Mortgage Bank from 1946 to 1952, and later, he was appointed Director-General of the Mexican Institute of Social Security. He then became the Mexican Secretary of Finance and Public Credit in 1958, and retained this position until 1970. He oversaw a period of sustained economic growth and development in Mexico and was credited with helping usher in the ‘Mexican Miracle’, which elevated millions of Mexicans into the middle class. He went on to become President of the Inter-American Development Bank, leading it for seventeen years. During his leadership the Inter-American Development Bank dramatically increased their lending and he assisted in diversifying their operations, concentrating on Latin American infrastructure projects and financing for microenterprises. Following his resignation in 1988, Mr Ortiz Mena became the Director of Banamex, one of Mexico’s biggest commercial banks. He died in 2007 at the age of 99.

Anton Jaumann was a German politician who served as the Bavarian Minister for Economy and Transport. Born in 1927 he studied Theology, Economics and Law before starting his own law firm in 1957. During this time he also served as CEO of the National Association of Bavarian Foreign Trade. He was a member of Bavaria’s parliament from 1958 until 1990. In 1966 he became State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance before becoming the Bavarian State Minister of Economy and Transport in 1988. During his term as Minister of Economy and Transport he made several key decisions and was noted as one of the many outspoken critics who voiced their concerns over the construction of the Munich Franz Josef Strauss Airport.