Efim Bogoljubov vs El Greco
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Efim Bogoljubov | El Greco | |
| Field | Sports | Art |
| Sub-field | Chess | Painting |
| Born | 1889 | 1541 |
| Died | 1952 | 1614 |
| Country of birth | Russia | Spain |
| Star sign | Aries | Libra |
Who they are
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 →
El Greco
Domenikos Theotokopoulos — called El Greco, simply "the Greek," by the Spanish who could not pronounce his name — was born in Crete around 1541. He arrived in the world as a Byzantine icon painter, trained in the flat gold-ground tradition of Eastern Christianity, and ended his life as one of the most radical Western painters who ever lived, a figure so far ahead of his time that the twentieth century had to rediscover him to understand what he had been doing.
What they share
- Both are documented on this site with a verified biography.
Where they part
- Different fields: Sports for Efim Bogoljubov, Art for El Greco.
- Born in different countries: Russia and Spain.
- 348 years separate their births (1889 and 1541).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Efim Bogoljubov or El Greco?
- El Greco. Efim Bogoljubov was born in 1889, El Greco in 1541.
- What field is each of them in?
- Efim Bogoljubov is filed under Sports (Chess). El Greco is filed under Art (Painting).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.