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
Sort By

Showing 110 of 1,646 notable people

0043 COMPOSER

George Gruntz

1932 - 2013

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0045 NOVELIST

Urs Widmer

1938 - 2014

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0073 SINOLOGIST

Jean François Billeter

Born 1939

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0080 ARTIST

Karl Gerstner

1930 - 2017

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0108 SCREENWRITER

Helmut Förnbacher

Born 1936

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0124 COMPOSER

Rudolf Kelterborn

Born 1931

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0132 JUDGE

Luzius Wildhaber

1937 - 2020

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0137 CLARINET

Eduard Brunner

1939 - 2017

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0163 PAINTER

Alfons Schilling

1934 - 2013

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0218 PAINTER

Jürg Kreienbühl

1932 - 2007

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0257 ACTOR

Nana Gualdi

1932 - 2007

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0264 FOOTBALL

Werner Leimgruber

Born 1934

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0268 ACTOR

Peter Brogle

1933 - 2006

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0270 ACTOR

Trudi Roth

1930 - 2016

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0279 ECONOMIST

Cuno Pümpin

Born 1939

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0318 JAPANOLOGIST

Jean-Jacques Origas

1937 - 2003

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0327 ART HISTORIAN

Georg Germann

1935 - 2016

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0334 HARPIST

Ursula Holliger

1937 - 2014

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0341 PHILOLOGIST

Robert Kopp

Born 1939

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0350 FOOTBALL

Robert Hosp

Born 1939

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0355 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Reimar Schefold

Born 1938

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0358 COSTUME DESIGNER

Christa de Carouge

1936 - 2018

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0365 ROWER

Peter Bolliger

Born 1937

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0385 FOOTBALL

Werner Schley

1935 - 2007

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0400 POLITICIAN

Jean Henri Dunant

1934 - 2015

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0428 SINGER

Miriam Klein

Born 1937

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0449 FOOTBALL

Fritz Kehl

Born 1937

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0474 ACTOR

Heidy Forster

Born 1931

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0500 HISTORIAN

Paul Stauffer

1930 - 2008

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0525 GEOLOGIST

Daniel Bernoulli (Geologe)

Born 1936

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0548 FEMINIST

Simone Chapuis-Bischof

Born 1931

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0564 WRITER

Christoph Mangold

1939 - 2014

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0581 POLITICIAN

Jean-Jacques Hegg

Born 1930

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0592 WRITER

Eugen A. Meier

1933 - 2004

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0598 AUTHOR

Anton Rotzetter

1939 - 2016

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0615 LITERARY

Beatrice von Matt

Born 1936

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0634 MUSIC

Hugo Zemp

Born 1937

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0653 AUTHOR

Adelheid Duvanel

1936 - 1996

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0689 SPORT

Werner Arnold (cyclist)

1930 - 2005

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0696 MUSIC

Alain Bernard (Tanzpädagoge)

1932 - 2012

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0724 SPORT

Walter Favre

1931 - 1970

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0735 WRITER

Iris Galey

Born 1936

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0738 HISTORIAN

Rudolf Braun (Historiker)

1930 - 2012

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0758 ACTOR

Sylvia Lydi

Born 1933

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0761 TEACHER

Jürgen Reichen

1939 - 2009

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0763 DIPLOMAT

Franz Blankart

Born 1936

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0770 ENTREPRENEUR

Johann Wanner (Unternehmer)

Born 1939

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0781 HISTORIAN

Eckart Olshausen

Born 1938

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0786 WRITER

Werner Schmidli

1939 - 2005

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0818 AUTHOR

René Regenass

Born 1935

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0819 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Werner Meyer (Historiker, 1937)

