15 Famous people from Mongolia

1. Genghis Khaan (1162-1227)- Man of the millennium, Mongolian ruler

He is the founder and first Emperor of the Mongol Empire, which after his death became the largest contiguous empire in history. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire and being proclaimed Genghis Khan (an honorary title possibly derived from the Turkic "tengiz" — sea, meaning "the oceanic, universal ruler"), he launched the Mongol invasions that conquered most of Eurasia, reaching as far west as Poland in Europe and the Levant in the Middle East Genghis Khaan was portrayed positively by early Renaissance sources due to the incredible spread of culture, science and technological ideas by the Mongol Empire by the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China. Due to his exceptional military successes, Genghis Khaan is often considered to be one of the greatest conquerors of all time. Chinggis khaan’s empire covered 9.15 million square miles, which is more than 16 percent of the entire world.

2. Ugudgei khaan (1185-1241) third son of Chinggis khaan

Ugudei khaan was born in Kharakorum Mongolia. He made his quarters on the Orkhon river in central Mongolia, where he built the capital city of Karakorum on the site laid out by his father Chinggis khaan. He carried out several simultaneous campaigns, using generals in the field who acted independently but who were subject to his orders. In the western part of his empire, Ugudei sent Mongol armies into Iran, Iraq, and Russia. With the sacking of Kyiv in 1240, the Mongols finally crushed Russian resistance. In the next year, Mongol forces defeated a joint army of German and Polish troops and then marched through Hungary and reached the Adriatic Sea. Thereafter for more than 200 years, Russia remained tributary to the Mongols of the Golden horde.

3. Kublai Khaan (1215-1294)- grandson of Chinggis khaan

Mongolian general and statesman, who was the grandson and greatest successor of Genghis Khan. As the fifth emperor of the Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty (1206–1368), he completed the conquest of China (1279) started by Genghis Khan in 1211 and thus became the first Yuan ruler of the whole of China. Kublai was, at the same time, the overlord of all the other Mongol dominions, which included areas as diverse as that of the Golden Horde in southern Russia, the Il-Khanate of Persia (present-day Iran), and the steppe heartlands where Mongol princes were still living the traditional nomadic life. To govern China, with its long and individual political and cultural history, demanded statecraft of a special order.

4. Tsgaadai khaan(1183-1242) second son of Genghis Khaan

Tsagadai khaan inherited most of what are now five Central Asian states after the death of his father. He was also appointed by Genghis Khan to oversee the execution of the Yassa, the written code of law created by Genghis Khan. The Chagatai Khanate was founded when Genghis Khan gave each of his four sons a territory to rule autonomously within the Mongol Empire he had created in 1206 CE. Chagatai (aka Chaghadai) was the second oldest son and he was given that part of the empire in Central Asia which mostly covers today's southern Kazakhstan and parts of its neighbors. His state was thus surrounded by what would become the other three Mongol khanates: the Ilkhanate to the west, the Golden Horde to the north, and the Empire of the Great Khan (Yuan Dynasty Empire) to the east.

5. Zanabazar(1635-1723) direct descendent of Chinggis khaan

Under Geghen Zanabazar was first religious leader and the most prominent figure in Renaissance art of Mongolia. He advanced Gelugpa school of Buddhism, supplanting while strongly influencing social and political developments in 17th century Mongolia. He was a polymath- a prodigious sculptor, painter, architect, poet, costume designer, scholar, and linguist, who is credited with launching Mongolia’s seventieth century cultural renaissance. As a sculptor, he has been called the “Mongolian Michelangelo.” His most exquisite work can be seen in some of the gilded bronze statues in the Fine Arts Museum is called after his name and displays most of his famous works including the Green Tara, White Tara, Five Dhyani Buddhas, and his portraits, etc. The Bogd khaan winter palace museum also displays some of his arts.

6. Norovbanzad Namjil (1931-2002)- The greatest Mongolian Long Song singer of the 20th century

Her powerful voice can fill a music hall without any need for amplification even though she is nearly seventy years old. She has introduced the Urtiin Duu to the outer world. Born in 1931 in an ordinary shepherd family in Dundgobi province, she loved to sing Urtiin Duu ever since of her childhood. Having no special singing education, she went to Moscow in 1957, the capital of the Soviet Union, to participate at the 4th World Festival of Youth and Students. Jury and spectators were fascinated by Norovbanzad Namjil’s unusual voice and she unexpectedly won the grand prize. Since then, she has performed on different stages in over 30 countries. Norovbanzad Namjil has given a standing ovation at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, La Scala of Milan, and she was presented with the Asian Cultural Award at the Fukuoka Theater of Japan in 1993. Later, UNESCO declared to include the long song “Seruun Saikhan Khangai” (“Fresh and Beautiful Khangai”) performed by her in its Golden Fund.

7. Dagvadorj Dolgorsuren-Former Sumo wrestler

The first Mongolian highest-rank sumo wrestler in Japan. Asashōryū Akinori – He is state honored athlete as well as a hero of labor and was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan and became the first Mongolian who reached sumo’s highest rank in 2003. He was the third non-Japanese to become a grand champion. At the age of 2,,2 he was one of the youngest wrestlers to achieve the rank. In the 2000s, Asashoryu dominated sumo like Tiger Woods dominated golf.

