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Saint Thomas More (February 7, 1478 – July 6, 1535), also Sir Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and statesman who in his lifetime earned a reputation as a leading humanist scholar, and occupied many public offices, including Lord Chancellor (1529–1532). Sir Thomas coined the word "utopia", a name he gave to an ideal, imaginary island nation whose political system he described in the eponymous book published in 1516.
In 1935, four hundred years after his death, Pope Pius XI canonized St Thomas More in the Roman Catholic Church; More was declared Patron Saint of politicians and statesmen by Pope John Paul II in 1980. St Thomas More shares his feast day, June 22 on the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, with Saint John Fisher. In 1980, Sir Thomas More was added to the Church of England's calendar of saints. Traditional Roman Catholics continue celebrating his feast day on July 6, the day of his martyrdom. He was voted thirty-seventh of the historical 100 Greatest Britons.