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
• Fred Bentham
• Edward Gordon Craig
• Robert Ornbo
• Richard Pilbrow
• Max Reinhardt
• Adrian Samoiloff
• Josef Svoboda

Adolphe Appia (1862 - 1928)
Swiss theorist of modern stage lighting and décor. In interpreting Wagner's ideas in scenic designs for his operas, Appia rejected painted scenery for the three-dimensional set; he felt that shade was as necessary as light to link the actor to this setting in time and space. His use of light, through intensity, color, and mobility, to set the atmosphere and mood of a play created a new perspective in scene design and stage lighting. (from www.encyclopedia.com)
Further reading: Adolphe Appia: Texts on Theatre by Richard Beacham (Routledge)

Fred Bentham (1911 - 2001)
Fred Bentham was a rare combination of artist and engineer whose life’s work had been devoted to theatre, cinema and TV. During his 42 years with the same company, Strand Electric, he not only invented and initiated equipment, but pioneered ways of using it. The artist in him developed the use of coloured light as an art form - colour music - which was recognised by the Art Workers’ Guild who elected him as ‘Decorative Colour Worker’ in 1936. His energies were directed towards the design of theatres and scenery, writing, lecturing and demonstrating lighting
Further reading: Sixty Years of Light Work by Fred Bentham (Entertainment Technology Press)

Edward Gordon Craig (1872 - 1966)
On the Art of Theatre
Craig was one of the most influential designers of the early twentieth century. He trained under Henry Irving and worked as an actor before designing a series of productions that demonstrate the influence of symbolism. His artistic collaborators included Otto Brahm, Eleonora Duse, Isadora Duncan and Konstantin Stanislavski. In 1905, he published The Art of the Theatre, which called for the development of a non-naturalistic æsthetic. From 1908 to 1929, he edited a quarterly journal entitled The Mask, which presented Craig's theories.
Edward Gordon Craig Theatric Society

1872-1966, English scene designer, producer, and actor. The son of Ellen Terry, Gordon Craig began acting with Henry Irving's Lyceum company (1885-97). Feeling that the realism in vogue was too limiting, he turned to scene design and developed new theories. He strove for the poetic and suggestive in his designs in order to capture the essential spirit of the play. His ideas gave new freedom to scene design, although many were impractical in execution. Among his notable productions were The Vikings and Much Ado about Nothing (both in 1903 for Ellen Terry) and Hamlet (with the Moscow Art Theatre in 1912). At Florence, Italy, he founded (1913) the Gordon Craig School for the Art of the Theatre; he also edited a magazine, The Mask (1908-29). He wrote On the Art of the Theatre (1911, rev. ed. 1957), The Theatre Advancing (1921), Scene (1923), and biographies of Henry Irving (1930) and Ellen Terry (1931).

Robert Ornbo Pioneer of the use of scenic projection in the UK theatre.

Richard Pilbrow Lighting designer, theatre design consultant, author and producer. Chairman and founder of Theatre Projects Consultants (http://www.tpcworld.com). Theatre projects: more than 500 theatre design consulting projects in 50 countries, including the new Goodman, Steppenwolf and Shakespeare Theatres in Chicago; the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood; the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia; and the renovation plans for New York's Lincoln Center and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington. A pioneer of modern stage lighting in Britain, he was recently the lighting designer for The Magic Flute, Los Angeles and Seattle Operas. Other credits include On Raftery's Hill at the Druid Theatre, Galway and the Royal Court Theatre, London; The Life on Broadway (Tony Award nomination); and Hal Prince's Show Boat in New York, London and on the U.S. tours (Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award 1995 and DORA Award 1994 for Best Lighting Design). (From PLAYBILL http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/whoswho/biography/9588) Full biography is available at the Theatre Projects website. (Photo from the Theatre Projects website)

Max Reinhardt (1873-1943) German Expressionist theatre director. Massive influence on one of his actors, F W Murnau (who later directed the expressionist classic Nosferatu).

Adrian Samoiloff ( - )
Russian artistic 'electro-technician' who perpetrated colour tricks using lights of complementory colours. By using red and green lights, he was able, for example, to turn the king of comedy, George Robey, into a 'negro in green striped pyjamas'. His tricks with coloured lighting were originally seen at the London Hippodrome in the early 20th century and are now standard practice in pantomimes and on television.

Josef Svoboda - Scenographer (1920-2002)
From the Laterna Magika website:
Josef Svoboda was born May 10; 1920 in the town Cáslav. After completing his secondary studies; he apprenticed as a cabinet-maker. Following a master´s course; he enrolled in the Central School of Housing Industry in Prague. However; he was drawn to the theatre; where while in his home town and later in Prague he acquired his first practical experiences. Shortly after World War II he enrolled in scenography courses at the Prague Conservatory and studied architecture at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague.

One of the predominant characteristics of Josef Svoboda was his consistent confrontation of theory and practice; in 1945; during his studies he participated in the founding of the Grand Opera of the May 5 Theatre. He became the theatre´s chief stage designer; as well as collaborating with the Theatre of Satire and the Studio of the National Theatre. In 1948; he joined the staff of the National Theatre; initially as stage designer and; as of 1951; as the head of its artistic and technical operations. Until 1992; he remained loyal to the National Theatre; when he left - and became the managing director of the independent Lantern Magic Theatre; where he had also served as artistic director since 1973.

In the May 5 Theatre he met his two principal directors - Alfréd Radok and Václav Kašlík. His collaboration with Radok refined his sense of the director´s concept of scenography and of the functional incorporation of the stage design into the context of the other components of a theatre production. Their common desire for discovery led them to a series of experimentations; the result of which was the founding of Lantern Magic; the creation of the polyekran (multiple screens); and other audiovisual forms. Svoboda´s cooperation with opera director Václav Kašlík inspired his love for music; which helped to introduce a number of excellent operatic works to theatres both at home and abroad. During the nineteen-sixties; he met other outstanding directors; among them Otomar Krejca and Miroslav Machácek; resulting in yet other outstanding works staged at the National Theatre in Prague; and; in Krejca´s case; at the Divadlo za branou in Prague; as well as numerous theatres around Europe. In the nineteen-eighties; Svoboda´s collaboration with stage director Evald Schorm in Lantern Magic signalled a major change in the orientation of this unique theatre.

Josef Svoboda created stage designs for more than 700 theatre performances in his own country and abroad. During the second half of the 20th century; hardly any prominent director could be found worldwide with whom Svoboda would not have collaborated. These particular artists include A. Delcampe; J. Dexter; C.H. Drese; A. Everding; G. Friedrich; G. Strehler; L. Olivier; R. Petit; J.-C. Riber; and others. He was at all times appreciated more abroad than in his home country; obtaining awards and titles; such as Dr.h.c. at the Royal College of Arts in London (1969); International Theatre Award in New York (1976); Chevalier de l´Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in Paris (1976); Doctor of Fine Arts at Denison University and Western Michigan University in the U.S.A. (1978-84); a prize of the U.S. Institute for Theater Technology in the U.S.A. (1986); the title The Royal Industry Designer in London (1989); the French Légion d´Honneur in 1993; and Dr.h.c. at the Université Catholique de Louvaine-la-Neuve in 2001.

Svoboda enjoyed the young generation; he gave his experiences at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague; where he brought up a strong generation of Czech scenographers; and also at institutes and universities throughout the world. Only one dream he failed to fulfil - that of designing and building a theatre in Prague; one that could materialise his ample theatre experiences and demands.

Further information:
http://www.laterna.cz/

The secret of theatrical space : the memoirs of Josef Svoboda