On this day in 1929 Mother Teresa arrived by sea in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to begin her work in India. This week’s quiz celebrates famous expats:

1 Which famous US sportsperson took citizenship in Iceland, the venue of his most famous triumph in 1972?

2 Though Faroukh Balsara better known as Freddy Mercury also studied in India, in which island was he born and was a citizen of before moving to the United Kingdom at the age of 18?

3 Which great poet, essayist and literary critic was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a prominent family but moved to England at the age of 25 and later took British citizenship in 1927 at the age of 39?

4 Which trade-unionist and activist who has worked in Chattisgarh for over three decades was born an American citizen in Boston, the daughter of a well-known economist who founded the Centre for Economics Studies and Planning in JNU?

5 Born with the name Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa in Paris in 1879, she travelled to Pondicherry in 1915 and met the man she regarded as her spiritual leader. By what name was she known to her followers?

6 In every high-level official trip to India, Chinese officials always make a point of meeting which Indian doctor’s family, thanks to his contributions to their cause during the Sino-Japanese war in 1938?

7 The son of a Cambridge-educated lawyer and a teacher, which writer born in 1947, started his education at the Cathedral and John Connon school, before moving to England for his education and finally settling there?

8 Which cricketer who represented India in over 100 ODIs was born in Trinidad in 1963, but moved to India in 1984 to study and play for Chennai university before finally deciding to take Indian citizenship?

9 Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros married an Indian Army captain, Vikram Khanolkar, in 1932 and subsequently took Indian citizenship. What was her more significant design contribution to India?

10 Which American soul music legend, who also acted in a Mad Max Film, lived in Switzerland since 1994, took Swiss citizenship in 2013 and lived there till she passed away in 2023?

Answers

1 Bobby Fischer, former world chess champion. In one of the most famous sporting events of the 20th century, he won a title series against Soviet Boris Spassky in Reykjavik

2 Zanzibar, in modern Tanzania

3 TS Eliot

4 Sudha Bharadwaj, daughter of Krishna Bharadwaj

5 ‘The Mother’ or La Mere, who established Auroville in 1968

6 Dr Dwarakath Kotnis 

7 Salman Rushdie

8 Robindra Ramnarine “Robin” Singh 

9 She designed the Param Vir Chakra and several other gallantry medals, including the Maha Vir Chakra and the Ashok Chakra

10 Tina Turner 

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