Who is Anaxagoras from The Last Days of Socrates and what is their importance?

Anaxagoras was is a philosopher. He is referred to by Socrates during the Apology. Socrates informs the jury that Meletus has him confused with Anaxagoras by virtue of the way that Meletus has interpreted Socrates' beliefs. Anaxagoras was known to have postulated that the Sun might be some kind of incandescent ball rather than solely a god, and that the Moon could well also be and have some physical cause. Although entirely correct, he was in fact persecuted extensively for this.