Rags to Riches Story
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A Rags to Riches Story is a personal story in which a person rises from poverty to wealth.
- Context:
- It can (typically) require an Very-Unequal Society.
- Example(s):
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: Archetype, Literature, Popular Culture, American Dream, Meritocracy.
References
2017
- (Wikipedia, 2017) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rags_to_riches Retrieved:2017-10-21.
- Rags to riches refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame— sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype in literature and popular culture (for example, the writings of Horatio Alger, Jr.).
2017
- (Wikipedia, 2017) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rags_to_riches#Historical_examples Retrieved:2017-10-21.
- The Roman Emperor Diocletian, born in poverty and whose father was a former slave (by some sources, the emperor himself was born in slavery). [1]
- Genghis Khan, who was homeless with just his mother and his siblings. He went on to create the largest land empire in history (however, Genghis was the son of a Mongol chieftain).
- Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, born in poverty, founded the Medici bank, the Medici were a common family.
- Pope Leo III was of commoner origin and attained the high position in spite of violent opposition from the nobility, who considered the papacy as their preserve.
- George Thomas (soldier), born into a poor Irish farming family, Thomas became a mercenary in India eventually rising to become a wealthy Raja.
- Pope Gregory VII, Hildebrand, was a commoner, perhaps the son of a blacksmith. His bad reputation was partially due to horror at his high social mobility.
- Chandragupta Maurya of India, who from a humble beginning founded the Maurya Empire.
- hazni, son of a Turkic slave, who founded the Ghaznavid Empire.
- BaiMahmud of Gbars, a slave who rose to become the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt through his military prowess.
- China's Emperor Gaozu of Han and Hongwu Emperor who were both born into peasant families, but eventually founded two of the nation's most illustrious imperial dynasties.
- Emperor Xuan of Han brought up a commoner despite royal blood, later rose to become a capable ruler.
- Emperor Guangwu of Han lived life as a peasant at one point in his life despite being a distant royal. He eventually restored the Han dynasty.
- Emperors Justin I, Justinian the Great and Theodora came from peasant families. Later became Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire. Theodora was a courtesan and actress. Later became Empress.
- Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, was the orphaned son of a goat-herder who established the most powerful empire in modern Persian history.
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a famous example in late medieval times, helped unify pre-modern Japan.
- Wei Zhongxian of Ming Dynasty China, a gambler who castrated himself and entered the Imperial Palace where he ended enormous power under the reign of the Tianqi Emperor. He eventually committed suicide upon banishment by the Chongzhen Emperor.
- Catherine I of Russia, born into a peasant family, married Peter the Great, and became Empress of Russia following a palace coup.