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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152 thinkers
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Era: Modern × Page 6 of 7
Business & Management
Sigmund Freud
1856–1939 · Austria / Czech Republic
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis — one of the most influential and contested intellectual movements of the 20th…
Critical thinking Metacognition Resilience Critical literacy
"The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind."
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Sociology
Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui
1949-present · Bolivia
Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui is a Bolivian sociologist, historian, and activist of Aymara heritage. She is one of the most important thinkers on colonialism and Indigenous…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"There can be no discourse of decolonisation, no theory of decolonisation, without a decolonising practice."
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Religion
Simon Kimbangu
1887-1951 · Democratic Republic of the Congo
Simon Kimbangu was a Congolese religious leader and the founder of Kimbanguism, one of the largest African-initiated churches in the world. He was born on…
Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking Emotional intelligence +1
"It is now time for me to turn myself in to the authorities; let impatient men prone to anger be…"
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Philosophy
Simone Weil
1909-1943 · France
Simone Weil (1909-1943) was a French philosopher, political activist, and mystic. She was born in Paris into a secular Jewish family of considerable intellectual distinction…
Ethical thinking Metacognition Self regulation Learning how to learn +1
"Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity."
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Philosophy
Simone de Beauvoir
1908-1986 · France, Western Europe
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a French philosopher, novelist, and feminist thinker. She was born in Paris and studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, where she…
Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking Relationships and communication +1
"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."
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Politics
Simón Bolívar
1783-1830 · Venezuela
Simón Bolívar was a military leader and political thinker who led much of South America to independence from Spain. In Latin America he is known…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"A people that loves freedom will in the end be free."
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Mathematics
Srinivasa Ramanujan
1887-1920 · India (British Raj)
Srinivasa Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician born in 1887 in Erode, a small town in Tamil Nadu. His family was poor but educated. His father…
Scientific thinking Critical thinking Problem solving Creative expression +1
"An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God."
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Politics
Steve Biko
1946-1977 · South Africa
Steve Biko (1946-1977) was a South African activist and philosopher. He was born in King William's Town in the Eastern Cape, and grew up under…
Citizenship Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Self regulation +1
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
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Sociology
Stuart Hall
1932-2014 · Jamaica / United Kingdom
Stuart McPhail Hall was a Jamaican-born British sociologist and cultural theorist. He is one of the founding figures of cultural studies. He was born on…
Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression Ethical thinking +1
"Identity is not as transparent or unproblematic as we think."
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Philosophy
Søren Kierkegaard
1813-1855 · Denmark, Northern Europe
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a Danish philosopher, writer, and theologian. He was born in Copenhagen, the youngest of seven children, and spent almost his entire…
Ethical thinking Metacognition Self regulation Learning how to learn +1
"The most common form of despair is not being who you are."
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Technology & Engineering
Taiichi Ohno
1912-1990 · Japan
Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer whose work at the Toyota Motor Company produced the Toyota Production System, a way of organising manufacturing…
Problem solving Critical thinking Scientific thinking Research skills +1
"Having no problems is the biggest problem of all."
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Religion
Thich Nhat Hanh
1926 - 2022 · Vietnam (long exile in France)
Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, poet, and peace activist. He is one of the most important Buddhist teachers of the modern…
Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments."
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Philosophy
Thomas Kuhn
1922-1996 · United States
Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996) was an American philosopher and historian of science. He studied physics at Harvard University and then became interested in the history of…
Scientific thinking Research skills Critical thinking Metacognition +1
"Normal science does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none."
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Law
Thurgood Marshall
1908-1993 · United States
Thurgood Marshall was an American civil rights lawyer and the first Black Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He spent his life using the…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Research skills Problem solving +1
"In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute."
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Literature
Toni Morrison
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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History
Toussaint Louverture
c. 1743-1803 · Haiti (Saint-Domingue)
Toussaint Louverture was the main leader of the Haitian Revolution. This was the only successful slave revolt in modern history. It turned a French slave…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"In overthrowing me, you have cut down in Saint-Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty. It will spring…"
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Medicine & Health
Tu Youyou
1930-present · China
Tu Youyou is a Chinese medical scientist. In 2015 she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering artemisinin, a malaria drug that…
Scientific thinking Problem solving Research skills Cultural heritage and identity +1
"A bunch of qinghao; soak in two sheng of water; wring out the juice and drink it all."
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Philosophy
Umberto Eco
1932-2016 · Italy, Southern Europe
Umberto Eco (1932-2016) was an Italian philosopher, semiotician, literary theorist, and novelist. He was born in Alessandria in northern Italy and studied philosophy at the…
Critical literacy Media literacy Storytelling and narrative Critical thinking +1
"A book is a fragile creature, it suffers the wear of time, it fears rodents, the elements and clumsy hands.…"
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Anthropology & Culture
Umm Kulthum
c. 1898 - 1975 · Egypt
Umm Kulthum was an Egyptian singer. She was probably the most famous Arab cultural figure of the 20th century. She was born around 1898 in…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence Critical thinking +1
"Sing a beautiful song with a strong meaning, and the people will love you."
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Literature
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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Philosophy
V. Y. Mudimbe
1941-2025 · Democratic Republic of the Congo (later United States)
Valentin-Yves Mudimbe was a Congolese philosopher, novelist, and linguist. He was one of the most important African thinkers of the late 20th century. He was…
Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills Ethical thinking +1
"There exists an African way of interpreting the world which presents the universe as a totality."
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Literature
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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Literature
Virginia Woolf
1882-1941 · England
Virginia Woolf was an English novelist, essayist, and literary critic. She is one of the most important writers of the 20th century. She was born…
Creative expression Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
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Politics
Vladimir Lenin
1870-1924 · Russian Empire / Soviet Union
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian revolutionary and political theorist. He led the October Revolution of 1917 and founded the Soviet Union, the world's first…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving +1
"Peace, Land, Bread."
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