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).
Methodology: How and Why We Rank by Influence …
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List of the most influential people
#32601
David M. Beazley
#32613
Overall Influence
David Beazley is an American software engineer. He has made significant contributions to the Python developer community, which includes writing the definitive Python reference text Python Essential Reference, the SWIG software tool for creating language agnostic C and C++ extensions, and the PLY parsing tool. He has served on the program committees for PyCon and the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, and was elected a fellow of the Python Software Foundation in 2002.
Go to Profile#32602
Ivan Smith
#32614
Overall Influence
1973 - Present (53 years)
Ivan Smith is a British mathematician who deals with symplectic manifolds and their interaction with algebraic geometry, low-dimensional topology, and dynamics. He is a professor at the University of Cambridge.
Go to Profile#32603
Heiko Steuer
#32615
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (87 years)
Heiko Steuer is a German archaeologist, notable for his research into social and economic history in early Europe. He serves as co-editor of Germanische Altertumskunde Online. Career Heiko Steuer was born on 30 October 1939, in Braunschweig, Germany. From 1960 until 1969 he studied in Göttingen and Tübingen, first studying mathematics and physics, and then prehistory and early history. In 1976 he was appointed director of the Kölnischen Stadtmuseums , the Cologne City Museum; he held the position until 1984. During this time, in 1979, Steuer habilitated himself, on studies of prehistory and e...
Go to Profile#32604
Stanley Greaves
#32616
Overall Influence
1934 - Present (92 years)
Stanley Greaves is a Guyanese painter and writer who is one of the Caribbean's most distinguished artists. Writing in 1995 at the time of a retrospective exhibition to celebrate Greaves's 60th birthday, Rupert Roopnarine stated: "It may be that no major Caribbean artist of our time has been more fecund and versatile than Stanley Greaves of Guyana." Greaves himself has said of his own creativity:
Go to Profile#32605
T. L. Taylor
#32617
Overall Influence
1960 - Present (66 years)
T. L. Taylor is an American sociologist and professor. Taylor specialises in researching the culture of gaming and online communities, in particular, esports, live-streaming, and MMOGs such as EverQuest and World of Warcraft.
Go to Profile#32606
Douglas Kell
#32618
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (73 years)
Chief Sci Douglas Bruce Kell is a British biochemist and Research Professor of Systems Biology in the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool, and a Co-founder of Epoch Biodesign Ltd. He was previously at the School of Chemistry at the University of Manchester, based in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology . He founded and led the Manchester Centre for Integrative Systems Biology. He served as chief executive officer of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council from 2008 to 2013.
Go to Profile#32607
Amanda Coetzer
#32619
Overall Influence
1971 - Present (55 years)
Amanda Coetzer is a South African former professional tennis player. Coetzer finished in the WTA rankings top 20 for ten consecutive seasons , peaking at world No. 3. She reached three Grand Slam semifinals and one Grand Slam doubles final . Coetzer earned a reputation for regularly beating players who were ranked higher than her. By virtue of scoring so many upset wins in spite of her five-foot-two stature, she gained the nickname: "The Little Assassin".
Go to Profile#32608
Andrej Grubačić
#32620
Overall Influence
1976 - Present (50 years)
Andrej Grubačić is a Yugoslav world historian, world-systems theorist, and activist based in the United States. Early life and education Grubačić was born in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He is the grandson of Ratomir Dugonjić, former president of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Vice president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Grubačić graduated from University of Belgrade and completed master's and doctoral degrees from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Go to Profile#32609
Camilla Stivers
#32621
Overall Influence
Camilla Stivers is a scholar and professor of Public Administration who is also known for her contributions in the fields of Urban Studies and Public service. Known primarily for her influential work “Bureau Men, Settlement Women: Constructing Public Administration in the Progressive Era”, Stivers has been published frequently and consistently throughout the years, and is seen as somewhat of an icon in the field of Public Administration. Although partially retired, Stivers currently serves as a professor and lecturer at Cleveland State University.
Go to Profile#32610
John J. Tyson
#32622
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
John J. Tyson is an American systems biologist and mathematical biologist who serves as University Distinguished Professor of Biology at Virginia Tech, and is the former president of the Society for Mathematical Biology. He is known for his research on biochemical switches in the cell cycle, dynamics of biological networks and on excitable media.
