Zefram Cochrane

Doctor Zefram Levar Cochrane was born on February 9 in 2032 in St. Paul, Minnesota. His mother was Lisa Cochrane (novel Starfleet Academy). Cochrane was a Human scientist who, during April 2063, became the most famous Human alive after his warp drive tests aboard the Phoenix were successful, and he made first contact with the Vulcans. It was known that Cochrane was actually researching into something else and stumbled on the concept of the warp drive. (TOS novel: ''First Frontier)

The installation he worked on was attacked by a vessel of the Borg Collective which had travelled back in time to prevent first contact with the Vulcans. Their attempt failed due to the actions of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise who both aided Cochrane in building the warp vessel and defeating the Borg. This gave Cochrane some knowledge of what threats were present in space. (TNG movie: First Contact)

Though he kept his knowledge of the future a secret, on one occassion during a speech he did attempt to warn people about the Borg threat. He was dismissed as being intoxicated once again and the incident was forgotton after he retracted the statement. (ENT episode: "Regeneration")

Cochrane later married Monica Burke, granddaughter of John Burke. (TNG novel: Federation)

In 2267, Cochrane married the cloud-creature he called The Companion after it merged with Nancy Hedford, but the two died together in May 2366 after a rescue by the USS Enterprise-D from Adrik Thorsen resulted in the two being in a wormhole, too far away from Gamma Caneris IV, from where The Companion drew her energy. (TOS episode: "Metamorphosis"; TNG novel: Federation)

Legacy
Cochrane's legacy lived on long after his death. Many buildings and statues are raised in his honor. On Starfleet Academy's grounds a huge statue of him stands pointing to the sky, very like many other statues of him previously had. (NF novel: Stone and Anvil, ENT episode: Broken Bow, Parts I and II and TNG film: Star Trek: First Contact)

Quotes

 * "Don't try to be a great man, just be a man and let history make its own judgments."