The Most Influential People Across History
Find the most influential people in 24 academic disciplines and numerous subdisciplines
Find famous and important people related to your research. This is an excellent tool for research papers, topic papers, and building a bibliography. Using our influence-based algorithm, our rankings synthesize data from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.
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List of the most influential people in Theology,
#4551
Johan Henrik Thomander
1798 - 1865 (67 years)
Johan Henrik Thomander was a Swedish professor, bishop, translator and author. He received his doctorate in theology in 1836 and was elected to the eighteenth chair of the Swedish Academy in 1856. After his father's death, Thomander's daughters bequeathed a house on Sandgatan in Lund to Lund University to be used as a student residence. The dormitory still exists today and is called .
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Hermann Olshausen
1796 - 1839 (43 years)
Hermann Olshausen was a German theologian. Biography Olshausen was born at Oldeslohe in Holstein. He was educated at the universities of Kiel and Berlin , where he was influenced by Schleiermacher and Neander. In 1817 he was awarded the prize at the Festival of the Reformation for an essay, Melanchthons Charakteristik aus seinen Briefen dargestellt . This essay brought him to the notice of the Prussian Minister of Public Worship, and in 1820 he became Privatdozent at Berlin. In 1821, he became professor extraordinarius at the University of Königsberg, and in 1827 professor. In 1834, he becam...
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Antonio Barberini
1607 - 1671 (64 years)
Antonio Barberini was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII and a supporter of France, he played a significant role at a number of the papal conclaves of the 17th century. With his brothers Cardinal Francesco Barberini and Taddeo Barberini he helped to shape politics, religion, art and music of 17th century Italy. He is sometimes referred to as Antonio the Younger or Antonio Barberini iuniore to distinguish him from his uncle Antonio Marcello Ba...
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Willem Visser 't Hooft
1900 - 1985 (85 years)
Willem Adolph Visser 't Hooft was a Dutch theologian who became the first secretary general of the World Council of Churches in 1948 and held this position until his retirement in 1966. Biography Visser 't Hooft was born in Haarlem, in the Netherlands and in his early adult years, was involved in the Dutch student Christian movement and soon became involved internationally. In 1925, while on his first trip to the United States with John R. Mott, he became interested in the "social gospel" movement.
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Henry Bristow Wilson
1803 - 1888 (85 years)
Henry Bristow Wilson was a theologian and a fellow of St John's College, Oxford. Life Born on 10 June 1803, he was elder son of Harry Bristow Wilson, by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of John Moore. He entered Merchant Taylors' School in October 1809, and was elected to St John's College, Oxford, in 1821. Matriculating on 25 June 1821, he graduated B.A. in 1825, M.A. in 1829, and B.D. in 1834, and received a fellowship in 1825, which he retained until 1850. In 1831 he was appointed dean of arts, and he acted as tutor from 1833 to 1835. He was Rawlinsonian Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from 1839 to 1844.
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Giovanni Battista Scaramelli
1687 - 1752 (65 years)
Giovanni Battista Scaramelli was an Italian Jesuit, ethicist, and ascetical writer. Biography He was born at Rome and died at Macerata in 1752. He entered the Society of Jesus on 21 September 1706. He devoted himself to preaching and the ministry for fifteen years.
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Joachim Bouvet
1656 - 1732 (76 years)
Joachim Bouvet was a French Jesuit who worked in China, and the leading member of the Figurist movement. China Bouvet was born in Le Mans, France; he entered the Society of Jesus in 1673. He went to China in 1687, as one of six Jesuits, the first group of French missionaries to China, sent by Louis XIV of France, under Superior Jean de Fontaney.
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Adam Neuser
1530 - 1576 (46 years)
Adam Neuser was a Protestant pastor of Heidelberg who held Antitrinitarian views. Neuser was born in Gunzenhausen and was a popular pastor and theologian in Heidelberg in the 1560s, serving at the Peterskirche and later the Heiliggeistkirche. During the controversy over church discipline that developed in the late 1560s, Neuser became a leading member of the Antidisciplinist, and thus anti-Calvinist, faction led by Thomas Erastus. His disaffection with the ecclesiastical regime perhaps played some role in his doubts concerning orthodox Christian dogma. He wrote letters sternly attacking the doctrine of the trinity.
