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Famous People From Dunedin

Otago University Dunedin

Dunedin is a medium size city in the lower end of the South Island of New Zealand. It is a rich with history, culture, public icons, food and many more things. With a population of just over 200,000 people, Dunedin is home to many famous people. However, it is also the home to some of the most famous people in New Zealand as well as around the world. Who is your favourite famous person? Who knows, your favourite famous person might be from this city. We shall find out.

We all know a lot of famous people who we look up to as role models and admire. Most of them shape our lives and personality. But how much do you know about them? Do you know their personality, their culture and the city in which they grew up in? These are all the things that shaped their lives, their upbringing, and who they eventually became. If you truly admire your role model then you should know all the things that shaped their life and moulded them to who they became. This will enable you to learn about their experiences they went through and hopefully you can replicate it to become a successful person yourself. The important thing is to get a lesson from their lives and apply it to your life to improve and move forward with your goals and career.

So here are the top 10 famous people from Dunedin and what you can learn from them and they include celebrities, sports person, politicians, and musicians.

1. Ethel Benjamin

Ethel BenjaminNew Zealand’s first ever lawyer was born on 18 January 1875. She was also the first women in the British Emire to become a counsel in court. Her parents were Lizzie Mark and Henry Benjamin who emigrated from England in 1860s. She went to Otago Girls High School. She was awarded a scholarship from the University of Otago and also received many awards from her high school. The things we can learn from Ethel Benjamin is that if you work hard everything is possible. Now back then females were not promoted to study and a lot of them were uneducated and for her to be the first lawyer is a big achievement. Dunedin is also popular for having the first dentistry school in New Zealand, find out more information about Dunedin.

2. Sir Michael Francis Addison Woodruff

Sir_michael_woodruffIf you are a science geek you will love this person. Michael Woodruff was a surgeon and scientist who pioneered organ transplantation. His contribution to science was immense, and he also performed the first kidney transplant. His methods of organ transplantation are still used until today because they were the best invented. In the year 1969, he was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. What we can learn here is that if you have a passion for helping people, and you want to save people’s lives then you will be rewarded big. He has saved so many lives and made so many people happy. His legacy still lives on today, as his research done more than 50 years ago continues to be helpful in surgery.

3. Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum

If you play cricket or don’t then you will most likely be familiar with the name Brendon McCullum. Born in South Dunedin, Brendon grew up loving cricket. He is considered one of the best and most successful batsmen and captain in New Zealand cricket. Some of his records include scoring the fastest test century of all time, scoring the first triple hundred in T20, he is also the first Kiwi to score 1000 test runs in a calendar year. He retired from all forms of cricket in 2016 after a very successful career. He is currently 36 years old.

What we can learn from Brendon McCullum is that if you love what you do, you can break and set all kinds of records. Passion is the key to success in career, business, sports and life in general. We must do things with passion when an action is backed by the passion we do things effortlessly and with minimal energy. Then success becomes natural and almost normal as it is not forced but it happens because of skills which are a result of passion in your field.

4. Anna Grimaldi

Anna Grimaldi is a para-athlete, competing in sprint events and long jump. She represented New Zealand in the 2016 Summer Paralympics winning the gold medal in women’s long jump. She was born with a withered forearm and a non-functional right hand. She attended Bayfield High school in Dunedin. What we can learn from Anna is that no matter how disabled you are you can achieve your goals.  At the age of just 21 Anna went on to the Rio Paralympics to win gold, this is absolutely amazing and many people dream about such an achievement. She is still young and has many years to come and we will see her achieve even greater things in her life.

Hope you like our list and we hope that you are motivated and encouraged to take action to achieve your goals. Find out more other great things about this city.