Some seriously cool people...

I have to admit, I have never really been a big fan of biography/autobiography books. I guess most of the time when I read, I read for the appeal of escaping my "normal" life, so reading about someone else's life didn't seem too exciting. What I didn't realize, though, was that looking at the world through someone else's eyes is a way of escaping one's daily grind after all, and can also prove to be quite inspirational. I remember reading a biography when I was in high school that really resonated with me because of the dedication of this woman. . . Marie Curie, chemist from the late 19th century. I remember it blew my mind how this woman jumped into what was definitely a man's area at the time, and made a pretty huge splash, winning 2, count them, 2 Nobel Prizes in the process. What person have you read about that turned out to be interesting or motivating for you. Why do you think this is?