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Jakob Merten
1809 - 1872 (63 years)
Jakob Merten was a German Catholic theologian born in Wittlich. He studied theology in Trier, where in 1833 he received his ordination. Subsequently, he became a chaplain in Trier, where he worked closely with Franz Peter Knoodt . From 1843 to 1868 he was a professor of philosophy at the Episcopal Seminary in Trier.
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Marian Dobmayer
1753 - 1805 (52 years)
Marian Dobmayer was a German Benedictine theologian. Life He first entered the Society of Jesus, and after its suppression in 1773 joined the Benedictines in the monastery of Weissenohe, Diocese of Bamberg. There he was professed in 1775, and in 1778 ordained priest.
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Johann Michael Feder
1753 - 1824 (71 years)
Johann Michael Feder was a German Roman Catholic theologian. Life He studied in the episcopal seminary of Würzburg from 1772–1777; in the latter year he was ordained priest and promoted to the licentiate in theology. For several years Feder was chaplain of the Julius hospital; in 1785 he was appointed extraordinary professor of theology and Oriental languages at the University of Würzburg. He was created a Doctor of Divinity in 1786; director of the university library 1791, ordinary professor of theology and censor of theological publications, 1795.
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Anton Berlage
1805 - 1881 (76 years)
Anton Berlage was a German Catholic dogmatic theologian. Life He studied philosophy and theology in the same city, after completing his course at the Gymnasium, and proceeded to the University of Bonn in 1826. Esser, at Münster, and especially Georg Hermes, at Bonn, led him to speculations in theology. Later at Tübingen, during 1829 and 1830, under Drey, J. B. Hirscher, and Johann Adam Möhler, who influenced him by their historic method.
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John James McCook
1843 - 1927 (84 years)
John James McCook, Jr. was a chaplain in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and postbellum lawyer, professor, and theologian. He was a member of the Fighting McCooks, a family of Ohioans who contributed 15 members to the Union army.
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Franz Michael Permaneder
1794 - 1862 (68 years)
Franz Michael Permaneder was a German canon lawyer. He studied theology and jurisprudence at Landshut and in 1818 was ordained to the priesthood at Regensburg. He was appointed in 1834 professor of church history and canon law at the "Lyceum" of Freising, and in 1847 joined the theological faculty of the University of Munich.
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Percy Dearmer
1867 - 1936 (69 years)
Percival Dearmer was an English Anglican priest and liturgist best known as the author of The Parson's Handbook, a liturgical manual for Anglican clergy, and as editor of The English Hymnal. A lifelong socialist, he was an early advocate of the public ministry of women and concerned with social justice. Dearmer, with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw, is credited with the revival and spread of traditional and medieval English musical forms. His ideas on patterns of worship have been linked to the Arts and Crafts Movement, while The English Hymnal reflects the influence both of artistic and folkloric scholarship and Christian Socialism.
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Josef Hilgers
1858 - 1918 (60 years)
Josef Hilgers was a German Jesuit who wrote on theological and ascetical matters. He wrote two books on papal censorship of books and another on the nature of indulgences. Life Josef Hilgers was born in Kückhoven on 9 September 1858. From 1885 to 1894 he taught in the city of Ordrupshoj, Denmark. Later he worked in Rome, Luxembourg, Valkenburg and finally in the Bonifatiushaus, in Emmerich, where he died 25 January 1918.
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Abraham Ruchat
1680 - 1750 (70 years)
Abraham Ruchat was a Swiss Protestant theologian and historian. He studied theology at the Academy of Lausanne, receiving his ordination in 1702. Later on, he served as a minister in the communities of Aubonne and Rolle . In 1721 he was appointed professor of rhetoric at the academy, where from 1733 up until his death, he taught classes in theology. In 1736–39 he served as school rector.
