History’s Most Famous Pet People

Famous people are usually remembered for the public stuff: speeches, paintings, battles, novels, scandals, tours, and the sort of decisions that end up in textbooks. At home, though, many of them were just people fussing over dogs, cats, birds, horses, and the occasional exotic animal. Just like the rest of us, pets provided them with company, routine, and a little relief from lives that were often crowded, strange, or painfully lonely. Some of these animals turned up in letters, portraits, family stories, photographs, and the odd bit of political lore. These 20 historical figures were remembered not just for what they did, but for the animals they kept close.

Johann Julius Heinsius on Wikimedia

1. Churchill’s Rufus

Winston Churchill had a deep affection for his poodle, Rufus, during some of the hardest years of his public life. The dog was part of Churchill’s private world at Chartwell and gave him something warm and familiar when the rest of life was war rooms, speeches, and news that went from bad to worse.

Yousuf Karsh on Wikimedia

2. Roosevelt’s Zoo

Theodore Roosevelt’s White House was crowded with animals, which felt about right for a president who loved the outdoors as much as he did. His family kept dogs, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, ponies, and a badger named Josiah, making 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue far less tidy than the official portraits suggest.

Adam Cuerden on Wikimedia

3. Kahlo’s Muses

Frida Kahlo kept animals all around Casa Azul in Mexico City, including monkeys, parrots, dogs, and a deer named Granizo. This private zoo wasn’t simply for comfort, as it’s clear Kahlo was inspired by them.  They showed up in her art, her home, and the private world she built while dealing with long stretches of pain.

Guillermo Kahlo on Wikimedia

4. Nightingale’s Owl

Florence Nightingale rescued a small owl in Greece and named her Athena. Nightingale kept the bird as a pet, and the story fits the part of her character that noticed vulnerable living things, even when she was traveling.

Hering on Wikimedia

5. Marie’s Dogs

Marie Antoinette’s pet stories have a bit of controversy to them, as does any story about the beheaded queen. What we can say is that her dogs were part of her life, and her fondness for them gives a softer look at a queen usually remembered through fashion, politics, and revolution.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun on Wikimedia

6. Lincoln’s Goats

Abraham Lincoln’s sons had goats named Nanny and Nanko at the White House. The animals wandered, caused trouble, and gave the family a little laughter during the Civil War era.

Frank Schulenburg on Wikimedia

7. Victoria’s Dash

Queen Victoria adored Dash, her King Charles spaniel, when she was still a young princess. He was close to her through her teenage years and early life as queen, and the care she showed him reveals a warmer, more personal side of a monarch who was later remembered as stern and formal.

John Jabez Edwin Mayall on Wikimedia

8. Dickens’ Raven

Charles Dickens kept a raven named Grip. The bird was noisy, clever, and difficult, and Dickens later used a raven in Barnaby Rudge. Grip’s afterlife also became tangled up with Edgar Allan Poe’s famous bird.

unattributed on Wikimedia

9. Josephine’s Fortune

Josephine Bonaparte’s pug Fortune is tied to one of the best-known pet stories from her marriage to Napoleon. It’s said that the pug was protective of Josephine, famously biting Napoleon in the leg on the couple’s wedding night. While this created a lasting feud between the tiny general and his wife’s pet, Fortune was well-loved by the Empress.

Baron François Gérard (1770 - 1837) – Painter (French) Born in Rome. Died in Paris. Details on Google Art Project on Wikimedia

10. Picasso’s Lump

Pablo Picasso grew attached to Lump, a dachshund connected to photographer David Douglas Duncan. Lump spent time with Picasso in France, appeared in the artist’s work, and brought a little scruffy household comedy into a very busy studio life.

AnonymousUnknown author on Wikimedia

11. Dickinson’s Carlo

Emily Dickinson’s Newfoundland, Carlo, was a major companion during her years in Amherst, Massachusetts. He joined her on walks through fields and woods, and his steady presence makes her secluded life feel a little less empty.

Unknown authorUnknown author on Wikimedia

12. Kennedy’s Pets

John F. Kennedy’s White House had a lively group of family pets, including dogs, ponies, birds, and more. Pushinka, a dog given by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, became one of the most memorable. It’s funny how, even through Cold War diplomacy, the family still somehow found room for a puppy.

Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston on Wikimedia

13. Twain’s Cats

Mark Twain loved cats throughout his life, consistently having around 19 at any given time. He gave his cats names like Apollinaris, Beelzebub, Blatherskite, and Sour Mash, proving that even the most serious of men could still have a bit of fun, especially when it came to pets.

Unknown authorUnknown author on Wikimedia

14. Alexander’s Horse

Alexander the Great’s horse Bucephalus has been tied to his legend for centuries. Alexander rode him through campaigns, and after the horse died, the city of Bucephala was named in his memory.

Kritzolina on Wikimedia

15. Byron’s Bear

Lord Byron kept a bear while he was a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, after rules blocked him from keeping a dog. It was a very Byron move: impractical, theatrical, and guaranteed to make administrators regret every loophole they’d left open.

Richard Westall on Wikimedia

16. Elvis’ Animals

Elvis Presley loved animals, and Graceland in Memphis became home to plenty of them over the years. Dogs, horses, birds, and other creatures moved through his private world, softening the image of a superstar whose life was on public display.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ6-2067 Location: NYWTS -- BIOG on Wikimedia

17. Baker’s Cheetah

Josephine Baker’s cheetah, Chiquita, became part of her public image in 1920s Paris. The animal wore a collar, appeared with Baker regularly, and added another startling detail to a career that was already seen as glamorous.

Rudolf Suroch on Wikimedia

18. FDR’s Fala

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Scottish terrier, Fala, became one of America’s best-known presidential pets. He traveled with Roosevelt, appeared in photos, and gave the public a more tender glimpse of a president leading the country through World War II.

Unknown or not provided on Wikimedia

19. Hemingway’s Cats

Ernest Hemingway’s Key West home is still known for its cats, many of them polydactyl, meaning they have extra toes. The story goes back to a white six-toed cat named Snow White, and today the cats remain one of the most memorable parts of the house’s legacy.

EH2723PMilan1918.jpg: Portrait by Ermeni Studios derivative work: Beao and Fallschirmjäger (talk) on Wikimedia

20. Dalí’s Babou

Salvador Dalí kept an ocelot named Babou during the 1960s. Babou appeared with Dalí in public and fit neatly into the artist’s carefully strange world of fame, performance, and surrealist spectacle.

Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964. on Wikimedia