It was while moonlighting as a mini-cab driver during his student days that Mr Gill became involved in politics.

BBC: Parmjit Singh Gill

"I took a decision a long time ago that when I became involved in politics I would try shield my family from the glare of public life, " he said.

BBC: Motlanthe: South Africa's safe hands

While her father became involved in the Zionist politics that gave birth to Israel, Mona bent her mind to her opening game.

ECONOMIST: Mona Karff

She became involved in left-wing politics and joined the underground resistance to the military dictatorship that seized power in 1964.

BBC: Brazil country profile

Keralans became aggressively involved in public work and politics in an effort to rebuild their disintegrating society.

CNN: Center Cut

But after leaving his home in Harare in 1999 to study art in South Africa, he became involved with exile politics and the growing opposition to President Robert Mugabe.

BBC: Zimbabwe's Kudzanai Chiurai: Can art change Africa?

He dropped out of school after fifth grade, became involved with the unschooling movement, started a business, worked in politics, and lived in France.

FORBES: Hacking Higher Education: Dale Stephens and Unschooling

Towards the end of the war he became involved in adult education, which also served as an opportunity to rekindle his three main intellectual interests: politics, documentary, and literature.

UNESCO: The Uses of Richard Hoggart