Go to Profile#32611
Flip Saunders
#32623
Overall Influence
1955 - 2015 (60 years)
Philip Daniel "Flip" Saunders was an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the La Crosse Catbirds, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards. High school and college player Saunders was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He was an All-state basketball player at Cuyahoga Heights High School in suburban Cleveland. In his senior season, 1973, he was named Ohio's Class A High School Basketball Player of the Year, leading the state in scoring average with 32.0 points per game. At the University of Minnesota, he started 101 of his 103 career contests and as...
Go to Profile#32612
Katharine Weber
#32624
Overall Influence
1955 - Present (71 years)
Katharine Weber is an American novelist and nonfiction writer. She has taught fiction and nonfiction writing at Yale University, Goucher College, the Paris Writers Workshop and elsewhere. She held the Visiting Richard L. Thomas Chair in Creative Writing at Kenyon College from 2012 to 2019.
Go to Profile#32613
Brigitta Danuser
#32625
Overall Influence
2000 - Present (26 years)
Brigitta Danuser is professor for occupational medicine at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and directed from 2005 to 2015 the institute for work and health . Since 1993, she has been engaged in the development and teaching of the MAS/DAS Work+Health, which trains occupational physicians and hygienists. From 2012 till 2019 she was the academic director of this MAS/DAS.
Go to Profile#32614
Frank Stack
#32626
Overall Influence
1937 - Present (89 years)
Frank Huntington Stack is an American underground cartoonist and fine artist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the Bible Belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1964.
Go to Profile#32615
Brian Horton
#32627
Overall Influence
1949 - Present (77 years)
Brian "Nobby" Horton is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this he spent four years as a semi-professional player and around 11 years as a coach and assistant manager.
Go to Profile#32616
Vashti Murphy McKenzie
#32628
Overall Influence
1947 - Present (79 years)
Vashti Murphy McKenzie is the interim president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. She is also a retired bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and author of six books. In 2000, McKenzie became the first woman to be elected as bishop in the denomination's history. She later served as President of the Council of Bishops, becoming the first woman to serve as Titular head of the AME Church.
Go to Profile#32617
Yuan-Tsong Chen
#32629
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
Yuan-Tsong Chen is a Taiwanese physician scientist, notable for his work on human genetic disorders. He is the director emeritus and distinguished research fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and also tenured professor of pediatrics of Duke University Chen was a 2019 awardee of Taiwan's , as were Yuan-Pern Lee and Wei Fu-chan.
Go to Profile#32618
Ken Howard
#32630
Overall Influence
1932 - 2022 (90 years)
Kenneth Howard OBE RA was a British artist and painter. He was President of the New English Art Club from 1998 to 2003. Life and art Ken Howard was born in London. After attending Kilburn Grammar School, he studied at the Hornsey College of Art and the Royal College of Art . In 1958 he won a British Council Scholarship to Florence. He spent his National Service in the Royal Marines . In 1973 and 1978 he was the Official War Artist to Northern Ireland, and 1973–80 worked in various locations, including Hong Kong, Cyprus and Canada with the British Army. In 1983 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy .
Go to Profile#32619
Jay Nunamaker
#32631
Overall Influence
1937 - Present (89 years)
Jay F. Nunamaker Jr. is Regents Professor and Soldwedel Professor at the University of Arizona. Regents Professor is the highest faculty rank bestowed at the university, an honor reserved for the top 3% of scholars.
Go to Profile#32620
Xavier Malisse
#32632
Overall Influence
1980 - Present (46 years)
Xavier Malisse is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed X-Man, he is one of only two Belgian men to have been ranked in the top 20 of the ATP Tour, with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19.
Go to Profile#32621
Jason Plato
#32633
Overall Influence
1967 - Present (59 years)
Timothy Jason Plato is a British racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship for BTC Racing. He has twice been BTCC Champion, in 2001 for Vauxhall and 2010 for Silverline Chevrolet. He has finished in the top 3 in the Championship 12 times and holds the record for the most overall race wins in the BTCC. He is also a presenter on the motoring television series Fifth Gear from 2004 to present.
