The following list is entirely subjective, and highlights some people who I feel have made the art of lighting design what it is today.
- Adolphe Appia (1862 – 1928)
- Frederick Bentham (1911 – 2001)
- Edward Gordon Craig (1872 – 1966)
- Joe Davis (1912 – 1984)
- Stanley McCandless (1897 – 1967)
- Jo Mielziner (1901 – 1976)
- Tharon Musser (1925 – 2009)
- Robert Ornbo (1931 – 2008)
- Richard Pilbrow
- Max Reinhardt (1873 – 1943)
- Jean Rosenthal (1912 – 1969)
- Adrian Samoiloff
- Josef Svoboda (1920 – 2002)