List of virgins

This is a list of historical and legendary figures who have been famous for their virginity.

The list does not include figures who are not unusual in their virginity, such as children, or religious figures who practice celibacy.

Ancient Greek and Roman figures

Diogenes of Sinope (Noted for masturbation, though)
The Vestal Virgins

Artists (actors, models, writers, etc)

Jean Alexander, actress (Coronation Street, Last of the Summer Wine)
Edward Morgan Forster, English novelist, short story writer, and essayist
Hilary Duff, actress and singer ^*
Adriana Lima, Brazilian supermodel (confirmed by herself in April 2006 GQ magazine cover feature) "Sex is for after marriage. have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me." [http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_4255
Flannery O'Connor, author
John Ruskin, art critic
Todd Fuller, professional basketball player ^*

Christian religious figures

Note: For reasons stated above members of celibate orders should not be included here. Instead this should be for saints whose virginity is critically important in their story. In particular saints who were married but stayed virgins(see spiritual marriage), saints whose virginity faced harsh testing, or lastly those who were killed because they refused to lose their virginity.

Saint Agnes-Patron saint of chastity.
Edward the Confessor-Married, but remained chaste.
Maria Goretti-Although she died at 11 this happened after being stabbed 14 times for refusing Alessandro Serenelli's sexual advances.
Joan of Arc-Her virginity was investigated and confirmed at trial.
Regina, Killed for refusing marriage to a non-Christian.

Deities

Athena ^*
Artemis ^*
Lord Hanuman (Anjaneya)

Rulers, politicians, and activists

Vinoba Bhave, Indian freedom fighter and social reformer
Boleslaus V of Poland
Elizabeth I of England - the Virgin Queen of England may or may not have had affairs, but she was officially virginal. The American colony (later, state) of Virginia is named after this aspect.
Paula Houston Utah's former "porn czar" ^*
Samuel J. Tilden, American politician and 1876 presidential candidate. He died a bachelor and confided to a friend that he had never slept with a woman in his life.^*
Ann Widdecombe, British politician. ^*

Scholars

Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist, satirist, and historian
Swami Vivekananda, One of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the Vedanta (Advaita) philosophy.
Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician
Kancha Ilaiah, Dalit scholar
Immanuel Kant, German philosopher and scientist
A P J Abdul Kalam, notable Indian nuclear scientist, current President of India
John Harvey Kellogg, American inventor of corn flakes and campaigner against all forms of sex.
Florence Nightingale, English pioneer of modern nursing. She was also a noted statistician.
Isaac Newton, English physicist

Legendary or fictional characters

Marina, daughter of the lead character in Shakespeare's play Pericles, Prince of Tyre, is so pure a virgin that even when captured by pirates and sold to a brothel, she converts her customers to virtue and retains her virginity.
Philia, the ingenue in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, is a virgin in the house of Marcus Lycus; her status is a major plot point and source of bawdy humor.

References

Wallace, Irving & Wallace, Amy & Wallenchinsky, David (1981). The Secret Sex Lives of Famous People.

Logevall, Fredrik (2001). The Origins of the Vietnam War. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. ISBN 0-582-31918-8.

Smith, Gene (1994). Whispering Sammy. American Heritage 45:3 (May/June 1994), web version at http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1994/3/1994_3_134.shtml (Samuel J. Tilden)

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