List of Famous people who born in 1940

Jean Clair is the nom de plume of Gérard Régnier. Clair is an essayist, a polemicist, an art historian, an art conservator, and a member of the Académie française since May, 2008. He was, for many years, the director of the Picasso Museum in Paris. Among the milestones of his long and productive career is a comprehensive catalog of the works of Balthus. He was also the director of the Venice Biennale in 1995.

Miguel Ángel Virasoro is an Argentine physicist. The Shapiro–Virasoro model, the Virasoro algebra, the Virasoro constraint, and the Virasoro minimal model are named after him.

Sönmez Köksal is a career Turkish civil servant. He served in a variety of positions largely in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in international organisations representing Turkey, and was Turkey's Ambassador to Iraq (1986–1990). He was head of the National Intelligence Organization from 1992 to 1998, and subsequently Turkey's Ambassador to France (1998–2002). Köksal was the first civilian head of the MIT, breaking the tradition of appointing generals.

Isabel Ruth is a Portuguese actress. She has appeared in more than 50 films since 1963. She starred in River of Gold, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

Aleksandr Anatolyevich Proshkin is a Russian film director and screenwriter. He has directed fourteen films since 1975. His 2009 film The Miracle was entered into the 31st Moscow International Film Festival.

Tsai Chen-nan is a Taiwanese businessman and philanthropist.

Lei Feng was a soldier in the People's Liberation Army who was the object of several major propaganda campaigns in China. The most well known of these campaigns in 1963 promoted the slogan, "Follow the examples of Comrade Lei Feng." Lei was portrayed as a model citizen, and the masses were encouraged to emulate his selflessness, modesty, and devotion to Mao. After Mao's death, state media continued to promote Lei Feng as a model of earnestness and service, and his image still appears in popular forms such as on T-shirts and memorabilia.

Patriarch Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rahi is the 77th Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Maronite Church, a position he has held since 15 March 2011, succeeding Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. Rahi was made a cardinal on 24 November 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Francesco Guccini is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important cantautori. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live albums. He is also a writer, having published autobiographic and noir novels, and a comics writer. Guccini also worked as actor, soundtrack composer, lexicographer and dialectologist.

Germano Celant was an Italian art historian, critic and curator who coined the term "Arte Povera" in 1967 and wrote many articles and books on the subject.