52.3831° N, 4.8999° E

AMSTERDAM

Most Famous People Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Notable people
3,253
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1921
Most distinctive
Rower 4.9×

The Dutch Golden Age, and what came after. Amsterdam's distinctive shelves are painters at more than four times the global rate, alongside conductors, rowers, swimmers, and poets — the trades of a 17th-century capital that built one of the great European art markets and a 20th-century city that built a Concertgebouw conductor lineage going back to Mengelberg. The 1600s account for a tenth of all notable births here, and the modern half adds footballers, cyclists, and the long shadow of Rembrandt and Spinoza.

Through the Centuries

One face per century — the most globally famous figure born in Amsterdam during each.

What Amsterdam Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Amsterdam's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (438).

Amsterdam over-indexes on rower4.9× the global rate.

Amsterdam under-produces politician — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Football438
  2. Painter372
  3. Politician212
  4. Actor166
  5. Writer106
  6. Poet72
  7. Singer67
  8. Sport67
  1. Rower594.9×
  2. Conductor384.6×
  3. Painter3724.3×
  4. Swimmer533.4×
  5. Poet722.1×
  6. Mathematician342.1×
  1. Politician2120.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Amsterdam's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Art & Design
  • Writing
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Other
All3,253
Sort By

Showing 29 of 3,253 notable people

0093 POLITICIAN

Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis

1846 - 1919

Preview
0273 POLITICIAN

Wilhelmina Drucker

1847 - 1925

Preview
0280 ENTREPRENEUR

Gerard Adriaan Heineken

1841 - 1893

Preview
0607 ARCHITECT

Wilhelm Victor Alfred Tepe

1840 - 1920

Preview
0746 PAINTER

Johannes Hermanus Barend Koekkoek

1840 - 1912

Preview
0798 ENTREPRENEUR

Agneta Matthes

1847 - 1909

Preview
0842 POLITICIAN

Willem Rooseboom

1843 - 1920

Preview
0989 LAWYER

Bernard Loder

1849 - 1935

Preview
1018 LINGUIST

Bernhard Egidius Konrad ten Brink

1841 - 1892

Preview
1149 PAINTER

Oyens brothers

1842 - 1902

Preview
1215 PAINTER

Betsy Repelius

1848 - 1921

Preview
1375 WRITER

Justus van Maurik

1846 - 1904

Preview
1492 PAINTER

Léopold Lowenstam

1842 - 1898

Preview
1501 LIBRETTIST

Arnold Mortier

1843 - 1885

Preview
1569 PROFESSOR

Jacob Verdam

1845 - 1919

Preview
1834 COMPOSER

Henri Viotta

1848 - 1933

Preview
1900 POLITICIAN

Johannes Christiaan de Marez Oyens

1845 - 1911

Preview
1970 SHIPPING MAGNATE

Thomas Fearnley (shipping magnate, born 1841)

1841 - 1927

Preview
2052 ARCHITECT

Wilhelm Emil Meerwein

1844 - 1927

Preview
2059 LECTURER

Joseph Wijnkoop

1842 - 1910

Preview
2116 ETCHER

Petrus Johannes Arendzen

1846 - 1932

Preview
2179 PHOTOGRAPHER

Julius Cornelius Schaarwächter

1847 - 1904

Preview
2207 PAINTER

Barend Hendrik Koekkoek

1849 - 1889

Preview
2259 PAINTER

Jan Elias Kikkert

1843 - 1925

Preview
2324 SCIENTIST

Peter Ouwens

1849 - 1922

Preview
2563 JOURNALIST

Albert Dresden Vandam

1843 - 1903

Preview
2630 RABBI

Abraham Tobias Boas

1844 - 1923

Preview
2875 GEOLOGIST

Johan Herman Kloos

1842 - 1901

Preview
3106 PAINTER

Herman Jacob van der Voort in de Betouw

1847 - 1902

Preview