







Occupation
SOCIAL ACTIVISTS
With 840 biographies, Social Activists are the 24th most common occupation in Pantheon, behind Mathematicians, Physicists, and Businesspeople.
People
Pantheon has 968 people classified as social activists born between 600 BC and 2011. Of these 968, 333 (34.40%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living social activists include Aung San Suu Kyi, Shirin Ebadi, and Angela Davis. The most famous deceased social activists include Mahatma Gandhi, Che Guevara, and Mother Teresa. As of April 2024, 108 new social activists have been added to Pantheon including Francesca Albanese, Curtis Yarvin, and Tank Man.
Living Social Activists
Go to all RankingsAung San Suu Kyi
1945 - Present
HPI: 80.96
Shirin Ebadi
1947 - Present
HPI: 76.17
Angela Davis
1944 - Present
HPI: 72.39
Jody Williams
1950 - Present
HPI: 72.07
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
1931 - Present
HPI: 71.01
Denis Mukwege
1955 - Present
HPI: 70.06
Mairead Maguire
1944 - Present
HPI: 69.94
Catharine MacKinnon
1946 - Present
HPI: 68.71
Beppe Grillo
1948 - Present
HPI: 67.38
Amal Clooney
1978 - Present
HPI: 66.87
Malala Yousafzai
1997 - Present
HPI: 66.51
Rigoberta Menchú
1959 - Present
HPI: 66.47
Deceased Social Activists
Go to all RankingsMahatma Gandhi
1869 - 1948
HPI: 97.71
Che Guevara
1928 - 1967
HPI: 93.09
Mother Teresa
1910 - 1997
HPI: 92.98
Martin Luther King Jr.
1929 - 1968
HPI: 92.49
Nelson Mandela
1918 - 2013
HPI: 90.45
Malcolm X
1925 - 1965
HPI: 86.43
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884 - 1962
HPI: 86.11
Rosa Luxemburg
1871 - 1919
HPI: 85.33
Jan Hus
1369 - 1415
HPI: 84.26
Henry Dunant
1828 - 1910
HPI: 83.32
Helen Keller
1880 - 1968
HPI: 81.88
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
1746 - 1827
HPI: 80.39
Newly Added Social Activists (2025)
Go to all RankingsFrancesca Albanese
1977 - Present
HPI: 58.82
Curtis Yarvin
1973 - Present
HPI: 51.34
Tank Man
HPI: 50.44
Virginia Giuffre
1983 - 2025
HPI: 49.83
Air Force Amy
1970 - Present
HPI: 49.73
Mona Mahmudnizhad
1965 - 1983
HPI: 49.01
Jenni Williams
1962 - Present
HPI: 48.72
Julia Butterfly Hill
1974 - Present
HPI: 48.60
Munir Said Thalib
1965 - 2004
HPI: 47.84
Salwan Momika
1986 - 2025
HPI: 47.36
María Galindo
1964 - Present
HPI: 46.90
Death of Carlo Giuliani
1978 - 2001
HPI: 46.71
Places
Most social activists were born in United States (170), India (66), and United Kingdom (56). By city, the most common birth places were Moscow (12), New York City (10), and Cairo (7).
Places Over Time
The earliest biographies classified as social activists in Pantheon are Mentor of Rhodes, Campaspe, and Pheidippides. The concentration of social activists was largest during the Television Era, which lasted from 1950 to 1989. Some birth or death locations for earlier social activists are unknown, which may account for timeline differences below.
Lifespans
Which Social Activists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Social Activists since 1700.




























