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.
Students and researchers now have a fast and reliable way to find influential thinkers from 24 disciplines and 300 sub-disciplines (and growing). If you want to find history’s most influential philsosophers, or the world’s most influential mathematicians currently, now you can.
We also provide custom rankings of people by discipline as well as interviews with influential academics who are currently active.
To use this tool, select the discipline (and optional subdiscipline) relevant to your research, and specify influential academics by history, world, or US. Even results that are counterintuitive are often enlightening (our algorithm always picks up a signal).
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List of the most influential people in Theology,
#4951
Nicolas Bonet
1280 - 1360 (80 years)
Nicolas Bonet was a Friar Minor, philosopher, theologian, missionary and bishop of Malta. Life Nicolas Bonet was born in the Touraine region of France, where he entered the Franciscan convent at Tours. Nothing is known about his early life. He was incepted as Master of Theology at Paris in the year 1333-4, where he received the title of "Doctor Pacificus" on account of his suave and tranquil mode of lecturing. Bonet took part in the heated dispute concerning John XXII's view on the beatific vision which was finally settled by the decree of his successor, Benedict XII, "Benedictus Deus".
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Asa Burton
1752 - 1836 (84 years)
Asa Burton was an American minister and theologian. Asa Burton was born on August 25, 1752, in Stonington, Connecticut, to Rachel and Jacob Burton, the sixth child in a family of thirteen. His family moved to Preston when he was very young. When he was about fourteen, his father moved again to Norwich, Vermont.
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Niccolò Riccardi
1585 - 1639 (54 years)
Niccolò Riccardi was an Italian Dominican theologian, writer and preacher, known today mostly for his role in the Galileo affair. Life Physically he was unprepossessing, but he was encouraged by his parents who sent him to study with Tomas de Lemos at University of Valladolid. He entered the Dominican Order and was invested with its habit in the Convent of St. Paul, where he studied philosophy and theology. After completing his studies he was made a professor of Thomistic theology at Pincia. While discharging his academic duties, he acquired a reputation as a preacher: Philip III of Spain named him "padre Mostro" , a sobriquet by which he was subsequently known in Spain and at Rome.
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Gustav Philipp Mörl
1673 - 1750 (77 years)
Gustav Philipp Mörl or Gustav Philipp Morl; Gustavus Philippus Moerl was a German theologian, was born in Nuremberg 26 December 1673 and was educated first in the schools of his native place and then at the university in Altdorf, where he studied philosophy and philology from 1690 to 1692, when he was removed to Jena to study theology and the ancient languages. He traveled through Holland, and visited its most important universities. After his return home he was appointed assistant of the philosophic faculty at Halle, and in 1698 became professor and ecclesiastical inspector at Altdorf. He resigned this position in 1703, and was appointed dean of St.
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Antoinette Butte
1898 - 1986 (88 years)
Antoinette Butte, was the French Protestant founder of French Girl Guiding from 1916, then Head of the Pomeyrol Community from 1938.
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Thomas-Étienne Hamel
1830 - 1913 (83 years)
Thomas-Étienne Hamel was a French-Canadian priest and academic. He was the son of Victor Hamel, a merchant and Therèse DeFoy. In 1852, as a student of the Séminaire de Québec, he traveled with Louis-Jacques Casault to London where they arranged for the royal charter of what would become Laval University. After his ordination in 1854, he was sent to Paris' École des Carmes and eventually graduated from the Sorbonne with a license in science, before returning to Quebec to teach at the Séminaire, also acquiring the office of general secretary of the new university. He became rector of the Sémina...
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John de Pineda
1558 - 1637 (79 years)
John de Pineda was a Spanish Jesuit theologian and exegete. He was a consultor to the Spanish Inquisition and nineteen printed works and six manuscripts of his writing are in existence. Life Pineda was born in Seville. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1572, taught philosophy and theology five years in Seville and Cordova, and specialized in Scripture, which he taught for eighteen years in Cordova, Seville, and Madrid. He held the posts of Provost of the professed house and rector of the college of Seville.
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John Johnson
1662 - 1725 (63 years)
John Johnson, of Cranbrook was an English clergyman, known as a theologian in the Laudian tradition. Life Born 30 December 1662, at Frindsbury in Kent, he was son of the vicar, Thomas Johnson, by Mary, daughter of Francis Drayton, rector of Little Chart, Kent. His father died about four years after his marriage, and Mrs. Johnson, with her two children, a son and a daughter, settled at Canterbury, where John was sent to the King's School. At the age of 15 he went to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. 1681. He was afterwards nominated to a scholarship at Corpus Christi College by the dean and chapter of Canterbury; proceeded M.A.
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Praepositinus
1150 - 1210 (60 years)
Praepositinus was an Italian scholastic philosopher and theologian. He was a liturgical commentator, and supporter a res-theory of belief. He discussed intentional contexts. Biography Praepositinus was probably born in northern Italy. Having studied under Petrus Comestor and taught at Paris, he was scholasticus of Mainz Cathedral in 1196. Returning, he was Chancellor of the University of Paris from c. 1206 to 1209. In 1209 he was replaced as chancellor by John of Chandelle; he retired to an abbey and died shortly after, in 1210.
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