Go to Profile#32622
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum
#32634
Overall Influence
1942 - Present (84 years)
Jean-Jacques Muyembe is a Congolese microbiologist. He is the general director of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Institut National pour la Recherche Biomedicale . He was part of team at the Yambuku Catholic Mission Hospital that investigated the first Ebola outbreak, and was part of the effort that discovered Ebola as a new disease, although his exact role is still subject to controversy. In 2016, he led the research that designed, along with other researchers at the INRB and the National Institute of Health Vaccine Research Center in the US, one of the most promising treatment for Ebola, mAb114.
Go to Profile#32623
Hsieh Su-wei
#32635
Overall Influence
1986 - Present (40 years)
Hsieh Su-wei is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. Hsieh has won three singles and 32 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one WTA 125 doubles title, 27 singles and 23 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, seven medals at the Asian Games , one gold and one bronze medal at the 2005 Summer Universiade, and has amassed over $10 million in prize money. On 25 February 2013, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 23, and on 12 May 2014, she reached world No. 1 in the doubles rankings for the first time; she has spent a total of 47 weeks with the top ranking, the longest tenure by a tennis player from the Far East.
Go to Profile#32624
Phil McGraw
#32636
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Phillip Calvin McGraw , known professionally as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author, best known for hostinging the talk show Dr. Phil. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased renewing his license to practice psychology in 2006.
Go to Profile#32625
Victor Szebehely
#32637
Overall Influence
1921 - 1997 (76 years)
Victor G. Szebehely was a key figure in the development and success of the Apollo program. In 1956, a dimensionless number used in time-dependent unsteady flows was named "Szebehely's number," . He worked with General Electric, Yale University, the Royal Netherlands Navy, the United States Air Force, NASA, and the University of Texas at Austin. One of his areas of research was orbital debris and planetary defense against meteor impacts
Go to Profile#32626
Raquel Urtasun
#32638
Overall Influence
1976 - Present (50 years)
Raquel Urtasun is a professor at the University of Toronto. Urtasun uses artificial intelligence, particularly deep learning, to make vehicles and other machines perceive the world more accurately and efficiently.
Go to Profile#32627
Harryette Mullen
#32639
Overall Influence
1953 - Present (73 years)
Harryette Mullen , Professor of English at University of California, Los Angeles, is an American poet, short story writer, and literary scholar. Life Mullen was born in Florence, Alabama, grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and attended graduate school at the University of California, Santa Cruz. As of 2008, she lives in Los Angeles, California. Mullen's most recent work is Urban Tumbleweed: Notes from a Tanka Diary.
Go to Profile#32628
Philip D. Curtin
#32640
Overall Influence
1922 - 2009 (87 years)
Philip Dearmond Curtin was a Professor Emeritus of Johns Hopkins University and historian on Africa and the Atlantic slave trade. His most famous work, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census was one of the first estimates of the number of slaves transported across the Atlantic Ocean between the 16th century and 1870, yielding an estimate of 9,566,000 African slaves imported to the Americas. He also wrote about how many Africans were taken and from what location, how many died during the Middle Passage, how many actually arrived in the Americas, and to what colonies/countries they were imported.
Go to Profile#32629
Ziba Mir-Hosseini
#32641
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (74 years)
Ziba Mir-Hosseini is an Iranian-born legal anthropologist, specialising in Islamic law, gender and development. She received her PhD in anthropology from Cambridge University and is the author of several books on Islam, gender, and the family.
Go to Profile#32630
Gautam Radhakrishna Desiraju
#32642
Overall Influence
1952 - Present (74 years)
Gautam Radhakrishna Desiraju is an Indian structural chemist, educationist and an honorary professor at the Indian Institute of Science. He worked on crystal engineering and weak hydrogen bonding and co-authored a textbook in crystal engineering . He subsequently wrote a book entitled "Bharat: India 2.0" in which he claims that India is a 5000 year civilization that does not need a constitution. He espouses ideas of intrinsic Indian sacredness, righteousness, and the belief that scientists should not take part in political discussions and has been an outspoken critic of academics who speak a...
Go to Profile#32631
Rushdi Said
#32643
Overall Influence
1920 - 2013 (93 years)
Rushdi Said was an Egyptian scientist. He was educated at Cairo, Zurich, and Harvard Universities. A professor of geology, he was the chairman of the board of the Egyptian Mining and Geological Research Organization . He played a major role in the development of this organization with the new mining discoveries that enabled Egypt to compensate for the various mines lost after the occupation of Sinai.
