George W Bush has gone down in history as one of the world's most evil people, just behind Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden.

The former president beat Stalin, Mao and Lenin as a figure of hate in a new study of history's biggest heroes and villains.

Albert Einstein, meanwhile, beat Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King and even Jesus Christ to be crowned the world's biggest hero.

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George W Bush (right) has gone down in history as one of the world's most evil people, just behind Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden.The former president beat Stalin (right), Mao and Lenin as a figure of hate in a new study of history's biggest heroes and villains

This is according to the opinions of almost 7,000 students from 37 countries including Argentina, Pakistan, South Korea, Italy, and the US.

The students, who had an average age of 23, were asked to give their opinions on 40 figures and significant events throughout world history.

It revealed some surprising results, with George W Bush sitting alongside the world's most hated dictators.

The authors suggest that 'the impact of time' explains the strange results.

THE TOP TEN HEROES AND VILLAINS OF WORLD HISTORY HEROES VILLAINS 1 - Albert Einstein

1 - Adolf Hitler 2 - Mother Theresa 2 - Osama bin Laden 3 - Mahatma Gandi 3 - Saddam Hussein 4 - Martin Luther King 4 - George Bush Jr 5 - Isaac Newton 5 - Stalin 6 - Jesus Christ 6 - Mao 7 - Nelson Mandela 7 - Lenin 8 - Thomas Edison 8 - Genghis Khan 9 - Abraham Lincoln 9 - Saladin 10 - Buddha 10 - Qin Shi Huang

Albert Einstein (left) beat Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King (right) and even Jesus Christ to be crowned the world's biggest hero. This is according to the opinions of almost 7,000 students from 37 countries including Argentina, Pakistan, South Korea, Italy, and the US

For instance, while Stalin and Genghis were 'responsible for innumerably more deaths', memory of Bush's presidency is more recent.

The university students had to rate on a scale from one to seven how positive and how negative the events and figures presented were.

The heroes appear to be scientists, discoverers and people who fought for liberties. They include Mahatma Gandi, Isaac Newton, Buddha and Abraham Lincoln.

Among the top 10 villains were Genghis Khan, Mao, Lenin, Stalin and Qin Shi Huang.

Using a technique known as Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), the scientists identified four 'profiles' among the participants. 'Religious idealists' and 'Secular Idealists' had strongly negative views towards Osama, Saddam, and Hitler. 'Religious Idealists' and 'Political Realists' thought positively of religious leaders

National opinions tended to agree regarding the heroes, but were divided when it came to the villains.

'There is greater disparity of opinion about the villains,' said Darío Páez, a lecturer at UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country.

'The same figure may be very negatively rated in one country, or not very negatively or even very positively in another part of the world.

'That would be the case of Osama bin Laden, for example'.

40 HISTORICAL FIGURES RATED IN TERMS OF POPULARITY 1 - Albert Einstein

21 - Alexander the Great 2 - Mother Theresa 22 - J.F. Kennedy 3 - Mahatma Gandi 23 - Winston Churchill 4 - Martin Luther King 24 - Che Guevara 5 - Isaac Newton 25 - Margaret Thatcher 6 - Jesus Christ 26 - Charlemagne 7 - Nelson Mandela 27 - Sun Yatsen 8 - Thomas Edison 28 - Gorbachev 9 - Abraham Lincoln 29 - Deng Xiaoping 10 - Buddha 30 - Napoleon 11 - Princess Diana 31 - Qin Shi Huang 12- Columbus 32 - Saladin 13 - Martin Luther 33 - Genghis Khan 14 - Bill Gates 34 - Lenin 15 - Pope John Paul II 35 - Mao 16 - Mohammed 36 - Stalin 17 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 37 - George Bush Jr 18 - George Washington 38 - Saddam Hussein 19 - Karl Marx 39 - Osama bin Laden 20 - Confucius 40- Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (left) is the biggest villain in history, while Mother Theresa (right) is the second most celebrated hero, according to the study of 7,000 university students

When the students were asked to respond spontaneously about who the most important figures in history were, names of political or military leaders were given.

Researchers believe this is because the things that occurred to the students were wars, conflicts and power struggles.

But when the questions were closed ones and they sat down to think about them, the same students attached greater importance to scientists and other humanitarian figures.

Likewise, when the scientists asked about historical events, facts with a long time span such as the industrial revolution or the development of science were regarded as important as wars.

Using a technique known as Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), the scientists identified four 'profiles' among the participants.

'Religious idealists' and 'Secular Idealists' had strongly negative views towards Osama, Saddam, and Hitler.

'Religious Idealists' and 'Political Realists' thought positively of religious leaders such as Buddha and Jesus.

'Historical Indifferents' didn't have a strong feeling for anyone, apart from George W Bush who they disliked.

The only figure that all four groups disliked was Bush, the study found.

Osama bin Laden (left) was beaten only by Adolf Hitler as the world's biggest villain, while Mahatma Gandi was the third most celebrated hero (right). The only figure that all four groups disliked was Bush, the study found



