Leonardo da Vinci is an artist, philosopher, mathematician, inventor and legend.

But now he has another title to add to his proverbial mantelpiece, da Vinci has been named the most influential gay man of all time.

While we know very little about his sexuality, court records of 1476, when the young artist of the Mona Lisa was aged 24, show him and three other young men were charged with sodomy. However, the case was thrown out for lack of evidence.

Da Vinci and 499 other gay men from history and the present have been ranked on their influence on society.

Philosopher Socrates, Alexander the Great, much-loved British broadcaster Stephen Fry and playwright Oscar Wilde fill out numbers two to five respectively.

The list compiled by Mate Magazine was chosen by six qualified opinion leaders from around the globe including Eric Butter, president of the Mr Gay World Organization, Marc Puttman, CEO of Out TV – the leading gay TV station in the Netherlands and Sweden, and Tris Reid-Smith, co-founder and editor of Gay Star News.

Speaking to GSN, Editor-in-chief Edwin Reinerie said he had been thankful it was done independently.

He said: ‘It is very subjective. I have warned people that they shouldn’t really pay too much attention to the rankings. It is more of a celebration.’

For example the rankings were finished before actor Rupert Everett made his controversial comments about gay parenting, which explains his high position of number 28.

Reinerie described the magazine’s list as an encyclopedia of gay history.

‘If you want a list of the most important gay people, this is it,’ he said. ‘If you read it cover to cover, you have a good understanding of what a small number of gay people have done for the society or society at large.’

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