Go to Profile#32632
Scott Stevens
#32644
Overall Influence
1964 - Present (62 years)
Ronald Scott Stevens is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils, serving as captain of the Devils from 1992 to 2004. Although offensively capable, his defensive play and his heavy body checking on opponents were crucial to his success.
Go to Profile#32633
Bernhard Bischoff
#32645
Overall Influence
1906 - 1991 (85 years)
Bernhard Bischoff was a German historian, paleographer, and philologist; he was born in Altendorf , and he died in Munich. Biography He was the son of Emil Bischoff and Charlotte von Gersdorff, who died giving birth to him. He received a Pietistic education during his youth. He married Hanne Oehler in 1935 and lived the majority of his life in Bavaria outside of academia. Before he earned his doctorate in 1933, under the direction of Paul Lehmann, he was recruited by the American paleographer E. A. Lowe as an assistant for the . He would work on this achievement until 1972, cataloging Latin manuscripts of the 9th century.
Go to Profile#32634
George Pattison
#32646
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
George Pattison is a retired English theologian and Anglican priest. His last post prior to retirement was as Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow. He was previously Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford. From 2017-2019 he was a Senior Co-Fund Fellow at the Max Weber Center at the University of Erfurt. He has also been an Affiliate Professor in Systematic Theology at the University of Copenhagen and an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Theology at the University of St Andrew's
Go to Profile#32635
Steven L. Goldman
#32647
Overall Influence
1941 - Present (85 years)
Steven Louis Goldman is the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Lehigh University. Biography Goldman studied as an undergraduate at Polytechnic University of New York, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. He then attended Boston University, where he received Master of Arts and PhD degrees in Philosophy. In the 1970s, Goldman was on faculty in the philosophy department at the State College campus of Pennsylvania State University. At Pennsylvania State, he was involved in the development of one of the first U.S. academic programs in science, technology, a...
Go to Profile#32636
Vijay Vaishnavi
#32648
Overall Influence
1948 - Present (78 years)
Vijay Kumar Vaishnavi is a noted researcher and scholar in the computer information systems field with contributions mainly in the areas of design science research, software engineering, and data structures & algorithms, authoring over 150 publications including seven books in these and related areas, and co-owning a patent. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the Department of Computer Information Systems, Georgia State University. He is Senior Editor Emeritus of MIS Quarterly and is on the editorial boards of a number of other major journals. His research has been funded by the National Sc...
Go to Profile#32637
Frederick Steiner
#32649
Overall Influence
1949 - Present (77 years)
Frederick R. "Fritz" Steiner is an American ecologist who currently serves as the Dean and Paley Professor for the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, having succeeded Marilyn Jordan Taylor in 2016. He is a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Academy in Rome. He teaches courses in the areas of landscape analysis, landscape architecture theory, and environmental impact assessment. His specialization is in ecological planning, historic preservation, environmental design, green building, and regional planning.
Go to Profile#32638
Michael Rutschky
#32650
Overall Influence
1943 - 2018 (75 years)
Michael Rutschky was a German author. Life Michael Rutschky grew up in Spangenberg, Hesse. From 1963 to 1971, he studied Sociology, Literary Science and Philosophy at the Universities Frankfurt am Main , Göttingen and FU Berlin. From 1969 to 1978, he worked as a social researcher at the Freie Universität Berlin; he would attain a Doctorate there as a Doctor of Philosophy. From 1979 to 1984, he lived in Munich. There he belonged to the Editing of the periodical Merkur and the editor of the TransAtlantik in 1980/81. Since 1985, he again works and lives in Berlin. From 1985 to 1997, he was...
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Peggy Ashcroft
#32651
Overall Influence
1907 - 1991 (84 years)
Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft , known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was determined from an early age to become an actress, despite parental opposition. She was working in smaller theatres even before graduating from drama school, and within two years she was starring in the West End. Ashcroft maintained her leading place in British theatre for the next 50 years. Always attracted by the ideals of permanent theatrical ensembles, she did much of her work for the Old Vic in...
