Preeminent

Monge stood preeminent above his contemporaries.

That impish man is a preeminent economist.

Our progenitor was a preeminent rabbi in Lodz.

China is still preeminent for its Goldfish, of which Pennant informs us that the most beautiful kinds, both for elegance of shape and richness of tinting, are taken in a small lake in the Province of Che-kyang.