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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Literature
James Joyce
1882-1941 · Ireland
James Joyce was an Irish writer. He is seen as one of the most important novelists of the twentieth century. He was born in 1882…
Creative expression Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"Joyce once said that if Dublin were destroyed, it could be rebuilt from the pages of his books."
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Sociology
Jane Addams
1860-1935 · United States
Jane Addams was an American sociologist, social reformer, and peace activist. She is one of the founders of American sociology, though she was left out…
Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Critical thinking Research skills +1
"The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated…"
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Philosophy
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1712-1778 · Geneva (now Switzerland) and France
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher and writer. He is one of the most important thinkers of the European Enlightenment. He was born on 28 June…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity +1
"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."
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Economics
Jeffrey Sachs
born 1954 · United States
Jeffrey Sachs is an American economist. He was born in 1954 in Detroit, in the United States. He studied economics at Harvard University, where he…
Problem solving Ethical thinking Critical thinking Research skills +1
"Extreme poverty can be ended, not in the time of our grandchildren, but in our own time."
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Philosophy
Judith Butler
1956-present · United States
Judith Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist. They are one of the most influential thinkers in the humanities in recent decades. They were…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"Gender is an identity tenuously constituted in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts."
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Politics
Judith Heumann
1947-2023 · United States
Judith Heumann was an American disability rights activist. She is often called 'the mother of the disability rights movement'. She was born on 18 December…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was…"
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Religion
Julian of Norwich
c. 1342-after 1416 · England
Julian of Norwich was an English Christian mystic and theologian. She is thought to be the first woman to have written a book in English…
Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Creative expression Emotional intelligence +1
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."
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Religion
Khadija bint Khuwaylid
c. 555-619 · Arabia (Mecca)
Khadija bint Khuwaylid was a successful Arabian merchant in 6th- and 7th-century Mecca. She is honoured in Islamic tradition as the first Muslim and as…
Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Problem solving Emotional intelligence +1
"By God, God will never humiliate you. You maintain family ties, you help to carry the burdens of the weak,…"
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Law
Kimberlé Crenshaw
1959-present · United States
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is an American legal scholar and civil rights lawyer. She is one of the most influential thinkers on race, gender, and the…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Research skills +1
"The intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism."
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Religion
Kimpa Vita
c. 1684-1706 · Kingdom of Kongo (Angola / Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita was a Kongolese Christian prophetess and political leader. She founded the Antonian movement, which imagined Christianity in Kongolese terms. She was…
Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking Creative expression +1
"Jesus was born in São Salvador, which is Bethlehem, and he was baptised in Nsundi, which is Nazareth."
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Literature
Laozi
c. 6th century BCE (traditional) / 4th century BCE (modern view) · China
Laozi is the name given to the author of the Daodejing, one of the most important books in Chinese thought. The name means 'Old Master'.…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"The Dao that can be spoken of is not the true Dao. The name that can be named is not…"
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Literature
Lesya Ukrainka
1871-1913 · Ukraine (Russian Empire)
Lesya Ukrainka was a Ukrainian poet, dramatist, essayist, and political activist. She is widely regarded as the greatest Ukrainian woman writer and one of the…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Critical thinking +1
"Without hope, I will hope."
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Philosophy
Ludwig Wittgenstein
1889-1951 · Austria-Hungary / United Kingdom
Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian-British philosopher. Many consider him the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century. He was born on 26 April 1889 in Vienna,…
Critical thinking Creative expression Research skills Ethical thinking +1
"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."
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Arts
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770 - 1827 · Germany / Austria
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was born in 1770 in Bonn, in what is now Germany. He is one of…
Creative expression Emotional intelligence Problem solving Cultural heritage and identity +1
"Music can change the world."
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Education
Malala Yousafzai
1997-present · Pakistan
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist. She is the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was born on 12 July…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world."
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Philosophy
Martha Nussbaum
1947-present · United States
Martha Craven Nussbaum is an American philosopher. She is one of the most influential and widely read philosophers of the past fifty years. She was…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The best approach to the question of social justice is the capabilities approach: what are people actually able to do…"
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Literature
Matsuo Bashō
1644-1694 · Japan
Matsuo Bashō was a Japanese poet of the Edo period, widely regarded as the greatest master of haiku and one of the foundational figures in…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence Ethical thinking +1
"An old pond— / a frog jumps in: / the sound of water."
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Philosophy
Mencius
c. 371-289 BCE · China
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher. His Chinese name was Meng Ke, which means 'Master Meng'. Later Chinese tradition called him the 'Second Sage', meaning second…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"The feeling of pity is the beginning of kindness. The feeling of shame is the beginning of doing right. The…"
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Literature
Mia Couto
1955-present · Mozambique
Mia Couto is a Mozambican novelist, poet, and biologist, the most internationally recognised living Mozambican writer. He was born António Emílio Leite Couto in 1955…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Ethical thinking Critical thinking +1
"I am not the writer of the country. I am the country writing itself through me."
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Literature
Michel de Montaigne
1533-1592 · France
Michel de Montaigne was a French nobleman and writer who invented the modern essay. He was born in 1533 at the Château de Montaigne in…
Critical thinking Ethical thinking Creative expression Emotional intelligence +1
"What do I know?"
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Literature
Mirabai
c. 1498-c. 1547 · India (Rajasthan)
Mirabai was a sixteenth-century Indian poet and saint. She is one of the most loved figures in the bhakti movement, a Hindu devotional tradition that…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"Mira's lord is the clever Mountain Lifter; she is his slave forever, at the dust of his lotus feet."
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Literature
Murasaki Shikibu
c. 973-c. 1014 · Japan
Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese writer and lady of the imperial court. She is the author of The Tale of Genji, often called the world's…
Creative expression Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence Critical thinking +1
"At the court of an emperor (he lived it matters not when), there was among the many gentlewomen of the…"
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Law
Nelson Mandela
1918-2013 · South Africa
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African lawyer, freedom fighter, and statesman. He led the long struggle to end apartheid, the racist system that ruled…
Ethical thinking Critical thinking Cultural heritage and identity Emotional intelligence +1
"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and…"
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Arts
Nina Simone
1933 - 2003 · United States (African American, exiled in Europe in later life)
Nina Simone was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. Her real name was Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was born in 1933 in the small town…
Creative expression Ethical thinking Emotional intelligence Cultural heritage and identity +1
"An artist's duty is to reflect the times."
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