diff --git a/wrap/Module.cpp b/wrap/Module.cpp
index 960935649..8f0b1668a 100644
--- a/wrap/Module.cpp
+++ b/wrap/Module.cpp
@@ -372,8 +372,12 @@ void Module::emit_cython_pyx(FileWriter& pyxFile) const {
   string pxdHeader = name + "_wrapper";
   pyxFile.oss << "cimport numpy as np\n"
                  "cimport " << pxdHeader << " as " << name << "\n"
-                 "from "<< pxdHeader << " cimport shared_ptr\n"
-                 "from eigency.core cimport *\n"
+                 "from "<< pxdHeader << " cimport shared_ptr\n";
+  // import all typedefs, e.g. from gtsam cimport Key, so we don't need to say gtsam.Key
+  for(const Qualified& q: Qualified::BasicTypedefs) {
+    pyxFile.oss << "from " << pxdHeader << " cimport " << q.cythonClass() << "\n";
+  }
+  pyxFile.oss << "from eigency.core cimport *\n"
                  "from libcpp cimport bool\n\n"
                  "from libcpp.pair cimport pair\n"
                  "from libcpp.string cimport string\n"
diff --git a/wrap/Qualified.cpp b/wrap/Qualified.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..947e51d54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wrap/Qualified.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#include <wrap/Qualified.h>
+
+namespace wrap {
+  std::vector<Qualified>  Qualified::BasicTypedefs;
+}
diff --git a/wrap/Qualified.h b/wrap/Qualified.h
index dae45f6ce..62d15639e 100644
--- a/wrap/Qualified.h
+++ b/wrap/Qualified.h
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
- * GTSAM Copyright 2010, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, 
+ * GTSAM Copyright 2010, Georgia Tech Research Corporation,
  * Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0415
  * All Rights Reserved
  * Authors: Frank Dellaert, et al. (see THANKS for the full author list)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 #include <iostream>
- 
+
 namespace wrap {
 
 /**
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ public:
 
   std::vector<std::string> namespaces_; ///< Stack of namespaces
   std::string name_; ///< type name
+  static std::vector<Qualified> BasicTypedefs;
 
   friend struct TypeGrammar;
   friend class TemplateSubstitution;
@@ -128,8 +129,15 @@ public:
     return name() == "Vector" || name() == "Matrix";
   }
 
+  bool isBasicTypedef() const {
+    return std::find(Qualified::BasicTypedefs.begin(),
+                     Qualified::BasicTypedefs.end(),
+                     *this) != Qualified::BasicTypedefs.end();
+  }
+
   bool isNonBasicType() const {
-    return !isString() && !isScalar() && !isEigen() && !isVoid();
+    return !isString() && !isScalar() && !isEigen() && !isVoid() &&
+           !isBasicTypedef();
   }
 
 public:
@@ -219,7 +227,6 @@ public:
     os << q.qualifiedName("::");
     return os;
   }
-
 };
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
diff --git a/wrap/TypedefPair.h b/wrap/TypedefPair.h
index 4f36464a0..25fc1da9e 100644
--- a/wrap/TypedefPair.h
+++ b/wrap/TypedefPair.h
@@ -8,9 +8,15 @@ struct TypedefPair {
     std::string includeFile;
 
     TypedefPair() {}
-    TypedefPair(const Qualified& oldType, const Qualified& newType,
+    TypedefPair(const Qualified& _oldType, const Qualified& _newType,
                 const std::string& includeFile)
-        : oldType(oldType), newType(newType), includeFile(includeFile) {}
+        : oldType(_oldType), newType(_newType), includeFile(includeFile) {
+          if (!oldType.isNonBasicType() &&
+              std::find(Qualified::BasicTypedefs.begin(),
+                        Qualified::BasicTypedefs.end(),
+                        newType) == Qualified::BasicTypedefs.end())
+            Qualified::BasicTypedefs.push_back(newType);
+    }
 
     void emit_cython_pxd(FileWriter& file) const {
         file.oss << "cdef extern from \"" << includeFile << "\" namespace \""
@@ -19,4 +25,4 @@ struct TypedefPair {
                  << newType.cythonClass() << "\n";
     }
 };
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}