Born 1937

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0822 ECONOMIST

René L. Frey

Born 1939

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0827 LAWYER

Peter Böckli

Born 1936

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0832 ART HISTORIAN

Dieter Koepplin

Born 1936

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0845 ACTOR

Roland Rasser

Born 1932

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0888 HISTORIAN

Guy P. Marchal

1938 - 2020

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0890 PRESENTER

Mäni Weber

1935 - 2006

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0904 PRIEST

Martin Gächter

Born 1939

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0925 PIANIST

Franz Biffiger

Born 1939

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0934 PSYCHOLOGIST

Gerhard Steiner (Psychologe)

Born 1937

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0948 PSYCHOANALYST

Dieter Bürgin

Born 1939

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0951 MUSIC

Martin Staehelin

Born 1937

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0954 SCULPTOR

Christoph Gloor

1936 - 2017

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0959 ACADEMIC

Hugo Triadan

1930 - 1987

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0972 MATHEMATICIAN

Christian Blatter

Born 1935

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0974 VORSITZENDER

Werner Blessing

1931 - 1987

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0983 OFFICER

Efrem Cattelan

1931 - 2014

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0984 THERAPIST

René Bloch (Psychiater)

Born 1937

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1034 POLITICIAN

Claudius Alder

Born 1938

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1043 PSYCHOLOGIST

Guido Schilling

Born 1939

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1071 PAINTER

Kurt Fahrner

1932 - 1977

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1084 TYPOGRAPHER

André Gürtler

Born 1936

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1085 MEDIEVALIST

Pascal Ladner

Born 1933

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1094 PRESENTER

André Ratti

1935 - 1986

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1122 PALAEONTOLOGIST

Bernard Krebs

1934 - 2001

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1127 ACADEMIC

Hannes B. Staehelin

Born 1937

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1141 LAWYER

Peter Zihlmann (Jurist)

Born 1938

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1143 ACADEMIC

Katharina Steib

Born 1935

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1146 HISTORIAN

Kurt Wehrle (Historiker)

1938 - 1994

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1149 WRITER

Elisabeth Meylan

Born 1937

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1156 AUTHOR

René Besson

1933 - 2001

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1176 LAWYER

Willy Loretan

Born 1934

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1179 ACTOR

Suzanne Grossmann

1937 - 2010

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1198 WRITER

Ernest Goldberger

1931 - 2009

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1205 POLITICIAN

Hans-Rudolf Striebel

Born 1930

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1219 FOOTBALL

Peter Füri

1937 - 2015

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1230 ZOOLOGIST

Pio Fioroni

1933 - 2003

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1242 POLITICIAN

Niggi Schoellkopf

Born 1930

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1285 POLITICIAN

Markus van Baerle

1930 - 1987

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1288 FILM

Georg Janett

1937 - 2014

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1300 FOOTBALL

Carlo Porlezza

Born 1939

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1309 PHYSICIST

Hermann Grunder

Born 1931

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1320 KINDERARZT

Alfred Donath

1932 - 2010

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1375 FOOTBALL

Hanspeter Stocker

Born 1936

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1413 POLITICIAN

Nicolas Carnat

Born 1934

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1416 SWIMMER

Peter Bärtschi

Born 1935

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1427 DRIVER

Peter Zbinden

Born 1937

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1450 COSTUME DESIGNER

Sibylle Geiger

Born 1930

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1459 POLITICIAN

Dominique Föllmi

Born 1938

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1484 POLITICIAN

Robert A. Jeker

1935 - 2012

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1487 PHYSIKER

Iris Zschokke

Born 1933

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1503 FENCER

Hans Bässler

Born 1934

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1524 PAINTER

Martha Braun

Born 1935

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1535 SWIMMER

Rolf Burggraf

Born 1937

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1555 FOOTBALL

Kurt Thalmann

1931 - 2018

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1563 MATHEMATICIAN

Robert Hans

1932 - 1989

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1566 SAXOPHONIST

Mario Schneeberger

Born 1935

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1570 POLITICIAN

Rudolf Weber (Politiker, 1931)

Born 1931

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1591 JOURNALIST

Manuel Isler

1932 - 2011

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1607 POLITICIAN

Carlo Binetti

1931 - 2014

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