Match Great People in "Civilization VI" Quiz

Answer: Aethelflaed

Aethelflaed is one of the early Great Generals one can recruit. When activating Aethelflaed, you get a Knight (which belongs to the category Heavy Cavalry). Next turn you can use your newly trained Knight.

Another Great General later on will give you a Tank. Recruit Douglas MacArthur for a free Tank.

In real history, Aethelflaed was a daughter of King Alfred the Great. She ruled Mercia from 911 AD until 918 AD. It was a time of many Viking invasions, so knights were quite important to defend the county.

Answer: Sun Tzu

In the game, Sun Tzu is the only Great General who will grant you a Writing. You need of course a slot available to contain a Writing, but the Palace in your Capital city has at least three slots available for anything. "The Art of War" as well as any other Writing contributes to Tourism and Culture.

In real history, Sun Tzu was a Chinese general who probably lived in the period 544 BC to 496 BC, although there is some doubt: the earliest biography of his dates from more than three centuries later. The classic strategy manual "The Art of War" is ascribed to Sun Tzu, although it contains also parts that were written only about 400 BC.

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte does not appear in "Civilization VI" as leader of the French Civilization - that role has been attributed to Catherine de Medici. But the character Napoleon does appear in the minor role of one of the Great Generals one can earn. As soon as you have recruited Napoleon, you need to move him to a tile where there is also a single land unit (for instance: Line Infantry, Cavalry, Field Artillery). Then you can activate Napoleon, and the unit he shares a tile with, becomes an Army (with a significant increase in the attack strength, but no extra hit points).

Technically, you can also make an Army out of three similar land units after obtaining the Civic Mobilization, but the advantage of a significant increase in attack strength does in my opinion not offer enough compensation to the disappearance of two units (who are merged into the third one).

In real history, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) rose from artillery corporal to general and French Emperor. His armies were feared throughout Europe.

Answer: Franz von Hipper

Franz von Hipper is a Great Admiral you can recruit quite late in the game. When activated, he'll get you a Battleship free of charge. A Battleship is the penultimate Ranged naval unit - only the Missile Cruiser is still more advanced (with more attack strength).

Earlier on, you might recruit Themistocles to gain a Quadrireme for free. A Quadrireme is the simplest naval unit to execute Ranged attacks and thus can also be used to attack land units on the shore.

The real Franz von Hipper (1863-1932) was a German admiral, who commanded a fleet of battleships in the Battle of Jutland (1916). In commemoration, the German navy named a heavy cruiser after him.

Answer: Horatio Nelson

In "Civilization VI", Horatio Nelson is a Great Admiral who grants you a perk that helps all your naval units. The Flanking Bonus increases the striking strength for military units operating from neighbouring tiles.

The real-life Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) was a British admiral, best known for outflanking the Spanish and French fleet near Trafalgar (1805). As a result of this daring manoeuvre, the British could win the naval battle. Alas, Nelson died during the battle.

Answer: Santa Cruz

In "Civilization VI", Great Generals can help you promote a single land unit to a Corps (two units, more striking strength) or even an Army (three units). Likewise, there are two Great Admirals who can promote a single naval unit to a Fleet (two units) or even an Armada (three units). While the early Gaius Duilius promotes one of your ships to a Fleet, it is Santa Cruz who turns a single naval unit into an Armada.

Real history lists Santa Cruz (real name Alvaro de Bazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz) as a Spanish admiral. Santa Cruz (1526-1588) was the architect of the plan to use the Spanish Armada to strike the English Navy in preparation for an invasion via Ireland. But he died a few months before the Armada could sail, and when it did, it was decimated by the British.

Answer: James of St. George

James of St. George is an early Great Engineer. When activated, he provides your City immediately with Ancient and Medieval Walls - which improve your defensive stats and may later on also contribute to Culture. So recruiting James helps you improve your City defence without having to spend several turns building Ancient Walls and then Medieval Walls.

The real James of St. George was a French medieval architect, born about 1230 in the region of Savoy and died about 1309. He was best known for designing several castles in France, Wales and Scotland.

Answer: Fillippo Brunelleschi

In the game, Filippo Brunelleschi is a Great Engineer who Boosts the construction of a Wonder. A Boost means that you can complete construction or development in far less turns.

And the Wonders in "Civilization VI" can provide various perks: some give you an extra Civic slot (so you can choose one more Civic to use), others grant you a free Trader and/or increase your Trade Routes, others Boost random Civics or Technologies, some allow you to have extra actions for certain units, some increase the Science output or Culture output, or attract Tourists...

Each Wonder also grants you points to determine your score, which will be very important when the Victory is decided by a Score Victory (and so no one has reached the conditions for another type of Victory before the last turn).

The real Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) was an Italian architect, master of the Renaissance in Florence. His principal achievement was the Dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore church in Florence.

Answer: Ada Lovelace

Rather late in the game, one can perhaps recruit the Great Engineer Ada Lovelace. She Boosts the development of the Technology Computers.

A rather unexpected side-effect of this Technology is that you may train an extra Spy. Even more surprising is that the research of the Technology Computers doubles your Tourism.

