Cyrano De Bergerac
Playwright
Remembered primarily for his large nose, this seventeenth-century French playwright and frequent participant in duels inspired a play and several films and operas.
He studied at the Dormans-Beauvais school in Paris before joining the French military in his late teens.
He penned several science fiction-themed plays, including L'Autre Monde: ou les Etats et Empires de la Lune and Les Etats et Empires du Soleil.
He was born in Paris, France, to Esperance Bellanger and Lord Abel de Cyrano de Mauvieres et Bergerac.
Actor Gerard Depardieu portrayed Cyrano de Bergerac in a popular 1990 film based on de Bergerac's life.