WNotable orphans and foundlings include world leaders, celebrated writers, entertainment greats, figures in science and business, as well as innumerable fictional characters in literature and comics. While the exact definition of orphan and foundlings varies, one legal definition is a child bereft through "death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents". According to the United Nations, the definition of an orphan is anyone that loses one parent, either through death or abandonment.
WPa Maretu Ariki was a sovereign of the Cook Islands. He was the ariki of the Pa dynasty, one of the two chiefdoms of the Takitumu tribe on the island of Rarotonga.
WArn Chorn-Pond is a musician, human rights activist, and a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. He is an advocate for the healing and transformative power of the arts, and especially music.
WMoses, also known as Moshe Rabbenu, is the most important prophet in Judaism, and an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and a number of other Abrahamic religions. In the biblical narrative he was the leader of the Israelites and lawgiver, to whom the authorship of the first five books of the bible, the Torah, or "acquisition of the Torah from heaven," is attributed.
WJohn Baldwin Munro, better known as J. B. Munro, was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was also a notable disability advocate.
WAna Peleteiro Brión is a Spanish triple jumper and the current national record holder. She won the gold medal in the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships. She had previously won bronze medals at the 2018 World Indoor Championships and 2018 European Championships.
WGregorio Perez Companc also known as "Don Gregorio" or "Goyo," is an Argentine businessman and one of Argentina's wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of US$1.6 billion as of October 2018.
WSimrit Kaur, also known mononymously as Simrit, is a singer/songwriter born in Athens, Greece. She was orphaned as a newborn and then adopted into the United States by Greek step-parents when she was a toddler. She currently resides in California.
WMelek Hassan Tourhan was the second wife of Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt. After her husband ascended the throne in 1914, she became known as Sultana Melek.
WZayd ibn Harithah, was an early Muslim, sahabah and the adopted son of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.