The real Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was an English mathematician, best known for her work with Charles Babbage on the first analytical engine (precursor to the computer). She realized such as a machine could do more than only calculations, and is considered the first computer programmer.

Answer: Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss is listed as a Great Merchant in "Civilization IV". When activated, he will grant you the Luxury Resource Jeans - a Luxury Resource that can't be obtained by building any Improvement on any tile.

This Luxury Resource can be traded, but in view of the extreme scarcity, you may ask very much in return (Gold, other Luxury Resources, Strategic Resources, even Great Works or Cities).

There are a few other Luxury Resources that can only be created by recruiting a Great Merchant: for example Toys and Perfume.

In real life, Levi Strauss (1829-1902) was born in Germany and moved to the USA, where he started selling non-food products (mostly textile). In 1853 he founded an eponymous company specialized in production of the sturdy blue jeans, and in 1871 he obtained a patent for the riveting of blue jeans pants. 

Answer: Giovanni de Medici

A Commercial Hub is a District that grants you the possibility to recruit an extra Trader in each City that is not already equipped with a Harbor. So in many cases you would construct a Harbor in a City on the seashore, and a Commercial Hub in a City that doesn't border the sea.

When you obtain the Great Merchant Giovanni de Medici and activate him on a Commercial Hub, this District is immediately enhanced with a Bank and a Market (the first two Improvements for such a District) free of charge. You can then decide to add a Stock Exchange, but that one will cost you either time or Gold.

The real Giovanni de Medici (1360-1429) was an Italian textile merchant and banker, as well as a politician in Florence. He started the Medici bank in Florence and thus accumulated great wealth, of which he spent large sums to sponsor art. His sons Cosimo and Lorenzo would follow in his footsteps.

Answer: Jamsetji Tata

In "Civilization VI", a Campus District grants you a permanent source of Science. Improving this District with a Library, a University (or Madrasa) and finally a Research Lab will add to the Science generated each turn by this District. Normally, a Campus does not attract Tourism - but if you activate the Great Merchant Jamsetji Tata, all Campus Districts in your Civilization will make a contribution to Tourism.

In real life, Jamsetji Tata (1839-1904) was an Indian industrialist. He founded the Tata Group, a large conglomerate with branches in the automobile production, electronics, household appliance, steel and chemical industry. Much of the wealth he accumulated via his conglomerate, was spent on philanthropy especially in the education and healthcare sectors. Thanks to Tata's gifts, the Indian Institute of Science opened in 1909 as a prestigious university.

Answer: Hildegard of Bingen

In "Civilization VI", Science is very important to advance. The most efficient way to obtain Science, is via the building of Campus Districts and the Buildings thereupon. But you can also earn Science via the improvement of certain tiles with some Luxury Resources (Mercury or Tea) and some of the Strategic Resources (Iron or Aluminum). And one player, the Sumerian, can also build a Ziggurat which adds to your Science.

The Great Scientist Hildegard of Bingen adds one extra way to gain Science, provided you have founded a Religion. (That means Kongo can't benefit of recruiting Hildegard of Bingen). When she is activated in a Holy Site, all your Holy Sites and their Buildings add to your Science.

In real life, Hildegard of Bingen (ca.1098-1179) was a German nun very interested by many subjects. She entered a Benedictine convent at an rather early age and rose to the rank of Abbess. She wrote several manuscripts, not only on theological subjects but also on music and medicine.

Answer: Galileo Galilei

While most Great Scientists in "Civilization VI" Boost one or more Technologies, there are some who increase your Science drastically when activated next to a certain type of tile. Galilei needs to be activated next to Mountains, Charles Darwin next to a Natural Wonder and Janaki Ammal next to Rainforest tiles.

Of these three, Galilei gains the most Science per adjacent tile of the correct type, and Darwin the least. But as you can include the tile occupied by your activated Great Scientist, Janaki Ammal is probably the most useful: he can earn seven times the Science he Boosts, while Darwin is limited to four times (the largest surface of a Natural Wonder) and Galilei probably to three times. Even at the extreme map sizes, I haven't encountered any tiles that border more than three Mountain tiles.

In real life, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian scientist, studying astronomy and experimenting with gravity. It is probably due to his experimental approach on gravity that Galilei was linked by the game developers to mountain tiles.

Answer: Abdus Salam

Not all Great People are present in each and every game you start in "Civilization VI": at the start of the game, there are a number of defining characteristics that are randomly chosen. One is the identity and starting tile of your opponents (in as much as you play against computer-generated players), another is the identity and starting tile of the City States, and another is the Great People available. Also the Natural Wonders are chosen at random: for instance the Dead Sea is quite rare, while Galapagos and the Great Barrier Reef are almost in each and every game.

When he is part of the game, Abdus Salam is the last and most expensive Great Scientist to obtain. But his perk is the best of all also: he Boosts all of the last Technologies, 19 in total, and is available at a moment when you probably have researched only a few of these Technologies.
Most other Great Scientists Boost maximum three Technologies.

In real life Abdus Salam (1926-1996) was a Pakistani scientist, who won the Noble Prize for his work on the weak force and the electromagnetic force.