Also known as: Gautama Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, Sakyamuni

The founder of Buddhism, who was born as a prince in ancient India and became an ascetic and spiritual teacher after encountering a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. He reached enlightenment after rejecting self-indulgence and self-mortification. He traveled and taught for 45 years and died at the age of 80.