MOSCOW, February 05. /ITAR-TASS/. Canadian writer Alice Munro who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in literature, has been named the world's number one cultural figure in an opinion pool involving 175 news agencies and media outlets.

Munro, 82, who is often called "Canadian Chekhov" and "a master of the contemporary story", netted 132 of 175 votes. Top ratings were also awarded to the Mariinsky Theatre's artistic director Valery Gergiev and 16-year-old Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai.