List of founders of religious traditions


This article lists historical figures credited with founding religions or religious philosophies or people who first codified older known religious traditions. It also lists those who have founded a specific major denomination within a larger religion.

Ancient (before AD 500)

NameReligious tradition foundedEthnicityLife of founder
AkhenatenAtenismEgyptianc. 1353 BC – 1336 BC
ZoroasterZoroastrianismAvestanc. 1000 BC
ParshvanathaThe penultimate Tirthankara in JainismIndian877 BC – 777 BC
Nebuchadnezzar IIbuilt the Etemenanki, established Marduk as the patron deity of BabylonAmoritec. 634 BC – 562 BC
Ajita KesakambaliCharvakaIndian6th century BC
MahaviraThe final tirthankara in JainismIndian599 BC – 527 BC
Siddhartha GautamaBuddhismIndian563 BC – 483 BC
ConfuciusConfucianismChinese551 BC – 479 BC
PythagorasPythagoreanismSamianfl. 520 BC
MoziMohismChinese470 BC – 390 BC
Makkhali GosalaĀjīvikaIndian5th century BC
EzraSecond Temple JudaismLevite Judean, Kohenfl. 459 BC
EpicurusEpicureanismSamianfl. 307 BC
Zeno of CitiumStoicismpossibly Phoenician,
albeit a Greek national		333 BC – 264 BC
Pharnavaz I of IberiaArmaziGeorgian326 BC – 234 BC
PatanjaliRāja yoga sect of HinduismIndian2nd century BC
Jesus ChristianityGalilean-Judeanc. 4 BC – c. 30/33 AD
Paul the ApostlePauline ChristianityJudean, albeit a Roman citizenc. 33 AD
James the JustJewish ChristianityJudeanc. 33 AD
LakulishaPashupata Shaivism sect of HinduismIndian1st century AD
Judah the PrinceRabbinic JudaismJudean, Davidic line2nd century AD
MontanusMontanismPhrygian2nd century AD
Marcion of SinopeMarcionismPontic Greek110–160
NagarjunaMadhyamakaIndian150–250
PlotinusNeoplatonismmay have been of Roman,
Greek, or Hellenized Egyptian
ancestry; Roman citizen		205–270
ManiManichaeismPersian Western Iranian/Airya216–274
AriusArianismpossibly Berber,
born in Libya; 		250–336
PelagiusPelagianismBritish, possibly Irish354–430
NestoriusNestorianismRomaniote 386–451
EutychesMonophysitismborn in Constantinople380–456

Medieval to Early Modern (500–1800 AD)

New religious movements (post-1800)

