Brazil and Corinthians midfielder, doctor of medicine and philosophy, Sócrates also organised demonstrations of opposition to Brazil's military dictatorship.
Born Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, Sócrates captained Brazil at both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.
He also had a prolific club career, spending six years at the historically left-wing Corinthians. The first working class team in Brazil, Corinthians was set up by immigrant labourers in São Paulo in a time when football in Brazil was an elitist sport, played only by the descendents of British ex-patriots or people working for British companies.
It was while playing for Corinthians that Sócrates co-founded the Corinthians Democracy movement to take on Brazil's brutal dictatorship. Aimed at ending the regime's authoritarian treatment of football players - and in support of the wider democratisation movement - Sócrates and his team mates played wearing shirts with 'Democracia' written on them.
In more recent years, Sócrates has rejected the idea of, like Pele, becoming an ambassador for football because of his dislike for "commercialism and all that rubbish". He also dismissed the proposal of Colonel Gadaffi(!) to run for president of Brazil. "I am political", he says instead.
Today, Sócrates practices sports medicine in his hometown.