8. Jugderdemidiin Gurragcha-First Mongolian Astronaut

He was born on Dec. 5, 1947, first Mongolian and second Asian to go into space. Gurragcha studied aerospace engineering at the Zhukovsky Military Engineering Academy in Ulan Bator, graduating in 1977. He joined the Mongolian Air Force as an aeronautical engineer and rose to the rank of major general. In March 1978 he was selected to participate in the Soviet Union’s eighth international Intercosmos mission. His first and only space mission was as a researcher on the Soyuz 39 mission. On March 22, 1981, he and Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov were launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. He spent nearly eight days in space, carrying out scientific experiments on the Soviet space station Salyut 6. Gurragcha left the space program on March 30, 1981, and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He later became chief of staff of air defense for the Mongolian Armed Forces. From 2000 to 2004 he served as minister of defense.

9. The Hu band – Mongolian folk rock band

Established in 2016, with traditional Mongolian instrumentation, including the Morin khuur, the Tovshuur, and Mongolian throat singing, the band calls their style of music "hunnu rock" inspired by the Hunnu, an ancient Turkic/Mongol empire. The band blends heavy metal and traditional Mongolian throat singing. Their logo was inspired by the silver ornaments discovered by archaeologist D. Erdenebaatar and his team which was selected as one of the top 10 discoveries of 2019 in the Archeology magazine. It is hypothesis for now is that they once symbolized the power of the Xiongnu Empire. On 11 April 2019, "Wolf Totem" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Song Sales, making The Hu the first Mongolian musical act to top a Billboard chart. In addition, "Yuve Yuve Yu" reached No. 7 on the same chart while "Wolf Totem" debuted at No. 22 on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart. Their first two videos (“Yuve Yuve Yu” and “Wolf Totem”) watched over 30 million views.

10. Badamgarav Gangaamaa – Mongolian Seven Summiteer

She has devoted the last 25 years of her life to mountaineering, and in just five years, she achieved to conquer six of the Seven Summits of the World. B.Gangaamaa - An Honored Athlete of Mongolia, Seven Summiteer climbed the Savage Mountain K2 which is situated on the China-Pakistan border, the 8,611-meter high and the highest point in the Karakoram Range. In 2011 B.Gangaamaa became the first Mongolian woman to conquer Mount Everest. The Seven Summits achievement of B.Gangaamaa are:

In 2010 - Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe /5642 m/ In 2011 - Mount Everest, the highest mountain in Asia /8848 m/

In 2012 - Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa /5895 m/ In 2015 - Mount Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America /6194 m/

In 2016 - Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America /6962 m/ In 2016 - Carstensz Pyramid, the highest mountain in Australia /4 884 m/ In 2016 - Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica /4897 m/.

11. Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar -Mongolian baritone

Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar, the Mongolian opera singer, is one of the few people that received the “Chinggis Khaan” medal, which is awarded to a person who has made a special contribution to the nation. He first won the Glinic International Competition in 2011 and was awarded the title of Mongolian Merited Actor at the age of 23. He then won the Grand Prix at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. He was jointly awarded the Song Prize award at the 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, singing Rossini, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky, and in Mongolian.

12. Naidangiin Tüvshinbayar- is a Mongolian judoka, (Judo) 2012 Olympic silver medalist

He is the 2008 Olympic Champion, 2012 Olympic silver medalist, 2014 Asian games champion, 2015 World Bronze medalist, 2016 Asian championship Gold medalist, 2007 silver medalist, and two-time bronze medalist in the -100 kg division.

13. Tugstsogt Nyambayar- Mongolian Professional Boxer

He was born in 23 June 1992 who has held the IBO featherweight title since 2019. As an amateur, he won silver medals at the 2009 World Championships and 2012 London Olympics. As of January 2020, he is ranked as the world’s fifth best active featherweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and sixth by The Ring and Box Rec.

14. Enkh-Erdene Otgonbat,-Country singer

21-year-old singer and a native of Mongolia. Enkh-Erdene started playing guitar and singing at a very young age. Moreover, Country Music influenced him a lot since he has the voice and soul of a country singer. Enkh-Erdene was born and raised in Mongolia. He joined and won “Mongolia’s Got Talent” in 2016. Since then, he is slowly reaching his dreams as a singer. Furthermore, he auditioned for the competition with his rendition of “Amarillo By Morning” by George Strait. In the semi-finals, he sang “Don’t Be Cruel” by Elvis Presley. People were jiving with him as well as the judges.

15. Yanjaa Wintersoul- Memory champion

IKEA's Human Catalogue who's made the browsing experience a tad more interesting. The 23-year-old Texas-based Mongolian was scouted by BBH Singapore, the ad agency responsible for creating IKEA's viral campaign. Her claim to fame? She's now the number one highest-ranked Female Memory World Champion who's also memorized the entire IKEA catalogue in just a week. While the initial idea was to have her memorize just 2,000 products, Winter soul (whose real name is Yanjindulam Altansuh) realized that it was easier to memorize the entire catalogue.