List of Famous people born on August 17th

Adriaan Daniël Fokker was a Dutch physicist and musician. He was the inventor of the Fokker organ, a 31-tone equal-tempered (31-TET) organ.

Don McKellar is a Canadian actor, writer, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave.

Jüri Luik is an Estonian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Defence in the government of Prime Minister Jüri Ratas. In addition, he chaired the EPP Defense Ministers Meeting, which gathers the center-right EPP ministers ahead of meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, sometimes spelled Wilfred, was an English poet and writer. He and his wife, Lady Anne Blunt travelled in the Middle East and were instrumental in preserving the Arabian horse bloodlines through their farm, the Crabbet Arabian Stud. He was best known for his poetry, which was published in a collected edition in 1914, but also wrote a number of political essays and polemics. Blunt is also known for his views against imperialism, viewed as relatively enlightened for his time.

Count Zygmunt Mycielski was a Polish composer and music critic. He was born in Przeworsk and completed his childhood education in Kraków, where he was taught by Bernardino Rizzi. In 1928, Mycielski moved to Paris, where he studied composition at École Normale de Musique with Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger. While there, he served as president of the Association of Young Polish Musicians in Paris from 1934 to 1936. In 1936, he moved back to Poland and began his music and writing career.

Valery Yakovlevich Levental was a Russian theatrical scenic designer. He was named People's Artist of the USSR and was a member-correspondent of the Academy of Art.