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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162 thinkers
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Philosophy
Philo of Alexandria
c. 20 BCE - c. 50 CE · Alexandria, Roman Egypt
Philo of Alexandria was a Jewish philosopher who lived in Egypt. He was born around 20 BCE and died around 50 CE. Alexandria, his home…
Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"The man who runs away from himself can never escape, for he carries himself wherever he goes."
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Philosophy
Plato
c. 428 BCE - c. 348 BCE · Athens, Greece
Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher. He is one of the most important thinkers in human history. The whole tradition of Western philosophy has been…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Creative expression Research skills +1
"The unexamined life is not worth living."
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Religion
Rabia of Basra
c. 717 CE - c. 801 CE · Basra, Iraq (Abbasid Caliphate)
Rabia of Basra was an early Sufi mystic and saint. Sufism is the mystical tradition within Islam. It emphasises the inner experience of God rather…
Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity +1
"O God, if I worship Thee for fear of hell, burn me in hell. If I worship Thee for hope…"
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Arts
Ravi Shankar
1920 - 2012 · India (later based in California)
Ravi Shankar was an Indian musician. He played the sitar, a long-necked string instrument from northern India. He is the most famous Indian classical musician…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence Research skills +1
"Our music is not entertainment. It is much more."
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Literature
Rumi
1207-1273 · Khorasan / Anatolia (Persian Sufi)
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273), known throughout the Islamic world as Mawlana (our master) and in the West by the short name Rumi, was a…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1
"Listen to this reed, how it complains, telling tales of separation."
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Education
Savitribai Phule
1831-1897 · India (Maharashtra)
Savitribai Phule (1831-1897) was an Indian teacher, poet, and social reformer who is widely recognised as the first female teacher of India and one of…
Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression Critical thinking +1
"Go, get education. Be self-reliant. Be industrious."
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Education
Scott Thornbury
born 1950 · New Zealand
Scott Thornbury is a teacher and writer who works in English language teaching. This field is often called ELT for short. He was born in…
Critical thinking Creative expression Problem solving Research skills +1
"Teaching unplugged means trusting the talk: the lesson grows out of what the learners say."
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Literature
Seamus Heaney
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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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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History
Sima Qian
c. 145 BCE - c. 86 BCE · Han China (modern Shaanxi province)
Sima Qian was a Chinese historian and writer. He lived from around 145 BCE to about 86 BCE, during the Western Han dynasty. He is…
Research skills Critical thinking Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity +1
"I have committed myself to writing the history of all that has happened from the time of the Yellow Emperor…"
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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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Arts
Sin Saimdang
1504-1551 · Korea (Joseon)
Sin Saimdang was a Korean artist, calligrapher, poet, and Confucian scholar of the mid-Joseon period. She is widely regarded as the most accomplished female artist…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking Research skills +1
"Talent alone will not make a good painting. One must first calm oneself, then carefully observe the object to be…"
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Literature
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
1648-1695 · New Spain (Mexico)
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) was a poet, dramatist, scholar, and nun of colonial New Spain, widely regarded as the finest writer of…
Critical thinking Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking +1
"I do not study in order to write, nor still less to teach, but only to see whether by studying…"
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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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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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Literature
T.S. Eliot
1888-1965 · United States / United Kingdom
T.S. Eliot was a poet and critic. His full name was Thomas Stearns Eliot. He is seen as one of the most important poets in…
Creative expression Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"April is the cruellest month."
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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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Literature
Tayeb Salih
1929-2009 · Sudan
Tayeb Salih (al-Tayyib Salih) was a Sudanese novelist, short-story writer, and journalist, widely considered one of the most important Arab writers of the twentieth century.…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking Ethical thinking +1
"I returned, ladies and gentlemen, after a long absence, seven years to be exact, during which I was studying in…"
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Religion
Teresa of Ávila
1515-1582 · Spain (Catholic, Discalced Carmelite)
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic, reformer, and writer whose works on contemplative prayer…
Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression +1
"Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to…"
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Education
The Buddha
c. 480 BCE - c. 400 BCE · South Asia (modern Nepal/India border)
The Buddha was a teacher who lived in northern India around 2,500 years ago. His personal name was Siddhartha Gautama. 'Buddha' is a title. It…
Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity +1
"All conditioned things are impermanent. Work out your own salvation with diligence."
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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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Economics
Thomas Piketty
born 1971 · France
Thomas Piketty is a French economist. He was born in 1971 near Paris. He studied mathematics and economics, and earned his doctorate at just 22…
Critical thinking Research skills Problem solving Ethical thinking +1
"The history of inequality is shaped by the way economic, social, and political actors view what is just and what…"
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Economics
Thorstein Veblen
1857-1929 · United States
Thorstein Veblen was an American economist and social thinker. He was born in 1857 in Wisconsin and died in 1929. His parents were immigrants from…
Critical thinking Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure."
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Technology & Engineering
Timnit Gebru
1982/1983 - present · Ethiopia (later United States)
Timnit Gebru is an Ethiopian-American computer scientist. She is one of the most important researchers in the field of AI ethics. Her work has shown…
Scientific thinking Ethical thinking Critical thinking Research skills +1
"We can't take care of all of the problems with our technology by hoping for the best."
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