NameReligious tradition foundedEthnicityLife of founder
Ram Mohan RoyBrahmo SamajIndian, Bengali1772–1833
SwaminarayanSwaminarayan SampradayIndian1781–1830
Auguste ComteReligion of HumanityFrench1798–1857
Nakayama MikiTenrikyoJapanese1798–1887
Ignaz von DöllingerOld Catholic ChurchGerman1799–1890
Phineas QuimbyNew ThoughtAmerican1802–1866
Allan KardecSpiritismFrench1804–1869
Joseph SmithMormonism, also known as the Latter Day Saint movementAnglo-American1805–1844
John ThomasChristadelphiansBritish1805–1871
Abraham GeigerReform JudaismAshkenazi Jewish1810–1874
Jamgon KongtrulRimé movementTibetan1813–1899
Hong XiuquanTaiping ChristianityHan Chinese 1814–1864
Bahá'u'lláhBahá'í FaithPersian 1817–1892
BábBábism, precursor of the Baháʼí FaithPersian 1819–1850
James Springer WhiteSeventh-day Adventist ChurchAmerican1821–1881
Wang JueyiYiguandaoChinese 1821–1884
Mary Baker EddyChristian ScienceAmerican1821–1910
Ramalinga SwamigalSamarasa Sutha Sanmarga SangamTamil 1823–1874
Dayananda SaraswatiArya SamajGujarati 1824–1883
Ellen G. WhiteSeventh-day Adventist ChurchAmerican1827–1915
American1828–1891
Helena BlavatskyTheosophyRussian 1831–1891
Ayya VaikundarAyyavazhiIndian1833–1851
Mirza Ghulam AhmadAhmadiyyaIndian 1835–1908
Guido von ListArmanism Austrian1848–1919
Charles Taze RussellBible Student movementAmerican1852–1916
WovokaGhost DancePaiute 1856–1932
Rudolf SteinerAnthroposophyAustrian1861–1925
Swami VivekanandaRamakrishna MissionIndian1863–1902
William IrvineTwo by Twos and CooneyitesScottish1863–1947
Max HeindelThe Rosicrucian FellowshipDanish1865–1919
Tsunesaburo MakiguchiSoka GakkaiJapanese1871–1944
Sri AurobindoIntegral yogaIndian1872–1950
Mason RemeyOrthodox Bahá'í FaithAmerican1874–1974
Aleister CrowleyThelemaEnglish1875–1947
Charles Fox ParhamPentecostalismAmerican1873–1929
"Father Divine"International Peace Mission movementAmericanc. 1876–1965
Edgar CayceAssociation for Research and EnlightenmentAmerican1877–1945
Ngô Văn ChiêuCaodaismViet1878–1926
Guy Ballard"I AM" ActivityAmerican1878–1939
Frank BuchmanOxford Group/Moral Re-ArmamentAmerican1878–1961
Alfred G. MosesJewish ScienceAmerican1878–1956
John SlocumIndian Shaker ChurchSquaxin Island Tribe, Coast Salish, 1881
Mordecai KaplanReconstructionist JudaismRussian 1881–1983
Gerald GardnerWiccaBritish1884–1964
Felix ManaloIglesia ni Cristo Filipino1886–1963
Frank B. RobinsonPsychianaAmerican1886–1948
Noble Drew AliMoorish Science Temple of AmericaAmerican, possibly Cherokee or Moroccan1886–1929
Marcus GarveyRastafariJamaican1887–1940
Ernest HolmesReligious ScienceAmerican1887–1960
SadafaldeoVihangamyogaIndian1888–1954
Aimee Semple McPhersonFoursquare ChurchCanadian1890–1944
Zélio Fernandino de MoraesUmbandaBrazilian1891–1975
Ida B. RobinsonMount Sinai Holy Church of AmericaAmerican1891–1946
B. R. AmbedkarNavayana BuddhismIndian1891 – 1956
Wallace Fard MuhammadNation of IslamAmerican1891 – 1934
Paramahansa YoganandaYogoda Satsanga Society of India, Self-Realization FellowshipIndian1893–1952
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupadaInternational Society for Krishna ConsciousnessIndian1896–1977
Ruth NormanUnariusAmerican1900–1993
Swami MuktanandaSiddha YogaIndian1908–1982
Paul TwitchellEckankarAmerican1908–1971
Ikurō TeshimaMakuyaJapanese1910–1973
L. Ron HubbardDianetics and later ScientologyAmerican1911–1986
Kim Il-sungJuche Korean1912–1994
Chinmayananda SaraswatiChinmaya MissionIndian1916–1993
Maharishi Mahesh YogiTranscendental MeditationIndian1918–2008
Samael Aun WeorUniversal Christian Gnostic MovementColombian1917–1977
Mark L. ProphetThe Summit LighthouseAmerican1918–1973
Ben KlassenCreativityUkrainian1918–1993
Ahn Sahng-hongWorld Mission Society Church of GodKorean1918-1985
Huỳnh Phú SổHòa HảoViet1919–1947
Yong Myung MoonUnification ChurchKorean1920–2012
Prabhat Ranjan SarkarAnanda MargaIndian1921–1990
Clarence 13XFive-Percent NationAmerican1922–1969
Mestre GabrielUnião do VegetalBrazilian1922–1971
Nirmala SrivastavaSahaja YogaIndian1923–2011
Sveinbjörn BeinteinssonÁsatrúIcelander1924–1993
Sathya Sai BabaSathya Sai OrganizationIndian1926–2011
Anton LaVeyChurch of Satan American1930–1997
RajneeshRajneesh movementIndian1931–1990
Mark L. Prophet;
Elizabeth Clare Prophet		Church Universal and TriumphantAmerican1918–1973;
1939–2009
Adi DaAdidamAmerican1939–2008
Claude VorilhonRaëlismFrench1946–
Marshall Vian SummersNew Message from GodAmerican1949–
Li HongzhiFalun GongChineseborn 1951 or 1952
Ryuho OkawaHappy ScienceJapanese1956-
VissarionChurch of the Last TestamentRussian1961–
Chris KordaChurch of EuthanasiaAmerican1962-
Tamara SiudaKemetic OrthodoxyAmerican1969–
Olumba Olumba ObuBrotherhood of the Cross and StarNigerian1918–
Isak GersonMissionary Church of KopimismSwedish1993-
Erdoğan ÇınarIshikismTurkish21st century

Legendary/semi-historical