Leela Samson (born 1951) is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, instructor and writer. As a soloist she is known for her technical virtuosity and has taught Bharatanatyam at Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra in Delhi for many years; presently she is the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (1 April 2011); director of Kalakshetra (April 2005); and chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (2010– ).

Among the many honours conferred on her, Samson was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the President of India in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the art of Bharata Natyam as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Bharatanatyam (1999–2000), given by Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Leela was born in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. She is the daughter of Vice-Admiral (Ret) Benjamin Abraham Samson, from the Jewish Bene-Israelite community of India, and Laila, a Roman Catholic Indian . After doing her B.A., she learnt Bharatanatyam at the Kalakshetra under the founder Rukmini Devi Arundale.

Samson, Shimshon (Hebrew: שמשון, Modern Shimshon Tiberian Šimšôn, meaning "man of the sun"); Shamshoun (Arabic: شمشون‎) or Sampson (Greek: Σαμψών) is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) (Book of Judges chapters 13 to 16).

Samson was granted supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies and perform heroic feats such as wrestling a lion, slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of an ass, and destroying a pagan temple. Samson is believed to have been buried in Tel Tzora in Israel overlooking the Sorek valley. There reside two large gravestones of Samson and his father Manoah. Nearby stands Manoah’s altar (Judges 13:19-24). It is located between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson's activity takes place during a time when God was punishing the Israelites, by giving them "into the hand of the Philistines". The Angel of the Lord appears to Manoah, an Israelite from the tribe of Dan, in the city of Zorah, and to his wife, who had been unable to conceive. The Angel of the Lord proclaims that the couple will soon have a son who will begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. The wife believed the Angel of the Lord, but her husband wasn't present, at first, and wanted the heavenly messenger to return, asking that he himself could also receive instruction about the child that was going to be born.