[Python] Make interactive matplotlib window not pop to front on each update (Windows 7)

Today I upgraded matplotlib to version 2.0.2, after not upgrading for possibly 3 years.

Now I have the problem that in interactive plots the window always comes to the front, as if this here make matplotlib plotting window pop up as the active one had come to be the default behaviour.

How can I deactivate it? I don't want the window to come to front every 5 seconds and raise over my text editor, browser, ...

I want it to stay in the z-ordering where I've placed it, be it to front or behind an active window.

I believe that the following commit from 31 Jan 2016 is responsible for this problematic behaviour: tkagg: raise each new window; partially addresses #596

Found a related comment on Github https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/596#issuecomment-305298577

it appears that it is my call to plt.pause which is causing this issue, and not the plt.plot call.

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