List of Famous people with last name Desmond

Viola Irene Desmond was a Canadian civil rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946 she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat she had paid for and the seat she used, which was more expensive. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.

Ian Morgan Desmond is an American professional baseball infielder and outfielder for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers. Desmond is a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a two-time MLB All-Star. While primarily a shortstop early in his career, Desmond began playing primarily left field, center field, and first base starting in 2016.

Richard Clive Desmond is a British publisher, businessman and former pornographer. He is the founder of Northern & Shell, which primarily operates in the businesses of property development, The Health Lottery and start-up ventures, but previously published a variety of pornographic titles and of celebrity magazines ; and owned Britain's Channel 5 and the pornographic television network, Portland, which it sold in April 2016 for less than £1m. Desmond is also a former owner of Express Newspapers, which was sold to Reach plc for £200m, of which £74m was invested in the Express newspapers pension scheme until 2027. According to the 2020 Sunday Times Rich List, Desmond was the 70th richest person in the United Kingdom with a £2 billion fortune. In 2020, Desmond was involved in controversy after pressuring the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick to overrule the Planning Inspectorate and approve a housing development for Desmond's company. The timing of the decision saved the company £40 million but was later overturned.

Dermot Desmond is an Irish businessman and financier. He is estimated to be worth €2.04 billion and is ranked by the Sunday Independent as the ninth-richest person in Ireland.

Barry Seán Desmond is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as a Member of the European Court of Auditors from 1994 to 2000, Minister for Health from 1982 to 1987, Minister for Social Welfare from 1982 to 1986 and Minister of State for Economic Planning from 1981 to 1982. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin constituency from 1989 to 1994 and a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1989.