10 Underrated People Who Did Not Get The Limelight They Truly Deserved

Doing something with full dedication and passion and not receiving enough credit or recognition for it is one of the saddest thing that happens at least once, to each one of us. But for some people, that one time was highly unfortunate. They did some path-breaking work and were not as closely famous as their contemporaries were. Not that other people didn’t deserve the credit, but they surely deserved more.

Here are 10 people who deserved so much more than they received.

1. Nikola Tesla

This man was responsible for the invention alternating current (AC) system, which was a blessing to mankind, as his discovery led to subsequent developments of lasers, x-rays, radar, wireless communication, robotic technology etc. He is not credited for any of those discoveries and he died at the age of 86, completely broke. The genius sufferend from OCD and insomnia and was a celibate.

Telsa was a good human being and wanted his inventions to benefit the mankind. His aim was never to derive profit out of his discoveries. He also cared about the environment as he put a lot of effort for sustainable solutions for energy.

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2. Ritwik Ghatak

Ritwik Ghatak is one of the most eminent film-makers and script writers of our country. Like his other contemporary Bengali directors, Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, his films portray the social reality of India meticulously. These three maestros were successful in establishing an independent trajectory of parallel cinema which was very different from mainstream Hindi Cinema. Although, Ghatak was honoured with many awards like National Film Award’s Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director’s Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist’s Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam, his work was not recognised internationally like Satyajit Ray.

After his death, his impact could be seen only through his former students like Mani Kaul, John Abraham and Kumar Shahani from his brief teaching period at FTII. They used his ideas and theories but that was it for Ghatak’s recognition. He stood completely out of commercial films and didn’t target the masses. He definitely deserved much more recognition and international coverage.

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3. Alan Turing

The world knows him to be the father of modern computer science, but many don’t know that Turing came up with the concept of algorithms and computations with one of his most important inventions, the Turing machine. Being a natural number wizard, he used to solve advanced problems without learning calculus.

During World War II, Turing’s invention of an electromechanical machine called Bombe was designed to break Enigma faster. The invention was very successful and by the end of the war, there were 200 Bombes which were being used. This machine helped the US Navy to decipher messages from enemy boats at a much faster pace. The invention led to the victory of the United States in many battles including the Battle of the Atlantic.

Later, he also came up with a concept called Turing Test which determined the machine’s intelligence. Artificial intelligence means computer acting and thinking like a human. His idea was to start with a prototype of a child’s mind, then educate that mind.

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4. Gerda Taro

Gerda Taro’s real name was Gerta Pohorylle and she was the first female photojournalist to cover various wars and die while doing so. Gerda was a war photographer and girlfriend  of Robert Capa, who was another eminent photojournalist.

She died during the Battle of Brunete when she hopped onto the foot board of a car that was carrying wounded soldiers. A Republican tank crashed into the car and Taro was injured critically. She died the next day. This woman is an epitome of courage and passion for all the youngsters. She definitely deserves to be know by the world.

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5. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel was not called the ‘Iron Man’ of India for nothing. The reason why he is on this list is that he is not talked about (before Modi decided to build the Statue of Unity in his honour) like other national leaders. Considering the work he has done post independence, we wouldn’t have been left with a united country to live in without him. The Britishers left us in a pathetic state and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel brouht everything together.

He was a visionary and always thought ahead of time. He concentrated on the annexation of the kingdoms, reorganization of the states, and the binding of India. He was that silent and solid rock who didn’t let the nation fall apart. He definitely deserves much more credit for his selfless service.

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6. Oskar Schindler

When you look around today and observe the animistic behaviour of people, Oskar Schindler’s story will restore your faith in humanity. More than 6 million Jews were killed in German Holocaust and Oskar Schindler managed to save an entire generation all by himself. He was a rich industrialist and a member of Nazi Party and he used one power he had to save people from being burnt alive, his money!

He bought 1,200 Jews by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in occupied Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Today, there are over 7,000 Schindler Jews only because one man spent his every last penny trying to save as many people as he could. He died broke.

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7. Mbaye Diagne

Captain Mbaye Diagne was a Senegalese military officer and a United Nations military observer during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, where 8,00,000 people were killed in 10 days. During the genocide, it was extremely dangerous to travel anywhere in Rwanda as the Hutu killers were manning each and every path with their machetes, ready to kill every Tutsi surviver.

In such volatile situation, Captain Mbaye would take the children in his unarmoured car to the relative safety of the nearby UN-guarded Hotel des Mille Collines, risking his own life with every trip. The amount of courage and guts needed to do that is inexplicable as death was everywhere around him. He was in his mid 30s and he died two weeks before leaving Rwanda in one such trip. He is the bravest man I know and no one knows about him. He deserves to be appreciated and remembered for what he did.

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8. Claudette Colvin

You might remember Rosa Parks. The black woman who refused to give her seat to a white man in a bus and challenged the law. She was arrested but didn’t let the racial segregation impact her dignity. Her action became a starting point of Civil Rights movement.

But nine months before Rosa, there was this other 15 years old girl who refused to give away her seat to a white person. Then why did Rosa get the glory which she didn’t? National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) didn’t consider her case to challenge the segregation law because of her age. Parks was an adult in 1955 while Colvin was a 15 year-old teenager whose statement was not considered to be reliable.

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9. Philo Farnsworth

It is ironical how each person on this planet and everything around that person revolves around television, but no one knows the inventor of electronic TV. Names like Guglielmo Marconi and Alexander Graham Bell have been on our fingertips since childhood but no one knows the man who invented television. Dr. Philo Farnsworth was a self-taught physicist and he figured out a way to transmit images electronically when he was 14 (Yes! He invented TV when he was 14).

But unfortunately, the patent for television was owned by Radio Corporation of America (RCA) by a competing inventor. Thus, Farnsworth spent a large part of his life defending himself from infringement and guarding his own patent rights. In 1939, he finally received his licence by RCA which also paid a huge amount of 1 million Dollars to the inventor.

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10. Neerja Bhanot

Another example of courage and bravery that so many people don’t know about. Neerja Bhanot was a flight attendant on the Pan Am hijacking at Karachi who gave her life trying to save the hostages. She was vigilant and warned the pilots when terrorists came aboard. Pilots’ quick gateway failed the hijacking as the terrorists were stuck on ground.

At the end of the hijacking, Neerja was killed in all the chaos. Not just had she guaranteed the failure of the hijacking by keeping the plane from getting off the ground, she likewise saved the lives of passengers in those extend periods of time of detainment. She shrouded the passports of American travelers from the Arabic shooters, giving them an opportunity to escape the destructive fury of the gatecrashers.

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Don’t you think now, that they contributed too much and too significantly to be forgotten so easily?

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