Great Thinkers

Meet the great minds whose ideas have shaped the world — philosophers, scientists, artists, leaders, and revolutionaries whose thinking still matters today.

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Subject: Literature × Era: Contemporary ×

1913-2008 · Martinique, Caribbean

Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was a poet, playwright, and political thinker from Martinique, an island in the Caribbean that was, and still is, a French territory.…

Cultural heritage and identity Critical literacy Citizenship Ethical thinking +1

"A civilisation that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilisation."

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1913-1960 · Algeria / France

Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a French-Algerian novelist, playwright, and philosopher. He was born in Mondovi in French colonial Algeria into a poor working-class family: his…

Ethical thinking Critical thinking Resilience Storytelling and narrative +1

"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide."

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1934-1992 · United States

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an American poet, essayist, teacher, and political activist whose work insisted on the interconnection of race, gender, sexuality, and class in…

Creative expression Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1

"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives."

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1930-2013 · Nigeria, West Africa

Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, critic, and professor. He was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe in Ogidi, in southeastern Nigeria, into an Igbo…

Storytelling and narrative Critical literacy Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking +1

"Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter."

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Christopher Hitchens

1949 - 2011 · United Kingdom (later United States)

Christopher Hitchens was a British-American journalist, essayist, and writer. He was one of the most famous public intellectuals of the late 20th and early 21st…

Creative expression Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills +1

"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."

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1935-2003 · Palestine / United States

Edward Wadie Said was a Palestinian-American literary critic, public intellectual, and music critic. He was one of the founders of postcolonial studies. He was born…

Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking Research skills +1

"The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories…"

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1903-1950 · England

George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, an English writer, journalist, and essayist. He is one of the most quoted writers of…

Critical thinking Ethical thinking Creative expression Research skills +1

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

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1970-present · South Korea

Han Kang is a South Korean writer. In 2024 she became the first Asian woman, and the first Korean writer of any gender, to win…

Creative expression Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1

"I have dreams sometimes. Dreams I cannot bear."

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1924-1987 · United States

James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, and activist. He was born in Harlem, New York, the eldest of nine children. His mother's…

Critical literacy Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Storytelling and narrative +1

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

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1928-2014 · United States

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was an American poet, memoirist, essayist, and public figure whose seven-volume autobiography and body of poetry made her one of the most…

Creative expression Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget…"

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Oodgeroo Noonuccal

1920 - 1993 · Australia (Noonuccal people, Stradbroke Island/Minjerribah)

Oodgeroo Noonuccal was an Aboriginal Australian poet, activist, teacher, and artist. She was the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of poetry. Her work…

Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1

"We are nature and the past, all the old ways gone now and scattered."

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1909-2005 · United States (born Austria)

Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909-2005) was an Austrian-American writer and teacher whose books and articles over seven decades shaped the practice of management and helped establish…

Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Creative expression +1

"The purpose of a business is to create a customer."

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1939-2013 · Northern Ireland / Ireland

Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest English-language…

Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence Ethical thinking +1

"Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; snug as a gun."

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1931-2019 · United States

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was an American novelist, essayist, editor, and professor. She was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain, Ohio, into a Black working-class family…

Storytelling and narrative Critical literacy Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking +1

"If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else."

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Ursula K. Le Guin

1929-2018 · United States

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an American novelist, essayist, and poet. She is one of the most important writers of science fiction and fantasy in…

Creative expression Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1

"We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be…"

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Vine Deloria Jr.

1933 - 2005 · United States (Standing Rock Sioux)

Vine Deloria Jr. was a Native American scholar, writer, and activist. He was the most influential Native American intellectual of the 20th century. His books…

Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1

"We are the only humans who became Indians."

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