Go to Profile#32640
Valery Goppa
#32652
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (87 years)
Valery Denisovich Goppa is a Soviet and Russian mathematician. He discovered a relation between algebraic geometry and codes, utilizing the Riemann-Roch theorem. Today these codes are called algebraic geometry codes. In 1981 he presented his discovery at the algebra seminar of the Moscow State University.
Go to Profile#32641
Indira Viswanathan Peterson
#32653
Overall Influence
1950 - Present (76 years)
Indira Viswanathan Peterson is a literary critic and the David B. Truman Professor of Asian Studies at Mount Holyoke College. She is a specialist in South Asian Studies. Background Peterson was born and raised in Mumbai, India. She came to the United States as an AFS exchange high school student in the late 1960s. She returned to Mumbai and received her B.A. in English literature from The University of Mumbai and her Ph.D. in Sanskrit from Harvard University in 1976. She has been a professor at Mount Holyoke since 1982, with a period at Columbia University from 2002 to 2004.
Go to Profile#32642
Cat Power
#32654
Overall Influence
1972 - Present (54 years)
Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall , better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist.
Go to Profile#32643
Edward Schiappa
#32655
Overall Influence
1954 - Present (72 years)
Anthony Edward Schiappa, Jr. is an American scholar of communication and rhetoric, currently Professor of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he holds the John E. Burchard Chair of Humanities; from 2013 to 2019, he also served as the program's Head. Previously, he spent seventeen years in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, the last seven of which he served as chair. He is the author of eight books and numerous articles that have appeared in classics, communication, English/Composition, philosophy, psychology, ...
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Nick Talbot
#32656
Overall Influence
1965 - Present (61 years)
Nicholas José Talbot FRS FRSB is Group Leader and Executive Director at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich. Education Talbot was educated at Midhurst Grammar School. He went on to study at the University of Wales, Swansea for a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology graduating in 1986. Following his undergraduate degree, he trained at the University of East Anglia where he was awarded a PhD in 1990 for genetic and genomic analysis of the leaf mould Cladosporuim fulvum.
Go to Profile#32645
Gene Stallings
#32657
Overall Influence
1935 - Present (91 years)
Eugene Clifton Stallings Jr. is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University , where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at his alma mater from 1965 to 1971. Stallings was also the head coach of the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals of the National Football League and at the University of Alabama . Stallings' 1992 Alabama team completed a 13–0 season with a win in the Sugar Bowl over Miami and was named the consensus national champion. Stallings was also a member of the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System.
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Sean McVay
#32658
Overall Influence
1986 - Present (40 years)
Sean McVay is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Los Angeles Rams. He became the youngest NFL head coach in the modern era when he was hired by the Rams in 2017 at the age of 30. McVay is also the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl, make multiple Super Bowl appearances, and be named the AP NFL Coach of the Year.
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Rosemary Cramp
#32659
Overall Influence
1929 - 2023 (94 years)
Dame Rosemary Jean Cramp, was a British archaeologist and academic specialising in the Anglo-Saxons. She was the first female professor appointed at Durham University and was Professor of Archaeology from 1971 to 1990. She served as president of the Society of Antiquaries of London from 2001 to 2004.
Go to Profile#32648
Lionel Tarassenko
#32660
Overall Influence
1957 - Present (69 years)
Lionel Tarassenko, is a British engineer and academic, who is a leading expert in the application of signal processing and machine learning to healthcare. Tarassenko is President of Reuben College, Oxford.
Go to Profile#32649
Aaron Neville
#32661
Overall Influence
1941 - Present (85 years)
Aaron Joseph Neville is an American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. "Tell It Like It Is", from 1966, also reached the top position on the Soul chart for five weeks.
Go to Profile#32650
Harry Swinney
#32662
Overall Influence
1939 - Present (87 years)
Harry L. Swinney is an American physicist noted for his contributions to the field of nonlinear dynamics. Personal life Harry Leonard Swinney was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, on April 10, 1939. His parents were Leonard R. Swinney and Ethel Bertheaud Swinney. In 1967 Harry Swinney married Gloria T. Luyas, and in 1978 they had a son, Brent Luyas Swinney. Brent died of cancer in 1995 and Gloria died of cancer in 1997. Harry Swinney married Lizabeth Kelley on August 12, 2000.
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