# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/lee-kuan-yew
# Generated: 2026-09-02T18:37:54.104Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/lee-kuan-yew"
name: "Lee Kuan Yew"
slug: "lee-kuan-yew"
description: "He ran Singapore for three decades and built a postage stamp of tropical swamp into one of the richest places on earth — through meritocracy, zero tolerance for graft, and tight control of nearly everything else. The model worked. The cost was civil liberties, a neutered press, and detention without trial."
tagline: "1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore (1923–2015)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Lee_Kuan_Yew.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1923-09-16"
deathDate: "2015-03-23"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           73.26
  momentum:             2.366151556712837
  historical:           29.65884
  currentAttention:     20.07108663868321
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  65
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Academic"
    slug: "academic"
  - name: "Philosophy"
    slug: "philosophy"
  - name: "Stand Up"
    slug: "stand-up"
  - name: "Law"
    slug: "law"
  - name: "Founders"
    slug: "founders"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2285412/"
    handle:    "nm2285412"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131248"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Lee%20Kuan%20Yew"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%89_%D9%83%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%8A%D9%88"
    title: "لى كوان يو"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Kuan_Yu"
    title: "Li Kuan Yu"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ban.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B8_%D0%9A%D1%83%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%AE"
    title: "Ли Куан Ю"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Лі Куан Ю"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%96_%D0%9A%D1%83%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%AE"
    title: "Лі Куан Ю"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B8_%D0%9A%D1%83%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%AE"
    title: "Ли Куан Ю"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF_%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%89"
    title: "লি কুয়ান ইউ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9B%CE%B7_%CE%9A%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%AC%CE%BD_%CE%93%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%85"
    title: "Λη Κουάν Γιου"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%DB%8C_%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%A2%D9%86_%DB%8C%D9%88"
    title: "لی کوآن یو"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Lee Kuan Yew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%8A_%D9%83%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%8A%D9%88"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://eo.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://id.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Kuang-jao"
    title: "Li Kuang-jao"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in colonial Singapore in 1923 to a Peranakan Chinese family, Lee studied law at Cambridge and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1950. He returned home, practised law, and co-founded the People's Action Party in 1954, winning a seat the next year. By 1959 he was prime minister, leading Singapore into a merger with Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. Racial conflict and ideological rifts forced Singapore out two years later, suddenly independent and alone. Lee then steered the tiny city-state through economic transformation — courting foreign capital, enforcing meritocracy and anti-corruption, building public housing and infrastructure — while restricting press freedoms, assembly, and dissent through defamation suits and detention laws. From 1968 to 1981, the PAP faced no parliamentary opposition. He stepped down as prime minister in 1990 but stayed in Cabinet until 2011, shaping policy and advising foreign leaders. He died of pneumonia in March 2015; 1.7 million people queued to pay respects.