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William Palmer
1803 - 1885 (82 years)
William Patrick Palmer , who called himself Sir William Palmer, 9th Baronet, from 1865 , was an Anglican theologian and liturgical scholar of the 19th century. Life Born 14 February 1803, Palmer graduated from Worcester College, Oxford. He was an early supporter and influence in the Oxford Movement, but was superseded by John Henry Newman and Edward Pusey. Palmer initially supported the Tracts for the Times, but as opposition to the Oxford Movement grew, he withdrew his support, prompting a cooling in his friendship with Newman and a slow decline in his involvement with the movement. Palmer di...
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Samuel Preiswerk
1799 - 1871 (72 years)
Samuel Preiswerk was a Swiss Reformed Lutheran theologian, pastor and church hymn poet. He is the maternal grandfather of Carl Jung. Biography Preiswerk was born in 1799, in Basel, Switzerland, the son of Alexander Preiswerk and Anna Maria Preiswerk. He studied in Basel and Erlangen. In Biel-Benken in 1822 he found work as a vicar. Two years later he became pastor at an orphanage and in 1828 a teacher in a missionary house. During this period he wrote some hymns, which later lead to international recognition. In 1830 he became a pastor in Muttenz. He was removed as pastor when he refused to conduct pro-revolution prayers.
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Johan Joseph Faict
1813 - 1894 (81 years)
Jean-Joseph Faict was the 20th Bishop of Bruges. Life Early years Faict was born in the coastal village of Leffinge at the time when the whole of West Flanders was part of the French empire. His father was a brewer . He studied at the Minor Seminary, Roeselare and then at the Major Seminary, Bruges , before progressing to the Catholic University of Leuven.
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Denis the Carthusian
1402 - 1471 (69 years)
Denis the Carthusian , also known as Denys van Leeuwen, Denis Ryckel, Dionysius van Rijkel, Denys le Chartreux , was a Roman Catholic theologian and mystic. Life Denis was born in 1402 in that part of the present-day Belgian Province of Limburg which was formerly comprised in the County of Hesbaye. His birthplace was Rijkel, a small village a few miles from Sint-Truiden, whence ancient writers have often surnamed him "Ryckel" or "à Ryckel". He first attended school at Sint-Truiden. In 1415 he went to another school at Zwolle , which was then of great repute and attracted many students from various parts of Germany.
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Anton de Waal
1837 - 1917 (80 years)
Anton Joseph Johann Maria de Waal was a German Christian archeologist and Roman Catholic church historian. He established the Collegio Teutonico del Campo Santo and carried out numerous archeological excavations in Rome.
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Johannes Aepinus
1499 - 1553 (54 years)
Johannes Aepinus was a German Lutheran theologian, the first Superintendent of Hamburg from 1532 to 1553, presiding as spiritual leader over the Lutheran state church of Hamburg. Life He was born at Ziesar or Ziegesar, then the capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg . He was under the instruction of Johannes Bugenhagen. He took his bachelor's degree at Wittenberg in 1520; here he became the friend of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. Then he had a school in Brandenburg upon Havel, but was imprisoned for his reforming activity, and had to leave home. He then adopted the modified f...
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Wilbur Fisk Tillett
1854 - 1936 (82 years)
Wilbur Fisk Tillett was an American Methodist clergyman and educator. Early life Wilbur Fisk Tillett was born August 25, 1854, in Henderson, North Carolina, which at that time was in Granville County . He was named for the early 19th-century Methodist theologian Willbur Fisk. His father was an itinerant Methodist minister in North Carolina, John Tillett .
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Friedrich Wilhelm Franz Nippold
1838 - 1918 (80 years)
Friedrich Wilhelm Franz Nippold was a German Protestant theologian born in Emmerich am Rhein. In 1865 he received his habilitation at the University of Heidelberg, where in 1867 he became an associate professor. From 1871 to 1884, he was a professor of church history at the University of Bern, afterwards moving to Jena, as a successor to Karl von Hase. In 1907 he took his retirement in Oberursel, where he died on 4 August 1918.
