47.5606° N, 7.5906° E

BASEL

Most Famous People Born in Basel, Switzerland

Notable people
1,646
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1922
Most distinctive
Art Historian 8.0×

A Rhine city whose distinctive professions are art historians, philologists, theologians, historians, and mathematicians — the trades of a humanist university town that published Erasmus, Holbein, and the first printed Greek New Testament. Euler was born here, so were both Bernoulli brothers, and Jacob Burckhardt more or less invented art history at the university. The 15th- and 16th-century bench is one of the heaviest in Switzerland, and Roger Federer is the most recent addition.

Through the Centuries

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

What Basel Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Basel's biggest profession — 10% of all notables (157).

Basel over-indexes on art historian8.0× the global rate.

Basel under-produces football — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Politician157
  2. Actor100
  3. Painter83
  4. Football70
  5. Writer70
  6. Historian69
  7. Author46
  8. Academic42
  1. Art Historian258.0×
  2. Philologist167.4×
  3. Theologian274.5×
  4. Historian694.0×
  5. Mathematician293.5×
  6. Author463.2×
  7. Entrepreneur162.9×
  8. Botanist172.6×
  1. Football700.4×
  2. Singer210.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1500155016001650170017501800185019001950
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Art & Design
  • Film & TV
  • Sports
  • Other
All1,646
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Showing 85 of 1,646 notable people

0046 ACTOR

Lukas Ammann

1912 - 2017

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0051 POLITICIAN

Hans-Peter Tschudi

1913 - 2002

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0063 ACTOR

Éléonore Hirt

1919 - 2017

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0067 FILM

Max Haufler

1910 - 1965

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0076 PHYSICIST

Markus Fierz

1912 - 2006

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0077 JOURNALIST

Iris von Roten

1917 - 1990

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0118 TEACHER

Olof Gigon

1912 - 1998

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0131 PAINTER

Ricco

1915 - 1972

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0151 PAINTER

Peter Birkhäuser

1911 - 1976

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0153 THEOLOGIAN

Eduard Schweizer

1913 - 2006

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0166 PHYSICIST

Gregory Wannier

1911 - 1983

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0189 FOOTBALL

Leopold Kielholz

1911 - 1980

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0221 PHILOSOPHER

Michael Landmann

1913 - 1984

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0287 DESIGNER

Arthur Eisenmenger

1914 - 2002

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0306 HISTORIAN

Herbert Lüthy

1918 - 2002

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0316 ATHLETIC

Karl Sutter

1914 - 2003

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0326 ACADEMIC

Harry Goldschmidt

1910 - 1986

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0333 FOOTBALL

Ernst Hufschmid (footballer)

1913 - 2001

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0340 FOOTBALL

Gottfried Dienst

1919 - 1998

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0362 PHOTOGRAPHER

Rudy Burckhardt

1914 - 1999

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0371 PAINTER

Max Kämpf

1912 - 1982

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0372 TEACHER

August Bohny

1919 - 2016

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0398 WRITER

Curt Paul Janz

1911 - 2011

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0497 HISTORIAN

Rudolf Wsewolodowitsch Wjatkin

1910 - 1995

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0521 POLITICIAN

Roger Schaffter

1917 - 1998

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0550 HISTORIAN

René Teuteberg

1914 - 2006

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0552 ORIENTALIST

Fritz Meier

1912 - 1998

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0555 AUTHOR

Rainer Brambach

1917 - 1983

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0588 ORNITHOLOGIST

Ernst Sutter

1914 - 1999

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0648 GRAFIKER

Rolf Rappaz

1914 - 1996

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0670 ARTIST

Rudolf Mumprecht

1918 - 2019

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0676 WRITER

Fritz René Allemann

1910 - 1996

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0684 ARCHITECT

Jacques Schader

1917 - 2007

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0722 ACTOR

Walter Morath

1918 - 1995

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0756 JOURNALIST

Heiner Gautschy

1917 - 2009

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0794 ENTREPRENEUR

Hans Dedi

1918 - 2016

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0826 JOURNALIST

Hans Fleig

1916 - 1988

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0828 DESIGNER

Blaise Bron

1918 - 2004

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0858 ACADEMIC

André Schroeder

1918 - 2004

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0870 ETHNOLOGIST

Kristin Bühler-Oppenheim

1915 - 1976

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0873 PAINTER

Willy Suter

1918 - 2002

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0875 AUTHOR

Heiner Koechlin

1918 - 1996

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0882 HISTORIAN

Adolf Faller

1913 - 1989

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0895 ARTIST

Alice Jaquet

1916 - 1990

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0901 HISTORIAN

Max Burckhardt

1910 - 1993

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0952 KÄMPFER

Marianne Flügge-Oeri

1911 - 1983

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0964 WRITER

Georges Anex

1916 - 1991

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0970 ARCHITECT

Hanns Anton Brütsch

1916 - 1997

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0971 PARSON

Felix Tschudi

1917 - 2010

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1027 POLITICIAN

Gertrud Spiess

1914 - 1995

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1035 PLAYWRIGHT

Rudolf Liechtenhan der Jüngere

1911 - 2005

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1050 RELIGIOUS

Raymund Tschudi

1914 - 2011

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1055 COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Ernst Peter Billeter

1919 - 2002

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1056 PATHOLOGIST

Jürg Im Obersteg

1914 - 1983

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1065 COMPOSER

Oswald Jaeggi

1913 - 1963

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1068 DIPLOMAT

Antonino Janner

1917 - 1982

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1070 ACTOR

Ilse Bally

1917 - 2007

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1097 ENTOMOLOGIST

Martin Lüscher (Zoologe)

1917 - 1979

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1110 ACADEMIC

Werner Hügin

1918 - 2001

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1132 JOURNALIST

Hans Tschäni

1916 - 1999

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1145 THEOLOGIAN

Walter Neidhart

1917 - 2001

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1180 ARCHITECT

Peter Suter (Architekt)

1914 - 1998

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1184 DESIGNER

A. W. Sauter

1911 - 1961

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1194 MISSING

Margrit Bolli

1919 - 2017

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1197 BOTANIST

Max Moor (Botaniker)

1911 - 1988

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1221 DIPLOMAT

Jakob Karl Burckhardt

1913 - 1996

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1279 ACTOR

Klaus Steiger

1919 - 1989

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1280 POLITICIAN

Werner Reich

1917 - 1994

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1292 DIPLOMAT

Hans Lacher

1912 - 2003

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1297 MUSIKWISSENSCHAFT

Albert Müry

1910 - 2005

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1304 ECOLOGIST

Rose Reimann-Hunziker

1912 - 2000

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1310 COMPOSER

Claude Yvoire

1913 - 1997

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1314 PAINTER

Kurt Volk

1919 - 1993

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1324 LINGUIST

Alfred Bloch (Sprachwissenschaftler)

1915 - 1983

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1330 CHEMIST

Rudolf Rometsch

1917 - 1997

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1355 FOOTBALL

Fioravante Baldi

1913 - 1976

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1356 POLITICIAN

Willi Wenk

1914 - 1994

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1365 ENGINEER

Johann Jakob Vischer

1914 - 1985

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1377 POLITICIAN

Theo Meier

1919 - 2010

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1380 POET

Erwin Schneiter

1917 - 1990

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1384 COLLECTOR

Rudolf Indlekofer

1910 - 1997

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1448 ACTOR

Rudolf Ruf

1916 - 2008

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1456 WRITER

Jürg Weiss

1910 - 1941

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1497 CLOWN

Alfredo Smaldini

1919 - 2010

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1624 DIPLOMAT

Hans Miesch

1918 - 1993

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