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 49 of 3,253 notable people

0031 ARCHITECT

Hendrik Petrus Berlage

1856 - 1934

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0036 ENTOMOLOGIST

Martinus Beijerinck

1851 - 1931

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0063 ENGINEER

Cornelis Lely

1854 - 1929

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0124 POET

Willem Kloos

1859 - 1938

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0139 PAINTER

Thérèse Schwartze

1851 - 1918

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0171 PAINTER

Meijer de Haan

1852 - 1895

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0312 ART HISTORIAN

Abraham Bredius

1855 - 1946

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0338 REVOLUTIONARY

Theo Heemskerk

1852 - 1932

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0374 BIOLOGIST

Anna Weber-van Bosse

1852 - 1942

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0416 CONDUCTOR

Bernard Zweers

1854 - 1924

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0418 PHYSICIAN

Arnold Aletrino

1858 - 1916

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0422 POET

Hélène Swarth

1859 - 1941

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0496 PAINTER

Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller

1855 - 1925

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0552 POET

Maarten Maartens

1858 - 1915

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0582 TEACHER

Jan Ligthart

1859 - 1916

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0641 PAINTER

Nicolaas van der Waay

1855 - 1936

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0719 EXPLORER

Juan Maria Schuver

1852 - 1883

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0901 PAINTER

Wally Moes

1856 - 1918

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0983 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate (anthropologist)

1858 - 1931

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1130 MOUNTAINEER

Jeanne Immink

1853 - 1929

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1229 PAINTER

Johan Braakensiek

1858 - 1940

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1307 SPORT

Anthony Sweijs

1852 - 1937

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1328 PAINTER

Jan Hoynck van Papendrecht

1858 - 1933

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1354 PAINTER

Evert Pieters

1856 - 1932

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1413 ARCHITECT

Abraham Salm GBzn

1857 - 1915

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1434 TRANSLATOR

Margaretha Meijboom

1856 - 1927

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1440 PAINTER

Hein Kever

1854 - 1922

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1518 PAINTER

Willem Steelink Jr.

1856 - 1928

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1629 PAINTER

George Poggenbeek

1853 - 1903

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1642 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Jan Six (Kunsthistoriker)

1857 - 1926

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1678 ARCHITECT

Leonard Anthony Springer

1855 - 1940

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1751 BUSINESS

Walther vom Rath

1857 - 1940

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1771 AUTHOR

Jacob van Rees

1854 - 1927

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1810 GEOGRAPHER

Anton Albert Beekman

1854 - 1947

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1957 PAINTER

Henri Teixeira de Mattos

1856 - 1908

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1960 HISTORIAN

Ursul Philip Boissevain

1855 - 1930

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1983 POLITICIAN

Hendrik Lodewijk Drucker

1857 - 1917

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2004 CURATOR

Ernst Witkamp

1854 - 1897

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2098 ACADEMIC

Jacob Frederik Klinkhamer

1854 - 1928

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2177 MALACOLOGIST

Gerard Pierre Laurent Kalshoven Gude

1858 - 1924

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2211 CHESS

Louis van Vliet

1854 - 1932

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2213 PHILOLOGIST

Dirk Christiaan Hesseling

1859 - 1941

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2241 SCULPTOR

Georgine Schwartze

1854 - 1935

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2494 EXPLORER

Daniël David Veth

1850 - 1885

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2566 DIPLOMAT

Fridolin Marinus Knobel

1857 - 1933

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2574 SAILOR

Edward Allen (Medal of Honor)

1859 - 1917

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2713 MATHEMATICIAN

Jan de Vries (Mathematiker)

1858 - 1940

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2973 CHEMIST

Friedrich Fittica

1850 - 1912

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3203 RABBI

Isaac Juda Palache

1858 - 1922

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