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Alberto Bolognetti
1538 - 1585 (47 years)
Alberto Bolognetti was an Italian law professor, bishop, diplomat, and cardinal. He was appointed by Pope Gregory XIII as a papal nuncio to Florence, Venice, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In that last appointment, he persuaded King Stephen Báthory to adopt the Gregorian calendar. He was promoted to cardinal priest, but died before he could return to Rome for the ceremonies.
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Remigius of Auxerre
841 - 908 (67 years)
Remigius of Auxerre was a Benedictine monk during the Carolingian period, a teacher of Latin grammar, and a prolific author of commentaries on classical Greek and Latin texts. He is also accredited with collecting and compiling other early medieval thinkers' commentaries on these works.
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Johann Friedrich Schleusner
1759 - 1831 (72 years)
Johann Friedrich Schleusner was a German Protestant theologian. He was considered one of the more prominent German theological scholars of his time. Life Schleusner was born on 16 January 1759 in Leipzig. He enrolled on 19 May 1775 at the University of Leipzig, where he obtained a "Magister" degree in Theology on 18 February 1779. In 1781 he began lecturing at the university, and was also the morning preacher at the Leipzig University church. On 7 October 1782 he became a Bachelor of Theology.
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Jacques Gousset
1635 - 1704 (69 years)
Jacques Gousset was a French Protestant theologian and philologist, after 1685 in exile in the Netherlands. Life He was born in Blois, the son of Pierre Gousset and Marguerite Papin; he was a cousin of Denis Papin. He was a student of Louis Cappel at Saumur Academy, and then became pastor at Poitiers.
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H. G. Wood
1879 - 1963 (84 years)
Herbert George Wood , best known as H. G. Wood, was a British theologian and academic. Academic career Wood was educated at City of London School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he was appointed a fellow in 1904. He was a lecturer in the New Testament from 1910 to 1940 at Woodbrooke College. At the University of Birmingham, he was the first Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology, holding the chair from 1940 to 1946, and was also Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1943 to 1946.
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Frederick Oakeley
1802 - 1880 (78 years)
Frederick Oakeley was an English Roman Catholic convert, priest, and author. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1828 and in 1845 converted to the Church of Rome, becoming Canon of the Westminster Diocese in 1852. He is best known for his translation of the Christmas carol Adeste Fideles from Latin into English.
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Giovanni Maria Tolosani
1471 - 1549 (78 years)
Giovanni Maria Tolosani was an Italian theologian, writer, a prior of the Dominican order at the convent of St. Mark in Florence a mathematician and an astronomer. He is best known for writing the first notable denunciation of Copernican heliocentric theory in 1545.
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Girolamo Zanchi
1516 - 1590 (74 years)
Girolamo Zanchi was an Italian Protestant Reformation clergyman and educator who influenced the development of Reformed theology during the years following John Calvin's death. Life He was born the son of a noble lawyer and historian, in Alzano Lombardo near Bergamo. His father died in the plague of 1528 and his mother died only three years later. At age 15 he entered the monastery of the Augustinian Order of Regular Canons, where he studied Aristotle, languages and divinity. After completing his studies, he went to Lucca, and there under the influence of Peter Martyr Vermigli he opted for a theological career, being especially impressed by Vermigli's lectures on Romans.
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Henry Hammond
1605 - 1660 (55 years)
Henry Hammond was an English churchman, church historian and theologian, who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. Early life He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the youngest son of John Hammond , physician to the royal household under King James I, who purchased the site of Chertsey Abbey in Surrey in 1602. His brother was Judge Thomas Hammond, a regicide of King Charles I. He was educated at Eton College, and from age 13 at Magdalen College, Oxford, becoming demy or scholar in 1619. On 11 December 1622 he graduated B.A. , and in 1625 was elected a fellow of the college.
