Historical Figures: The Letter 'F' Quiz

Answer: entomologist

Fabre (1823-1915) grew up in modest circumstances in rural France and was almost entirely self-taught. After working for some years as a teacher, he started to compile the book he is famous for, "Souvenirs Entomologiques", which was a study of insect life.

It was disliked by the scientific establishment of the time as, unlike most contemporary reference texts, it was written for a general audience in an engaging and approachable style. A true polymath, he went on to write over 50 books on a range of subjects, synthesise Madder Red dye, and maintain a teaching position at the Lycee at Avignon.

Answer: Trevor Francis

Francis was signed by the great Brian Clough, who usually played him out of position on the right wing (not centre-forward). He did not shine at Forest in a way his price tag would demand. He was transferred again in 1981 (this time for £1.2m) to Manchester City; and went on to play in Italy and with Sheffield Wednesday, taking up their management in 1990.

A transfer fee is an amount paid by one football club to another to buy the services of one of a player. It's a bit like the draft in USA.

Answer: Franz Ferdinand

Archduke Franz Ferdinand von Hapsburg was heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire when, during an inspection visit to troubled Bosnia in June 1914 in company with his wife, Sophie, his chauffeur, unfamiliar with the town, took a wrong turn. The couple was accidentally presented to a waiting assassin from the Serbian Black Hand organisation, who hoped to kill the Archduke to strike a blow for Bosnian freedom.

The assassination set in train a chain of events which led to the outbreak of the First World War.

Answer: Federico Fellini

Federico Fellini was a member of the Italian New Wave of directors, taking advantage of the freedoms available in the post-World War II world to push the boundaries of cinematic storytelling. He won the Palme d'Or for "La Dolce Vita" (1960); and his film "8 1/2" (1963) was rated by the French cinema magazine "Cahiers du Cinema" as the tenth greatest film of all time.

He died in 1993 after a career that had included over forty films and original screenplays.

Answer: Julian Fellowes

Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, wrote this blockbuster hit. Both an actor and screenwriter, his first film script, "Gosford Park" - also set in a large stately home - won an Oscar for best original screenplay for 2001. "Downton Abbey" ran for six series, so there really is some truth in writing about what you know about.

Answer: Stephen Fry

Writer, actor, broadcaster, comedian and 'Britain's favorite uncle', Stephen Fry got his start in the "Cambridge Footlights Revue", made a name for himself in the Alternative Comedy scene in the late eighties, and went on to excel in nearly everything he set his hand to in the following thirty years. He's a very nice chap in real life as well.

Answer: The Jam

Born in Woking in Surrey, he formed the Jam in 1972 along with Paul Weller and Rick Buckler. Foxton formed the rhythm section of the band, alongside drummer Buckler, playing bass and occasionally singing (notably "David Watts"). He left the band following the 1982 split to pursue a solo career and in 2007 began touring with From the Jam with Buckler.

Answer: Hermann Fegelein

Born into a horse-rearing family in Bavaria, Fegelein was an early member of the SA, rising high in their mounted section and on transferring to the SS, heading their mounted regiment. Taking a leading role in anti-partisan activity on the Eastern Front, he was highly decorated and equally heavily involved in several war crimes.

His downfall came after his marriage to Gretl Braun, sister of Hitler's mistress Eva. During the fall of Berlin, he deserted the defenders, only to be captured and executed in front of an SS firing squad.

Answer: Chris Foss

Born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, Foss completed his training at Magdelene College, Cambridge. He is well known for his studies of spaceships which graced the covers of many a science fiction novel in the 1970s and 80s, although his most widely-seen work was of the hippy couple in Alex Comfort's "Joy of Sex" sex manual.

He was also much involved in film design work, his designs notably appearing in "AI" (2001), "Flash Gordon" (1980), and the unmade "Alejandro Jodorowsky Dune".

Answer: Sigmund Freud

Although the cause of much controversy to this day, Freud's work laid the foundations of modern psychiatry and revolutionised the treatment of the mentally ill. Psychoanalsis, in very simple terms, is the proposition that we are influenced by the workings of our unconscious minds and our mental stability can be affected by things unseen in day to day life, such a dreams, unconscious thoughts, and unintentional acts. I really recommend more reading on the subject as it is extremely complicated and some aspects of it are controversial to the present day. Freud was not popular with the Nazis in his native Austria for these ideas, as well as being Jewish, and he was forced to flee the country in 1938, dying a year later from cancer in exile in London.