Last week, Edward Snowden took flight, leaving a trail of strained diplomatic relations in his wake. After taking refuge in Hong Kong, he wanted to fly to Iceland, then reportedly set course instead for Ecuador and got stuck in Russia along the way. Swapping citizenship isn’t always so frenzied, but it has a rich history among athletes, academics, performers, and activists. Passports can be traded for reasons political (escaping censorship) or pecuniary (escaping taxes). Borders can be jumped as a sign of protest or just to facilitate divorce. Here, we present an international map of shifting nationalities.
- 1965
- Yul Brynner
- actor
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Swiss
- Summary
- The Russian-born Brenner claimed that work and family complications made him drop his U.S. passport. He also had to escape the massive debts he incurred after unwittingly abusing a tax exemption.
- 1966
- Maria Callas
- opera singer
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Greek
- Summary
- By abandoning her U.S. passport, Callas invalidated her unhappy marriage to a Catholic Italian businessman, which was technically illegal under Greek law.
- 1967
- Svetlana Alliluyeva
- famous progeny
- Country Fled
- The Soviet Union
- Country Received
- The United States
- Summary
- Josef Stalin's daughter defected to the United States, then returned to the ussr in 1984, claiming that she had not been free "one single day" in the United States. She repatriated again two years later.
- 1974
- Jane Jacobs
- Urban Theorist
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Canadian
- Summary
- Burned out from battling the city of New York and concerned for her sons during Vietnam, Jacobs took Canadian citizenship in her adopted hometown of Toronto.
- 1978
- Roman Polanski
- Director
- Country Fled
- The United States
- country received
- France
- Summary
- Convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, Polanski skipped town and reestablished himself in France, where he has lived ever since.
- 1978
- Queen Noor of Jordan
- royal
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Jordanian
- Summary
- The former Lisa Najeeb Halaby gave up her American citizenship when she married King Hussein of Jordan.
- 2005
- Bobby Fischer
- Chess Grandmaster
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Icelandic
- Summary
- After violating U.S. sanctions by competing in Yugoslavia, Fischer lived as a fugitive in Europe and Asia. He eventually accepted an offer of asylum in Iceland, where he lived until his death in 2008.
- 2006
- Terry Gilliam
- Urban Theorist
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- British
- Summary
- The Monty Python member held dual citizenship for 38 years before handing in his U.S. passport in protest of President George W. Bush's policies.
- 2009
- Jaycee Chan
- Actor, Singer
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Chinese
- Summary
- The son of movie star Jackie Chan, he reportedly renounced his American citizenship in a bid to appeal to audiences in China.
- 2012
- Kal-El
- Superman
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Kryptonian
- Summary
- Better known as Superman, Kal-El gave up his American citizenship in Action Comics #900, claiming that he no longer wanted to be viewed as an instrument of U.S. power.
- 2012
- Donald Keene
- Former Professor
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Japanese
- Summary
- After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the 91-year-old Columbia academic announced that he would seek Japanese citizenship as a gesture of solidarity.
- 2012
- Eduardo Saverin
- Businessman
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Singaporean
- Summary
- The Facebook co-founder decamped to Singapore in search of favorable tax rates, leading Senator Chuck Schumer to introduce a bill forbidding him from reentering the United States.
- 2013
- Tina Turner
- Singer
- Citizenship Renounced
- American
- Citizenship Gained
- Swiss
- Summary
- The singer lived on the shore of Lake Zurich for almost 20 years before passing a citizenship test this year.
- Gérard Depardieu, Johnny Hallyday, Alain Delon
- Fed-Up Frenchies
- Summary
- As the French government raises taxes on the wealthy, the birthplace of cinema has recently seen the emigration of such luminaries as Gérard Depardieu, the portly virtuoso who may as well be the face of French film. As if that weren't enough, famed beauty Brigitte Bardot has also said she might take up Russian citizenship to protest the treatment of animals in France.
- Yoenis Céspedes, José Contreras, Yasiel Puig, and more
- Cuban Baseball Players
- Summary
- Many of Cuba's finest athletes have been barred by the Castro regime from competing at the highest level in professional sports leagues. In order to play for the princely contracts offered by franchises like the Red Sox and the Yankees, Cuban baseball players like Yoenis Céspedes, José Contreras, and Yasiel Puig have resorted to defection, either by packing onto crowded sailboats or else slipping away during team appearances abroad.
- George Balanchine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev
- Soviet Ballet Bancers
- Summary
- Ballet, like other arts, was subject to harsh censorship in the Soviet Union. Unlike their counterparts in other fields, however, dancers were often expected to tour the West as an expression of Soviet cultural mastery. Carefully choreographed junkets to Europe and North America provided Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, perhaps the two most sensational male dancers of the last century, with opportunities to defect.