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Henry Highland Garnet
1815 - 1882 (67 years)
Henry Highland Garnet was an American abolitionist, minister, educator and orator. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was educated at the African Free School and other institutions, and became an advocate of militant abolitionism. He became a minister and based his drive for abolitionism in religion.
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Jacob Georg Christian Adler
1756 - 1834 (78 years)
Jakob Georg Christian Adler was a Danish-German Generalsuperintendent for Holstein and Schleswig, Orientalist, Syriac language professor at the University of Copenhagen, Lutheran theologian, Oberkonsistorialrat, book writer, religious educator, coin collector and head of the Schleswig-Holsteinische Bibelgesellschaft.
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William Beveridge
1637 - 1708 (71 years)
William Beveridge was an English writer and clergyman who served as Bishop of St Asaph from 1704 until his death. Life Son of the Rev. William Beveridge, B.D., he was born at Barrow, near Leicester, and baptised on 21 February 1637 at Barrow, Leicestershire, of which his grandfather, father, and elder brother John were successively vicars. He was first taught by his learned father and for two years was sent to Oakham School, Rutland, where William Cave was his school fellow.
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Rudolf Gwalther
1519 - 1586 (67 years)
Rudolf Gwalther was a Reformed pastor and Protestant reformer who succeeded Heinrich Bullinger as Antistes of the Zurich church. Life Gwalther was born the son of a carpenter, who died when he was young. Heinrich Bullinger assumed responsibility for Gwalther's upbringing. He attended schools in Kappel, Basel, Strasbourg, Lausanne and Marburg and studied mathematics and poetry in addition to theology. He learned French and Italian in Lausanne. Landgrave Philip of Hesse brought the gifted student along to the Regensburg Colloquy in 1541. When he returned to Zurich, he received the pastorate of St Peter's Church to replace Leo Jud.
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Johann Benjamin Koppe
1750 - 1791 (41 years)
Johann Benjamin Koppe was a German Lutheran theologian. He originated the "fragment hypothesis" in response to the Synoptic problem. He studied at the universities of Leipzig and Göttingen, where in 1775 he became a professor of theology. In 1784 he relocated to Gotha as a senior pastor, upper consistory and general superintendent, then in 1788 moved to Hanover as first court chaplain at the Schlosskirche, consistory and general superintendent for the Grafschaft Hoya.
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Adam Marsh
1200 - 1259 (59 years)
Adam Marsh was an English Franciscan, scholar and theologian. Marsh became, after Robert Grosseteste, "...the most eminent master of England." Biography He was born about 1200 in the diocese of Bath, and educated at Oxford under the famous Robert Grosseteste. Before 1226 Marsh received the benefice of Wearmouth from his uncle, Richard Marsh, Bishop of Durham; but around 1230 he entered the Franciscan order. at the friary in Worcester.
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Joseph Henry Allen
1820 - 1898 (78 years)
Joseph Henry Allen was a Unitarian clergyman, editor and scholar. Biography He was born in Northborough, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph Allen and Lucy Clark. He prepared for college at a school run by his father in Northborough. He graduated at Harvard College, and then at the Divinity School in 1843. He was pastor at the First Congregational Society in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts , the Unitarian church in Washington, D.C. , and a church in Bangor, Maine . In 1857 he departed from full-time ministry and took up teaching and editing Unitarian periodicals . He lectured at Harvard for four y...
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Nathanael Burwash
1839 - 1918 (79 years)
Nathanael Burwash was a Canadian Methodist minister and university administrator. Early life and education Rev. Nathanael Burwash was born in St. Andrews East, Lower Canada, on 25 July 1839, the eldest son of the devout Methodists Adam Burwash and Anne Taylor. He was raised on a farm in Baltimore, Canada , to which his family moved in 1844. In 1859 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Victoria College which was then located in Cobourg, Ontario, and was ordained by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1864. He later studied at Yale College and the Garrett Biblical Institute.
