Gerald Gardner
An anthropologist and sociologist, Gardner was a student of witchcraft more than a true witch, but his profound interest in the craft and in its symbols and artefacts has contributed much to the revival.
A member of a coven that prefers to remain secret, Gardner believed he had traced a pure line of the craft that predated the written word.
A practising devotee, he wrote the book Witchcraft Today, a rambling and uncertain tome, but one that has many interesting tit-bits and tall tales, even if the style is sexist and pompous from time to time.
His great advantage was his steady tone, which meant that rather than the amateur theatrics or devil-worshipping connotations of witchcraft, Gerald Gardner, being respected, actually bought respectability to the practice of the craft.
He became the director of the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft, which he funded and established on the Isle of Man, in England.
He must be remembered as the one who took the sensation out of the ordinary person's mind and made it safe for many witches to get that little bit closer to coming out of the closet.
http://roswell.fortunecity.com/necronomicon/310/WitchCraft/witch6.html