David Bowie vs Efim Bogoljubov
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| David Bowie | Efim Bogoljubov | |
| Field | Film | Sports |
| Sub-field | Actor | Chess |
| Born | 1947 | 1889 |
| Died | 2016 | 1952 |
| Country of birth | United Kingdom | Russia |
| Star sign | Capricorn | Aries |
Who they are
David Bowie
On June 6, 1972, a twenty-four-year-old Brixton-born musician named David Robert Jones — performing under the name David Bowie, inhabiting a character he had named Ziggy Stardust — appeared on the BBC television programme Top of the Pops to perform "Starman," draped his arm around his guitarist Mick Ronson's shoulders in a gesture that was, for British television in 1972, practically avant-garde, and stared directly into the camera. The performance reached approximately fifteen million viewers. Within a week, the Ziggy Stardust album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was…
Full biography of David Bowie →
Efim Bogoljubov
A story — possibly apocryphal, certainly too good not to record — holds that when someone asked Efim Bogoljubov why he was so confident before a particular game, he replied: "When I have White, I win because I have White. When I have Black, I win because I am Bogoljubov." The line captures the man perfectly: large ego, enormous confidence, an infectious delight in chess, and enough genuine talent to partially justify every bit of it. Bogoljubov was not quite the best chess player of his era, but he was very nearly so, and the…
Full biography of Efim Bogoljubov →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Film for David Bowie, Sports for Efim Bogoljubov.
- Born in different countries: United Kingdom and Russia.
- 58 years separate their births (1947 and 1889).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, David Bowie or Efim Bogoljubov?
- Efim Bogoljubov. David Bowie was born in 1947, Efim Bogoljubov in 1889.
- What field is each of them in?
- David Bowie is filed under Film (Actor). Efim Bogoljubov is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.