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Johann Friedrich Cotta
1701 - 1779 (78 years)
Johann Friedrich Cotta was a German Lutheran theologian. Biography He was the son of Johann Georg Cotta, who was in turn the son of Johann Georg Cotta, the founder of the publishing house J. G. Cotta. After studying theology at the University of Tübingen, Johann Friedrich began his public career as lecturer at the University of Jena. He then traveled through Germany, France and the Netherlands, and, after residing several years in London, became professor at Tübingen in 1733.
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Gavrilo Stefanović Venclović
1680 - 1749 (69 years)
Gavrilo "Gavril" Stefanović Venclović was a priest, writer, poet, orator, philosopher, neologist, polyglot, and illuminator. He was one of the first and most notable representatives of Serbian Baroque literature . Venclović's most important contributions as a scholar was in the development of the vernacular in what would a century later become the Serbian literary language. He is also remembered as one of the first Serbian enlighteners, student of Kiprijan Račanin.
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Antoine-Jacques Roustan
1734 - 1808 (74 years)
Antoine-Jacques Roustan was a Genevan pastor and theologian, who engaged in an extensive correspondence with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Unlike Rousseau, he believed that a Christian republic was practical - that the Christian religion was not incompatible with patriotism or republicanism.
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Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs
1751 - 1811 (60 years)
Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs was a German theologian and a founder of the Göttinger Hainbund literary group. Wehrs, the son of an official, studied theology from 1769 to 1775. His knowledge of French, English and Italian led in 1772 to his being invited to be part of the Hainbund. Just one poem by him appeared in the Göttinger Musenalmanach of 1777. The poet Hölty died in his arms in 1776 in Hanover, during Wehrs's employment as house tutor . In 1780 he became a pastor in Kirchhorst near Hannover, moving in 1788 to Isernhagen.
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Friedrich Gottlob Uhlemann
1792 - 1864 (72 years)
Friedrich Gottlob Uhlemann was a German Protestant theologian and educator best known as the author of orientalist grammatical works. In 1815 he received his PhD from the University of Leipzig, where he was a student of Ernst Friedrich Karl Rosenmüller. Following graduation he worked for several years as a private tutor to the family of Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf. From 1822 up until his death in 1864 he was a teacher at the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin. Concurrently, he passed his habilitation for theology at the University of Berlin , where in 1835 he was named an associate professor of theology.
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Henry Boynton Smith
1815 - 1877 (62 years)
Henry Boynton Smith , United States theologian, was born in Portland, Maine. He is best known for introducing many Americans to avant-garde German historical scholarship, especially in his History of the Church of Christ, in Chronological Tables: A Synchronistic View of the Events, Characteristics, and Culture of Each Period, including the History of Polity, Worship, Literature, and Doctrines: Together with Two Supplementary Tables upon the Church in America; And an Appendix Containing the Series of Councils, Popes, Patriarchs, and Other Bishops, and a Full Index .
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Roland de Pury
1907 - 1979 (72 years)
Baron Roland de Pury was a Swiss Protestant theologian, pastor, and writer. Living in France during World War II, he was a staunch opponent of Nazism and the Holocaust and publicly criticized and preached against the Vichy French government and German occupation of France. De Pury joined the French Resistance and organized an escape route for Jewish refugees to leave France and enter Switzerland, hiding them in his home before helping them to the French-Swiss Boarder. He collaborated with French Catholic leaders, including Pierre Chaillet, to rescue Jews. His operation was discovered by the Gestapo, leading to his arrest and imprisonment at Montluc prison.
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Israel Tonge
1621 - 1680 (59 years)
Israel Tonge , aka Ezerel or Ezreel Tongue, was an English divine. He was an informer in and probably one of the inventors of the "Popish" plot. Career Tonge was born at Tickhill, near Doncaster, the son of Henry Tongue, minister of Holtby, Yorkshire. He graduated from University College, Oxford and became a schoolmaster at Churchill, Oxfordshire where he became interested in gardening, alchemy, and chemistry. In 1656 he became a doctor of theology, and taught grammar at the Cromwellian Durham College until its closure in 1659. In 1656 he provided a loan of 100 pounds to Johannes Sibertus Kuff...
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