Xenophanes (570 – 475 B.C.) was a philosopher, poet, and sage of Ancient Greece, one of the most important philosophers of the Eleatic school. Along with Parmenides and Zeno, he was later classified as a pre-Socratic philosopher, as Greek philosophy became centered around the figure of Socrates.
Xenophanes, or Xenophanes of Colophon, was born in the city of Colophon, in Ionia (the southern half of the western coast of Asia Minor, present-day Turkey), in the year 570 B.C. He lived a wandering life around the Mediterranean Sea for most of his life. In his travels, he almost always expressed himself through 
poems. He spent some time in Sicily and settled in “Elea,” a Greek colony located on the coast of the Campania region in southwestern present-day Italy, where, along with philosophers Parmenides and Zeno, he became one of the most prominent philosophers of the “Eleatic School.”
The concerns of early thinkers were directed towards cosmology, that is, they sought to understand the reason that governed the universe, initiating the process of detachment from mythical accounts. They sought to formulate a rational explanation for the universe without resorting to the supernatural, as basically all phenomena had their origins in mythological facts. The philosophers sought a principle or primordial element from which they could explain natural phenomena, thus giving rise to what became known as philosophical thought.
The early philosophers of Ancient Greece, who lived around the 6th century B.C., were later classified as pre-Socratic, as Greek philosophy became centered around the figure of Socrates (470-399 B.C.). The writings of the early philosophers, including those of Xenophanes, disappeared over time, and only a few fragments or references made by later philosophers remain.
Xenophanes fought against the ideas of anthropomorphism, a dominant belief that attributed human forms or attributes to the Gods. The philosopher preached the idea that the true God is unique, with absolute powers. He possessed his own characteristics, differentiating himself from man. Xenophanes was the first to identify that the “One” is not just a concept or matter, but is linked to “God.” As Xenophanes dedicated himself to demonstrating the unity and perfection of God, many believe that he was more of a religious reformer than a philosopher in the strict sense.
The philosopher highlighted the intellectual values of man when he stated that the superiority of the human being lies in intelligence and wisdom, which were the true forces for development, rather than in physical gifts, which were highly valued by the Greeks at the time. Xenophanes likely passed away around 475 B.C.
Source: www.ebiografia.com, by Dilva Frazão