CISRA Puzzle Competition 2012 - Hints

3A. Scintillant Sparkler

• These people share at least two things in common. The metaphorical Earth-ejector is much better known for that than for his dabbling in economics. Anagramming the letters is probably a lost cause unless you remove the word "the".
• Where on Earth (or not) would you find these people nowadays? "Damp" has more than one meaning. That Russian might have something to say at the end.
• Locate the people on the far side and the near side. Join the dots in order.